3 mountain climbers were killed while climbing Everest, after a group of people got stuck in the line leading to the summit of the highest mountain in the world/Reuters, edited by Tomer Levy
Are you considering climbing Mount Everest in the future?
Well, you'll probably have to come back from the highest peak in the world with a bag of... poo.
It turns out that the summit of Everest has become an "open toilet", with environmental experts warning that there are over 3 tons of human excrement accumulated on the summit.
"Our mountains are starting to stink. We get complaints that people sit on the top and shit and other climbers get sick from it," Mingma Sherpa, chairman of the Pasang Lehmo village council, told the BBC. "This is unacceptable and hurts our image."
So what do we do to prevent the smelly phenomenon?
Climbers who set out to conquer the summit of Everest, the highest mountain in the world (although there are those who doubt it), and the nearby Lahotsa peak, will now have to purchase special bags for the needs at the base camp and upon their return inspectors will check that they are full.
All this because the climbers produce around 250 grams of feces per day, when most of them are about two weeks into climbing the peaks and very few of them are equipped with excrement bags in advance.
Chiring Sherpa, who leads a protest group against pollution on Everest, said: "We plan to give the climbers two bags, each of which can be used five or six times."
He explained that most climbers dig a hole on the peaks and shit there, but the higher you go, there are places with less snow and the possibility to dig, so you have to shit in the open.
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The summit of Everest - not only the view is challenging: how do you defecate at high altitude?
Climbing the summit of Everest poses many physical and mental challenges to the climbers, but there is also a different kind of challenge - how do you go to the bathroom at such heights?
At the base camp, where the climbers get used to the altitude and the thin air, there are separate tents for toilets, with barrels for collecting the excrement.
However, as soon as they start the dangerous climb, the situation becomes more complex. As mentioned, most of the climbers and the support team usually dig a pit, but the higher you climb, the less snow covers the ground, and in some places there is no choice but to defecate in the open.
Unfortunately, very few climbers bring biodegradable bags with them to collect their feces on the way to the summit. Waste in general, and feces in particular, are a serious problem on Mount Everest and other mountains in the region, even though there are more and more cleanup initiatives, including an annual cleanup operation led by the Nepalese army.
"Waste is a significant issue, especially in the higher altitude camps that are difficult to reach," says Chiring Sherpa.
Although there is no official number, his organization estimates that there are about 3 tons of human excrement between Camp 1 at the bottom of Everest and Camp 4, which is closer to the summit.
"Half of this amount is estimated to be in the southern camp, also known as Camp 4," says the Sherpa.
Stefan Keck, an international mountain climbing guide who also organizes expeditions to Everest, noted that the South Camp was nicknamed "open public toilets".
At an altitude of 7,906 meters, South Camp serves as the last base before climbers try to reach the summits of Everest and Hotsa.
With the approval of the Pasang Lehmu Village Council, approximately 8,000 biodegradable excrement bags have now been purchased from the US to be used by the approximately 400 foreign climbers and 800 support staff members in the upcoming climbing season that will begin in March. These bags contain powdered substances that harden human excrement and neutralize its odor to a certain extent a lot
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