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45 tons of trash to clean up on Everest North?
Jun 15, 2004 21: 18 EST
Published Jun 11, 2004 13: 01 EST
The China Daily reported Monday that a group of about 100 volunteers is planning in September to clear away waste that has accumulated above 6,500 meters on Everest.
Chinese researchers say 615 tons of waste has been left on Everest between 1921 and 1999, and that in recent years the amount has been growing by an annual rate of 45 tons.
An estimated 300 climbers were on Everest North this year. By the figures released from the Chinese researchers that would break down to about 408 pounds or 150 kilograms per climber.
From ABC (6400m) and up, where the Chinese now plan to clean, a climber manages to bring only the bare essentials due to the high altitude.
Food and gas for an average of a 20 day stay is about 20kg (54lbs) in total. 5 empty oxygen canisters, the average a climber will consume, weigh about 10Kg. Tents, sleeping bags and other gear (items that are almost always brought back down due to their value) average about 10Kg per person. That means for each climber above 6400m about 50Kg (134lbs) is represented, and most of that is brought back down or consumed.
This totals an estimate of around 4,500 kg/12,000 lbs in total left by all climbers each year above 6400 - IF they leave ALL canisters and some gear. A far cry from the 41,000 kgs estimated by the Chinese.
Based on these figures the Chinese researchers must be calculating some additional source of trash. Beyond the climbers on Everest, many trekkers and locals visit BC each season. However, the volunteers plan to clean above 6400m only.
In addition, comments from people who have been to BC in recent years indicate that the area is clean.
Annie Seel, Sweden’s ‘Rally Princess’ returned from her ride to Everest’s North side Base Camp last September and commented; "I didn't quite know what to expect when reaching BC, but I was positively surprised that the BC looked clean, and no garbage flying around the area.”
On Everest South last September was The Berg Adventures team who said that there was no sign of last spring’s teams in Base Camp – all the stone tent platforms crumbled as the moraine shifted and there was not one spec of trash.
On Everest North, ABC is at 6400m. Speaking to climbers who have just returned from Everest North, ExWeb asked about the trash situation:
C1 on the North Col (~7100m) is “fine, very clean.”
C2 (7800m) on the other hand has some wrecked tents, and food wrappers.”
C3 has "oxygen bottles and tents but is not bad."
In these camps space is limited for sites, so year after year climbers set their tents in the nearly the same location as previous expeditions.
Another interesting comparison is to other popular peaks:
In 2003, Everest 8848
had 260 summits (139 Sherpas) 121 non-native climbers (Jubilee Year)
To compare;
Mount McKinley, 6194m
had 688 summits
And Mont Blanc, 4807
has an estimated 200 summits PER DAY in season.
Everest: .05 Summiteers per climbable altitude m.
Denali: .17 Summiteers per climbable altitude m.
Blanc: 9.09 Summiteers per climbable altitude m.
Whilst there have been plenty widely publicized "cleaning expeditions" to Everest over the past 5 years, there have been no reports of such to mountains like Denali or Mont Blanc.
Image of Everest North BC, Chinese camp from 2000, courtesy of Barrabes.
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