55 / 92
55
2013
2011
2009
2007
2005
2003
2001
1999
1997
1995
1993
1991
1989
1987
1985
1983
1981
1979
1977
1975
1973
1971
1969
1967
1965
1963
1961
1959
1957
1955
1953
0
40
20
60
80
100
150
200
300
400
500
600
Settlement
Camp
Dry sanitary facility
Southern route
Northern route
Human waste carried
Human waste leaking
into glacier
Sources: Bishop B. (2015) “Peak Poop: The Feces Problem on Everest Needs a Solution,”
Outside
; The Himalayan Database
,http://www.himalayandatabase.com/; GlaciersWorks,
http://glacierworks.org/; Mt. Everest Biogas Project,
http://mteverestbiogasproject.orgNUMBER OF ASCENTS
OF MOUNT EVEREST
BY YEAR
THE WASTE IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMBING & TREKKING
ON MOUNT EVEREST
NEPAL
Mt. Everest
CHINA
INDIA
E
v
e
r
y
y
e
a
r
,
1
2
0
0
0
k
g
o
f
h
u
m
a
n
w
a
s
t
e
a
r
e
c
a
r
r
i
e
d
f
r
o
m
b
a
s
e
c
a
m
p
&
d
u
m
p
e
d
i
n
G
o
r
a
k
S
h
e
p
KHUMBU ICEFALL
KHUMBU GLACIER
KHUMBU GLACIER
CHINA
NEPAL
Mount Everest
Sagarmatha
(8848m)
Mount Lhotse
(8516m)
Mount Nuptse
(7861m)
Base Camp
(5360m)
more than
3200
visitors
in 2013
Gorak Shep
(5160m)
Waste collected from base camps is dumped in open pits
A biogas project to treat collected waste is under development
Camp 1
(5940m)
Camp 2
(6400m)
Camp 3
(7200m)
Camp 4
(8000m)
WC
WC
WC
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.)