‘Super Sherpa’ climbs to clean up Everest

NEPAL: Apa Sherpa has stood on top of the world more times than anyone in history, and now he is heading back up Mount Everest, not for the fame or glory, but in the name of environmental protection.

Apa, 49, has become increasingly concerned about the damage inflicted on the world’s highest mountain by both climate change and the waste left by careless climbers.

This spring season he hopes to conquer Everest for the 19th time, and he will use the trip to focus attention on how climate change is affecting the Himalayas — and also bring back down as much rubbish as he can carry.

“I am not looking for recognition or doing this just to beat my own record. My objective is to highlight the environmental degradation of the mountain and draw attention to the issue of global warming,” he told AFP. Decades of expeditions have left Everest less than pristine, with discarded equipment, food containers, human excrement and even the corpses of unlucky adventurers littering its slopes.

And in one stark example of how the mountain has been hit by global warming, climbers have observed the steady break-up of the Khumbu icefall, a treacherous maze of cliffs and crevasses on the southern side of the peak.

Kathmandu, Monday, AFP