Everest has become the Madrid Metro: €80,000 for the queue

Everest: €80,000 for a queue amidst trash and corpses

Do you pay €80,000 to queue on a mountain full of trash and corpses? That is the reality of Everest in 2025. The world's highest mountain has become a luxury theme park for wealthy tourists, where the experience of reaching the summit resembles less an alpine adventure and more rush hour on the Madrid Metro.

The price of the summit: from €80,000 to €200,000

The data is eloquent. The cheapest option to attempt Everest already starts around €70,000-€80,000, while the VIP version can reach €200,000. This money does not guarantee the summit, but it does ensure an endless queue in the final stages, where climbers crowd together like passengers on the Madrid Metro.

The comparison is not coincidental: the sixth line of the Madrid suburban train, famous for its saturation, has become the perfect analogy to describe modern-day Everest.

Trash, dead bodies and a melting glacier

The problem is not just the crowd. Expeditions have left tons of trash on the mountain, and the bodies of those who passed away remain as silent witnesses to the failure of many attempts. Even the glacier seems resentful, with melting attributed by some to human activity.

The irony is that while a fortune is paid to 'conquer' the mountain, you are contributing to its destruction.

The mountain is no longer a challenge; it is a business. And like any business, it has its costs, but these are not reflected only in the ticket price, but in the deterioration of an environment that should remain pristine. Meanwhile, the Madrid Metro remains free for those who cannot afford the €80,000 experience that, according to those living it, is hell.