Summiting Mount Everest is not only a major achievement of human endurance; It also requires a lot of preparation, knowledge, and environmental awareness.
Prospective climbers need to meet prerequisites, undergo a brutal training regimen, and spend a lot of money to attempt it.
However, you’d never expect to take a look at a short video shared on Reddit’s r/InterestingAsF***. (If the video doesn’t appear, click here to watch it.)
It’s unclear exactly where on Mount Everest the footage was taken, but the conditions described would be unacceptable in any natural environment.
“Everest is littered with waste, including large amounts of human waste,” reads the post’s caption. While the narrator’s breathless comments are difficult to hear over the wind, the words “dirty camp” are clearly audible.
Abandoned tents, discarded climbing equipment and mountains of trash comparable to Mount Everest are everywhere.
As National Geographic points out, Everest was first climbed in 1953, and in the decades that followed, it became “the world’s highest garbage dump.” The outlet added that the wider Sagarmatha National Park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979.
UNESCO’s Cleaning Everest page published in 2013 explains that commercially organized expeditions began in the 1980s, and with them came waste management issues.
Climbing Everest is notoriously deadly, with the mortality rate for all climbers ranging from 1% to 6%. Historically, these ecological impacts have been partly attributed to a focus on survival—but that doesn’t mean the problem isn’t serious.
“Pollution in the Himalayas threatens water access and consumption, as glaciers feed Asia’s largest rivers, used by more than 2 billion people,” UNESCO said.
Ruin, deforestation and unnatural pressure on footpaths and natural resources have taken a toll on the area, with up to 1,000 people attempting the climb each year.
According to National Geographic, each climber generates about 18 pounds of waste, and “much of it stays on the mountain,” leaving the mess to locals.
Veteran hikers stress the importance of sustainable adventure to those considering the journey, but questions remain, with Reddit users shocked by the clip.
“Really don’t understand the concept of people littering in nature. If you have space to take it away, you have space to take it away,” one commenter said.
“The extremely wealthy are toxic to society… these people have never taken out the trash in their lives,” another commented, referring to the high cost of climbing Mount Everest.
“Humanity is a plague. This is so disgusting and so sad,” said a third.
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