Mountaineers have turned the Himalayas into a ‘giant garbage can’ according to a conservationist on a mission to clean up the range.
Luc Boisnard, 53, said the climbers also dumped debris onto the glaciers where they “would reemerge in 200 years,” according to The Times.
The climber, who was part of an expedition that removed 3.7 tonnes of debris from Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest peak and Annapurna, the 10th-highest, founded Himalayan Clean-Up, a community clean-up campaign to raise awareness about pollution of the Himalayas, after a previous expedition in 2010 to remove a ton of debris from Everest.
Footage from the expedition shows Boisnard and his team walking through piles of debris, including plastic bottles, sanitary napkins and abandoned tents.
‘Behind each rock you find piles of oxygen bottles, cans, tarpaulins and shoes. It’s really appalling,” said the Frenchman, adding that 45 percent of the waste was plastic.
Mountaineers have turned the Himalayas into a ‘giant garbage can’ according to a conservationist on a mission to clean up the range.
Boisnard had been climbing Makalu, located 12 miles southeast of Mount Everest in the Mahalangur Himalayas, with ten Sherpas, two Nepalese high-altitude specialists and five garbage cooks, but was forced to abandon after developing an infection. pulmonary.
It comes after Nepalese authorities introduced a law in 2014 that requires climbers to leave a “garbage bin” before their ascents.
The fee is 528,000 Nepalese rupees (£3,238) for Everest and 396,300 (£2,428) for other summits over 26,250 feet.
If the climbers lower the 8 kg of waste they produce, the money is returned.
However, critics have argued that the scheme is ineffective.
A 2022 analysis by the University of Lincoln found that the Garbage Deposit Scheme (GDS) “has not achieved desired goals in waste management, particularly due to its low level of acceptance among stakeholders and low level of support.” government,” according to Tsewang Nuru Sherpa.
Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, who appears in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, which details his attempt to clear every peak higher than 8,000 meters (26,250 feet), is also alerting people to the pollution problem. in the Himalayas.
Nepalese authorities introduced a law in 2014 that requires climbers to leave a “garbage bin” before ascending.
The fee is 528,000 Nepalese rupees (£3,238) for Everest and 396,300 (£2,428) for other summits over 26,250 feet
Purja has launched the Big Mountain Clean-up project, and he and his team, Nimsdai, removed 500kg of debris two years ago from Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest mountain.
According to the Nimsdai website, the project “takes a zero-tolerance approach to the waste generated by the increasingly popular expedition culture that is now having a detrimental impact on those living in and around the mountains.”
The waste, according to observers, is a by-product of this ‘expedition culture’, with around 600 people climbing Everest each year, and large numbers climbing other summits as well.
A total of 145 climbers climbed K2, the world’s second highest mountain, in a single day last year.
Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Everest in 1984, has responded to what she calls the growing commercial nature of Everest, which she says now attracts wealthy but increasingly incompetent climbers.
“Now anyone with the money can climb like a tourist spot, with 600 people climbing every year. It’s crazy,” he told The Times of India.
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