A permit to climb the 8,849 metre (29,032 feet) Mount Everest will cost $15,000, said Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general of the Department of Tourism, announcing a 36% rise in the $11,000 fee that has been in place for nearly a decade.

The Nepali government has significantly increased climbing permit fees for Mount Everest or Mount Qomolangma, an official said on Wednesday. The climbing fee for foreigners was hiked to $15,000 from $11,000, an increase of 36 per cent.

Nepal has raised the permit fee for climbing Mount Everest by 35%, making it more expensive for mountaineers to summit the world’s tallest peak. The new fee, set to take effect in September, aims to boost revenue for Nepal’s mountaineering sector.

The cost of a permit to ascend Everest will soon hit as much as $15,000, but a veteran climber says the increase won't keep people away from the peak.