'Eco Everest Expedition' Launches To Remove 11,000 Pounds Of Trash From World's Highest Mountain

KATMANDU, Nepal -- A team of mountaineers led by a veteran Sherpa guide flew Wednesday to Mount Everest on an expedition to clear away tons of trash left on the world's highest peak.

Since Everest was first conquered in 1953, thousands of people have climbed it, leaving behind the empty oxygen bottles, ropes, tents and other garbage that made their journey possible.

Nepal has since required climbers to bring down everything they take up the mountain or lose their deposit, but debris from past climbs still litters the slopes.

The team that left Katmandu on Wednesday – led by Apa, a Sherpa who has climbed Everest a record 20 times – plans to bring down 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) of garbage during the spring climbing season.

"I want to do this for my country, my people and for Everest," said Apa, who uses only one name.

The team hopes to clear 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of garbage from the lower part of the mountain and another 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) from near the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) summit.

Expedition members, porters and guides of other expeditions will carry the garbage down the mountain, receiving 100 rupees ($1.40) for every kilogram they haul out.

Ang Tshering, organizer of the Eco Everest Expedition, said this is the fourth year a cleaning expedition has been held.

Apa first climbed Everest in 1989 and has repeated the feat almost annually. He has campaigned about the degradation he has seen on the Himalayan peaks due to global warming and other issues.

He said when he first began climbing Everest, the trail to the summit was covered with ice and snow. Now, it is dotted with bare rocks. The melting ice has also exposed deep crevasses, making expeditions more dangerous.

Apa grew up in the foothills of Everest and began carrying equipment and supplies for trekkers and mountaineers at age 12. He moved to the United States in 2006 and lives in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper.

Comments

[BobTBuilder]

09:52 PM on 04/13/2011

For there to be 11,000 pounds of trash on Mount Everest in less than 60 years is shocking. Apa is quite admirable to take on the challenge of clearing 11, 000 pounds of trash for the mountain; and to be able to climb the world’s biggest mountain twenty times! It’s hard to believe that this is the fourth time Apa has climbed the mountain just to clear away thousands of pounds of trash. It’s very unfortunate that one of the seven natural wonders of the world has been reduced to something of a landfill, and yet there are people who are don’t believe in global warming! The effects of global warming are so prominent, and on the summit the bare rocks are showing , crevices appearing, while the arctic icecap is melting; and all while the sea levels and temperature are rising! We need to take action as a people to help prevent global warming, and if you aren’t so wasteful; and turn off the lights, that’s fine, but that will barely effect global warming! That isn’t to say you shouldn’t walk to school, or recycle, but doing it alone is almost pointless. To get others to join in with going green is part of the challenge, and not just for Mount Everest. If something isn’t done soon, wonders like Mount Everest will fade into the past, forgotten.

[babyboomerorig]

03:19 PM on 04/07/2011

It amazes me that people would want to climb Mt. Everest and trash it while doing so. That's disgusting....

Although if there's a catastrophe, I guess it can't be helped. If people are just throwing things out to do it, that's total disrespect to both the mountain and the people of Tibet.

[netzwerg]

01:37 PM on 04/06/2011

What will they do with all the bodies? They literally just lie around on the way up where the tourists walk by.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lkrkopC-rKo/S88BNnDnbFI/AAAAAAAABXM/xOlxSXQnkaE/s1600/dead2.jpg

[Karl Gartner]

11:56 PM on 04/06/2011

You read my mind. I think you would have to pay me more than $1.40/kg to carry a dead body down.

[barkingcat]

07:48 AM on 04/09/2011

I was thinking the same.