Kathmandu, May 2 -- It was China that first tested its heavy-lift drone on Mount Everest and succeeded. Now, an American drone company is vying to replicate that achievement, signalling a new technological contest unfolding on the slopes of the world's highest mountain.

But the American push goes beyond drones. In a development that has caught Nepali authorities off guard, the company has also proposed sending a robot to climb Everest. The plan has run into immediate uncertainty, as Nepal currently has no legal framework that allows a non-human entity to attempt an ascent of the peak.

On Friday, a test involving the Freefly Systems Alta X Gen 2, a US-made heavy-lift industrial drone, was abruptly halted at the Everest Base Camp after of...