Mt Everest, with 8848m, the highest mountain on the planet. A living goddess for different religions and cultures. This beautiful mountain is also known as the highest pile of garbage in the world. Now, let's say that this is a bit exaggerated, but it's true that many international mountaineering expeditions and climbers have left their used and broken gear through the years. We’re talking about tents, oxygen bottles, gas cylinders, wrapping materials, climbing rope, etc. Besides the garbage, several dead bodies still remain at different places on the mountain. The Nepalese people are aware of it, they don't like it and they feel embarrassed. With the tourism year of 2011 ahead, one experienced high altitude Sherpa decided to do something about it…Namgyal Sherpa, the Nepalese project director, has been leading a project team of highly driven Nepalese professionals to setup this new cleaning expedition. Their goal? To clean up everything above the death zone (8000m). That's easier said than done, in fact, it’s a very difficult undertaking at a very extreme altitude. That's why they called it the Extreme Everest Expedition.
The expedition is planned in April/May/June 2010 and 20 experienced climbing Sherpa's are included. There is only one 'but'... and that's the money. Will they be able to get enough money to finance this national project? Yes, the government and private companies are already involved, but it's still a long way...
We'll be in Kathmandu and on Everest as independant reporters to write about this great Sherpa initiative. Let's see how it goes and let us know what you think!
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