The Waste Implications of Climbing and Trekking on Mount Everest
The number of climbers attempting the summit of Mount Everest has risen drastically since its first ascent in 1953, especially from the early 1990s onwards as a result of commercialised guiding operations. Managing the increasing human and solid waste has become a major issue. The Everest Base Camp does have a waste management systems under operation, but at present there are no systems in place higher up the mountain, where climbers often dig holes in the snow to defecate or drop them in crevasses. Faeces from Camps 1 and 2 have reportedly made their way down further down the mountain along with the fast-moving Khumbu Glacier (Bishop, 2015.) .
Year: 2016
From collection: Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions - Sources and Solutions
Cartographer: Hisham Ashkar