Mount Everest is now to be cleared of garbage at higher elevations as well. The Nepalese Ministry of Tourism has approved a proposal from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC). Starting this season, the proposal requires climbers to carry down two kilograms of garbage – a quarter of the amount mandated for years -from areas above Camp 2 (6,400 meters) to base camp (5,350 meters).
Until now, most Everest climbers had collected the required eight kilograms of trash -excluding empty oxygen cylinders and human waste – below Camp 2 and then deposited it at base camp.
The result: the mountain above, especially Camp 3 (7,200 meters) and Camp 4 on the South Col (8,000 meters), became increasingly littered. Now, SPCC staff at Camp 2 will check whether climbers descending from above are complying with the new regulation.
Teams are no longer allowed to use their own poop bags
Another new regulation is that so-called “poo bags” may only be taken from the registered stocks of the SPCC or the Khumbu regional administration. With this measure, the SPCC aims to prevent expedition teams from using their own poop bags and leaving them on the mountain instead of bringing them back to base camp, as required.
Two years ago, the organization estimated that a total of about three tons of excrement lay between Camp 1 at 6,100 meters and Camp 4 at the South Col – half of it at the South Col, the last camp before the summit.
Waste zone at the South Col for climbers in distress
More and more trash was also accumulating there from climbers who found themselves in emergency situations during their summit attempt, had to descend as quickly as possible, and therefore left behind equipment and waste. In the future, there will be a designated area at Camp 4 where teams in emergency situations can deposit their garbage – to be removed from the mountain the following season.
The Khumbu regional administration “will leave no stone unturned to protect the Everest environment by establishing better coordination among the stakeholders” said its head, Mingma Chhiri Sherpa.