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Hi fellow mountaineers, I'm new to climbing and was wondering what it the highest summit you can climb that does not require a permit and if anyone could recommend some good climbs.
Thanks
Dave Butters

Interesting question. Anything in Nepal over 5000m is out. I think that may be true of the Andes too.

Mont Blanc is the highest I can think of that doesn't have a fee/permit.

Excellent dadndave thanks for the reply gives me something to work towards! Any more suggestions on non permit peaks would be great

In South America there are plenty of high peaks that can be climbed without any red tape. Aconcagua requires a permit, but the second highest, Ojos del Salado (6893m), can be climbed without one from the Argentinian side according to its page right here on SP. making it the highest outside of Asia that can be climbed without a permit.

Elsewhere in the Andes many high peaks can still be climbed with little or no red tape as well. Since it became mandatory to go with a guide when climbing anything serious I reckon that Ecuador is the most restrictive country, but most countries have no restrictions anywhere except that for peaks in National Parks you may have to pay for access to the park itself. And, yes, in a few cases you need a permit to climb the mountain of your choice.

I don't know much about the situation in Asia, so I'll leave it to others to comment on that.

In the Alps you don't need a permit to climb anything, including indeed Mont Blanc. But the Alps are much lower than the Andes. Elsewhere in Europe, only the Caucasus is higher. I know that there is some red tape there, but I don't know the details.


The second question, asking for recommendations of some good climbs, I couldn't possibly answer without knowing more about your background. But since you state that you're new to climbing, your best course of action is to go with more experienced people. A good start would be to join a mountaineering club near where you live, and go on trips with them. And before aiming for anything really high, you better get some experience under your belt.

As mentioned, Ojos del Salado from Argentina doesn't require a permit.

I believe Kyrgyzstan got rid of the climbing permit system, but if you travel in a border region you need a border permit (which is cheap).

That would make Pik Pobeda, 7439 meters/24406 feet, from the Kyrgyzstan side as the highest peak you can climb without a climbing permit.

Anything in Nepal over 5000m is out.

Actually, there are many 5000+ meter peaks in Nepal that you can climb without a climbing permit. If you are in a national park, usually you need a trekking permit (which is only a few dollars), but there are still many 5000+ meter peaks that are available with no climbing permits.

I listed several of the peaks on the page below:

http://www.summitpost.org/nepal-trek-ab ... ins/955631

As mentioned though, many of them do require an inexpensive trekking permit, so I guess they may not be counted.

I think that may be true of the Andes too.

Very few mountains in the Andes require permits. The vast majority don't. I've climbed dozens of peaks in the Andes and have never had to get a permit to climb anything, though I will in a few must when climbing Ojos del Salado from Chile.

Back in 1999 Bolivia didn't require permits to climb the major peaks around La Paz (20,000 ft Huyna Potosi and 21,500ft Illimani). Not sure what the situation is there now. We didn't try Sajama - its multiple days of travel out on the Altiplano to a very remote area. We decided we'd done enough climbing in the Bolivian Andes, so we spent the next few 'open' days before flying back to the USA drinking cheap beer and playing tourist.