http://science.time.com/...
But the tiresome, dangerous crowds aren’t the only problems on Everest. All those climbers need to bring a lot of gear—and much of that gear ends up being left on the mountain, sometimes even the summit itself. Mt. Everest—once the most remote and forbidding spot on the planet—is becoming the world’s tallest trash heap.
Here’s the mountaineer Mark Jenkins writing in National Geographic about the state of Everest:
The two standard routes, the Northeast Ridge and the Southeast Ridge, are not only dangerously crowded but also disgustingly polluted, with garbage leaking out of the glaciers and pyramids of human excrement befouling the high camps.
Expedition teams have left empty oxygen canisters, torn tents and other leftover equipment along the paths that lead from base camp to the summit. And because Everest is so cold and icy, the waste that’s left there, stays there, preserved for all time.
You can’t necessarily blame the climbers, especially inexperienced ones, for their littering habit. Even under the best conditions, climbing the tallest mountain in the world is exhausting, dangerous work. Dropping used supplies on the mountain rather than carrying it with them can save vital energy and weight. It’s not exactly equivalent to tossing a beer can in a city park. But the accumulated trash is still steadily ruining one of the most unique places on Earth. “You are surrounded by filth,” the mountaineer Paul Thelan told Germany’s Die Welt recently.
The association estimates that there might still be 10 tons of trash left on the mountain, and if the numbers of climbers on Everest keeps increasing, that figure will only grow. There’s no beating Hillary and Norgay, who pulled off a feat 60 years ago that many thought was physically impossible. But at least the thousands of climbers who have followed in their footsteps can take better care of this magnificent mountain.
People have the best of intentions, things turn out to be much harder than they thought and then things start to get dumped. Maybe some mandatory training would help.