Everest: Nepal will remove garbage and corpses from the world's highest mountain

Ahead of the 2024 Himalayan climbing season, another high-altitude project is in the works: removing tons of trash from Mount Everest.

According to the Nepalese army, between 2019, when the program started, and 2023, 110 tons of garbage were collected as part of the mountain cleanup campaign.

The Army, which is running the clean-up initiative in partnership with multinational brand Unilever, will again lead the campaign this year.

Twelve troops, supported by 18 Sherpas, will arrive at Everest Base Camp on April 14, to begin work.

In a statement, the army said that in addition to removing about 10 tons of debris, it plans to remove five corpses from the mountain. These are the bodies of climbers who died while trying to conquer the highest peak in the world.

In 2023, 12 climbers were confirmed to have died on Everest, and five more were officially listed as missing.

Nowadays, most of those attempting to climb the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) Himalayan peak do so via Nepal.

Last year, the Nepalese government issued a record number of permits to climb Everest - 478. However, this is not the total number of people who will be on the mountain, since Sherpa guides are present along with the climbing groups, maintenance personnel and other people.

As a result, overcrowding and garbage have become two of the biggest problems facing Everest in recent years.

One of the biggest environmental problems are human waste.

The 2024 climbing season will be the first in which all climbers will be required to use government-provided poo bags and bring waste from high-altitude camps.

“Each person produces 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of excrement per day, and they will spend two weeks in the upper camps for the climb,” Diwas Pokhrel, first vice president of the Everest Climbing Association, told CNN last month.

In addition, in 2024, all Everest climbers will be issued tracking chips, which can help in search and rescue operations.

Source: cnn.com