Climbers on Mount Everest will be required to strap a GPS device for their own safety and to avoid telling lies of reaching the peak by the start of April during climbing season. The technology will be able to locate travelers quickly when they're in trouble as hundreds of people are expected to climb Mount Everest this year.
However, Nepal officials say that only a few will get to wear the device as an experiment. ABC News reported chief of Nepal's tourism department, Durga Dutta Dhakal, as saying that the tracker costs $300 apiece for rescuers to find them and whether the climbers are eligible to be given a certificate for reaching the top of the mountain.
Last year, the report says that an Indian couple shared that they have reached the peak and received a certificate from the management. It was later found out to be a hoax as the couple edited their photo to look like they have climbed the top.
Mountaineering authorities usually don't stay on the mountain to monitor climbers' achievement. The latter only show pictures of them being on top of the peak as proof that they've challenged and climbed Mount Everest. What makes it harder to assess the photos is that climbers are wearing their full gear of masks, eye wears, and hoods which make it difficult for authorities to recognize their faces.
This year, Nepal officials are oriented in the preparation of having more climbers following after a year of disasters. In 2016, seven people died in Mount Everest due to cardiac arrest, fall, and snow blindness.
Other than the GPS device, the government is setting up free WiFi spots on the mountain. The country will have free WiFi zones at the base camp to "facilitate communications from the world's highest mountain and to aid rescue efforts in the event of any contingencies."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
