The highest camp on the world’s tallest mountain is littered with rubbish that is going to take years to clean up, according to a sherpa who led a team that worked to clear litter and dig up dead bodies frozen for years near Mount Everest’s peak.
The Nepal government-funded team of soldiers and sherpas removed 11 tons of waste, four dead bodies and a skeleton from Everest during this year’s climbing season.
Ang Babu Sherpa, who led the team of sherpas, said there could be as much as 40-50 tons of rubbish still at South Col, the last camp before climbers make their attempt on the summit.
“The garbage left there was mostly old tents, some food packaging and gas cartridges, oxygen bottles, tent packs, and ropes used for climbing and tying up tents,” he said, adding that the garbage is in layers and frozen at the 8,000-metre altitude where the South Col camp is located.
Since the peak was first conquered in 1953, thousands of climbers have scaled it and many have left behind more than just their footprints.
In recent years, a government requirement that climbers bring back their detritus or lose their deposits, along with increased awareness among climbers about the environment, have significantly reduced the amount of garbage left behind.
However, that was not the case in earlier decades.
“Most of the garbage is from older expeditions,” Ang Babu said.
The sherpas on the team collected refuse and bodies from the higher-attitude areas, while the soldiers worked at lower levels and the base camp area for weeks during the popular spring climbing season, when weather conditions are more favourable.
Ang Babu said the weather was a big challenge for their work in the South Col area, where oxygen levels are about one-third the normal amount, winds can quickly turn to blizzard conditions and temperatures plunge.
“We had to wait for good weather when the sun would melt the ice cover.
“But waiting a long time in that attitude and conditions is just not possible,” he said.
“It’s difficult to stay for long with the oxygen level very low.”
Digging out the waste is also a big task, since it is frozen inside ice and breaking the blocks is not easy.
It took two days to dig out one body near the South Col which was frozen in a standing position deep in the ice, he said. Part way through, the team had to retreat to lower camps because of the deteriorating weather, and then resume after it improved.
Another body was much higher up at 8,400 metres (27,720 feet) and it took 18 hours to drag it to Camp 2, where a helicopter picked it up.
The bodies were flown to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for identification.
Of the 11 tons of refuse removed, three tons of decomposable items were taken to villages near Everest’s base and the remaining eight were carried by porters and yaks and then taken by lorries to Kathmandu.
There it was sorted for recycling at a facility operated by Agni Ventures, an agency that manages recyclable waste.
“The oldest waste we received was from 1957, and that was rechargeable batteries for torch lights,” said Sushil Khadga of the agency.
Asked why climbers leave rubbish behind, Mr Khadga said: “At that high altitude, life is very difficult and oxygen is very low.
“So climbers and their helpers are more focused on saving themselves.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel