Kathmandu, Feb. 23 -- It has been a century since Mallory and Irvine may or may not have reached the summit of Mt Everest. Mountaineering in Nepal has changed a lot since that first British expedition in 1924.

Everest gets bad press for traffic jams at the summit, garbage and frozen corpses below the peak. But such is the draw of the world's highest mountain that climbers from all over the world just keep coming.

The main reason for frequent gridlocks on Sagarmatha is due to a tectonic shift in the business of mountaineering from foreign to domestic operators.

Before 2013, Nepali guides were largely just ground handling agents for international expeditions. That was also the year 'The Everest Brawl' took place at Camp 2, when one hu...