Nepal's armed forces conducted a large-scale operation to clear the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest, as well as two other peaks of the country, Nuptse and Lhotse. Tons of trash, four corpses and skeletal remains were removed as part of the 55-day Save the Himalayas campaign.
Prabhu Ram Sharma, chief of staff of the Nepalese army, said that all these finds were made on the peaks of the Himalayas "under adverse weather conditions". He emphasized that this was not just an achievement mission but also a readiness mission where the Army demonstrated its ability to accomplish the tasks at hand.
Every year, hundreds of climbers try to conquer the summit, leaving behind mountains of garbage and turning Everest into "the world's highest garbage dump." Each of them throws away an average of 8 kg of garbage, which includes oxygen cylinders, tents, food containers and even human waste. Together, this amounts to almost five tons for each climbing season (March-May). According to the calculations of ecologists, more than 50 tons of garbage and more than 200 corpses are buried on the mountain.
Since 2019, Nepal's military has been conducting annual Mount Everest clean-up campaigns amid concerns about the climate crisis threatening the existence of the world's highest mountain. During five years, 119 tons of garbage, 14 human corpses and several skeletal remains were collected.
To reduce the amount of waste, the Nepalese government has required climbers to bring their excrement back to base camp in special faecal bags after climbing. Local authorities have announced that climbers must purchase these bags at base camp and they will be checked upon their return.
