“Thanks for addressing the issue Doc. “
You really should read the whole article before posting and commenting ....
They should have a strict pack it in & pack it out policy. Make people pay a deposit for everything they take up. If they want their deposit, they’ll have to show that they brought everything back.
Earth Day Aftermath
Photograph by Bob Daugherty/AP
Looking hung over from the first Earth Day, litter-filled parks like the National Mall (Washington Monument pictured) in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 1970, partly negated the previous day’s environmental message.
“This is sadly the reality of too many environmental activists,” said artist Pablo Solomon, who participated in Houston’s 1970 Earth Day events.
“The crowds again are often people looking for something to do or have an axe to grind on some other issue. People should practice what they preach.”
I wonder if environmentalists consider mountains polluted if they are covered with wildlife, their dung, and their carcasses. Animals are killed off, die of natural causes, sometimes partially or completely eaten; their remains and fecal matter decompose scattered on the ground. Is that environmentally hazardous to the mountain?
This completely ignores the fact that, at the elevations/temperatures/other conditions near the Everest summit, (a) there is no other "wildlife," and (b) the trash, bodies, and other things left behind by climbers just remain there. They are not eaten (see point (a)), and they essentially do not decompose. There is a reason that decades-old corpses are used as navigation points up and down the mountain.
“Pack it in, pack it out” is a lot easier said than done when it’s 20 below, blowing gale force, with darkness approaching and only a fraction of normal oxygen. If you seriously think anyone is going to stop on a summit descent to pick up litter, you’re deluded.
The cost of an Everest summit bid is staggering. Let the parasites who are making millions off these expeditions take care of the trash problem. It’s not like they can’t afford it.
BfL
What’s next the pollution that was left on the Moon?
It all depends on perspective. When I was in Mongolia I noticed quite a few old tires along the remote roads and commented how bad that looked. It was then explained to me that they were important safety tools. If you car broke down, you got a cup of gas out of our car and used it to light a tire on fire to send up a signal for help.
Someday one of those mountain climbers is going to be thankful for the junk pile left be hind as he makes a small stove and burns the turds for a little heat to survive...........
I’ve heard about the garbage.
It should be kept clean, or get a fine. There shouldn’t be restrictions on the number of people trying to climb as long as they take out the trash. I hate litter.
Like you, I've seen the photos of trash at basecamp. What people may not realize is that the established routes up the mountain are littered with empty gas canisters, empty oxygen canisters, remains of tents and sleeping bags, and the remains of whatever was used to carry that equipment up the mountain.
Post Krakauer, the rush to climb Everest by people with money and limited climbing experience has exploded. Want to enjoy nature? Climbing Everest isn't that place for nature any longer. You must stand in line.
She died in '82 as part of the first Everest attempt by the Dick Bass/Frank Wells team - Bass being the first man to have climbed the highest mountain on each of the seven continents*.
You come to love her as a character in Bass's nonfiction work Seven Summits. In an instant, in a sentence, she falls two or three miles to her death. As a reader, you're shocked.
*Depending on whether you count Mount Kosciuszko as the highest mountain in the Australian mainland (the "Bass" list) or Carstensz Pyramid (the "Messner" list) in the Australian continent.
SEND IN THE PROS!
Whatever happened to the “pack it in, pack it out” mentality of outdoorsmen?
Think of Everest as the world’s highest landfill.
