Cold & Breathtaking. Climbing 8,848 meters and reaching the top of the world has attracted thousands of travelers to Mount Everest. Located between Nepal and Tibet, the world’s highest mountain is suffering some serious problems with its visitors. The exponential growth of tourism in the region has led to a huge accumulation of garbage and tourist traffic, negatively affecting the experience of the mountaineers and the life of the local community.
THE GREAT DESTINATION
Winds of over 320 km/h and temperatures of minus 70 degrees. The destination has become an attractive challenge for many adventurers, especially after the success of the first climb in 1953 by New Zealander Edgar Edmund and his Nepalese guide Tenzing Norgay. Since then, more than 4,000 people have followed in their footsteps and tried to reach the highest point in the world.
The Sagarmatha National Park administers the place and receives more than 100,000 tourists annually. Mountaineers from all over the world challenge their bodies by facing long hours of walking at extreme altitudes, cold, and the risk of avalanches to reach their great dreams.
WAY UP THE MOUNTAIN
Considered to be an extremely difficult trail, reaching the final line requires good physical preparation and the right equipment, but it also requires an intense infrastructure so that mountaineers spend weeks in camps, resting points, and adapting to the summit.
While they overcome the high altitudes, objects such as empty oxygen cylinders, abandoned tents, and leftover food are left behind along the way. According to National Geographic, each person generates an average of 8 kilos of waste, the problem being that most of it is disposed of on the mountain.
The increase in pollution on the mountain is made even more serious by climate change, which transports contaminated melted snow to rivers in local villages, bringing risks of deadly water-borne diseases such as cholera and hepatitis A to local communities like the Sherpas. Turismologist Beatriz Freire adds: ”The growth in waste generation, which results in irregular disposal, increases the negative impact on the local biome and can lead to everything from a lack of control in the native ecosystem to the intensification of natural disasters – such as avalanches, in this case.
The presence of the Sherpas, people originally from Tibet who live in regions close to Everest, is fundamental to the running of local tourism due to their vast mountaineering skills, in-depth knowledge of the region, and lifestyle adapted to such extreme conditions.
They work as mountain guides, porters, cooks, and support workers for expeditions attempting to climb Everest and other mountains. The Sherpas’ experience and in-depth knowledge of the mountains are invaluable to foreign climbers, as they help guarantee the safety and success of expeditions.
TOURISM AS BUSINESS
As well as environmental worries, the overcrowding of mountaineers during the climbing season, which runs from late April to May, is affecting the reputation and safety of the tourist experience. The crowding on the mountain can be dangerous for climbers who are forced to stand in queues for hours in bitterly cold conditions, walk at reduced speed and when they reach the summit are faced with a lack of space to stand.
Longer stays can bring health risks such as skin burns and hypothermia. And even though the growth of tourist activity has brought enormous economic development to the country that can provide schools, jobs in tourism, and access to health care for the population, the risks and negative effects of environmental impact and security turn the region into a mass tourist site that can threaten both tourism and the local economy.
PRESERVING HERITAGE
To keep the extraordinary beauty of the Ice Mountains, since 2019 the Nepalese government has restricted the number of people to 450 every season, which used to be between 500 and 600. This control of the number of climbers who receive permission to climb the mountain reduces the length of stay and dangerous congestion, as well as minimizing environmental impacts.
To reduce the amount of waste produced and spread on the mountain, the creation of committees such as the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) in 1991 the program still helps to return to controlling waste levels. Managing waste collections from trails and campsites in the national park where Mount Everest stands
Other projects such as the Mount Everest Biogas Project help in the mission to restore the environment and develop more sustainable tourism by providing environmental solutions such as the annual collection of more than 11793.6 kilograms of waste in one of the local villages, converting waste to natural gas for the local community to use for cooking and lighting.
In parallel, existing initiatives are being supported by local communities, including the Sherpas, to manage and conserve Everest, ensuring that they benefit economically from tourism sustainably and preserve their cultural traditions while taking care of the environment they call home.
Reflecting on their continued commitment to preserving this important natural and cultural landmark for future generations.
The article above was edited by Beatriz Gatz.
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