Like you said, the difficulty in maintaining environmental integrity while still allowing people to climb the mountain is paramount. Most accounts I have heard describe Everest base camp (and much of the mountain above) as a sh*thole that is full of discarded oxygen tanks, human waste and garbage.
Climbing Everest is also a rich mans game, in that hiring a guide team will currently run you upwards of $60,000 per person with obviously no guarantees of summiting.
There are also a score of other peaks that are just begging to be climbed in Nepal. I think, if I were to make a trek there I would aim for one of the smaller/cheaper mountains.
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