KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Hundreds of climbers, mountaineers and officials gathered in Kathmandu on Wednesday to discuss the risks of scaling Mount Everest at a time of warming temperatures and as a surge in climbers creates new challenges, including the garbage they leave behind.
The “Everest Summiteers Summit” in Nepal's capital was held during what is believed to be the most crowded season ever on the world's highest peak, with hundreds of climbers
and their Sherpa guides scaling the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak in just a few days this month.
Nepal issued a record 494 permits for foreign climbers this season, with the number of people who reached the summit believed to be more than 900. That would be the highest number to ever reach the summit during the spring climbing season. The final official number will be available only later.
A sherpa guide who recently achieved the a record of the most ascents — 32 — warned that the numbers are creating problems.
“Nepal should only allow no more than 250 climbers that are issued permit to climb from the Nepal side,” Kami Rita Sherpa said. “It will be good if the government was to limit the number.”
In recent times photos shared from the mountain have shown lines of hundreds of climbers stuck in traffic jams, clipped to fixed ropes and waiting for the chance to reach the summit.
With hundreds of climbers, their guides and workers, there are some 3,000 people living on Mount Everest during the climbing season, which ends this month. It has remained a challenge to remove all their waste when tents are pulled down.
There are strict government rules requiring climbers to remove their garbage but much gets left behind anyway. Climbers say keeping the mountain pristine should remain a priority.
“We should take the rubbish from the mountain and we should protect our Himalayas,” said He Jing, a renowned Chinese climber.
Currently anyone can apply for permit as long as they pay $15,000 to the government as a permit fee.
But now the Nepalese government is working on new regulations requiring them to have experience.
Nathaniel Douglas, a climber from Seattle, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the conference that he sees people who have never climbed a mountain who hope to scale Everest after seeing images on social media.
“So they really don’t understand what mountaineering is, like what it actually takes to summit Mount Everest and get back down safely,” he said.
British mountaineer Adriana Brownlee, the youngest woman to climb all 14 highest peaks, said the weather on the mountains was getting warmer, increasing the risks for climbers.
“Every year the (Khumbu) Icefall seems more unstable because of global warming,” she said. adding that water underneath is melting faster, causing the seracs — blocks of ice — to fall much easier because of the movement underneath.
A huge serac hanging dangerously over the route just above the base camp forced climbers to delay their climb last month.
