For some adventurers, scaling Mount Everest represents the ultimate test of grit and determination: a visual signifier of humanity’s epic struggle to overcome the elements. For others, the peak can seem more like a really tall trash can.
Every year, around 600 climbers make the trek from the mountain’s base camp to the summit. During their time on Everest, each person produces an estimated 18 pounds of waste, most of which is left behind. Climbers have reported shimmying past the frozen remains of food containers, oxygen tanks, beer cans, and plenty of ice-cold human excrement. Just last year, the Nepalese government and local Sherpas reportedly removed 24,000 pounds of trash and frozen corpses from the mountain’s slopes.
Currently, most of the waste collection is painstakingly done by hand in freezing temperatures. But a new approach using drones could make the process safer and far more efficient. Airlift Ventures, a Nepal-based company, is using several Chinese-made DJI FlyCart 30 drones to remotely fly to camps, retrieve trash from workers, and transport it back down the mountain for removal. During the most recent climbing season, according to a recent report from AFP, Airlift’s drones carried away 660 pounds of trash from the mountain’s Base Camp 1. The drones are also already being used to deliver ladders, oxygen tanks, and other critical supplies to camps. (Airlift Technology did not immediately respond to Popular Science’s request for comment.)
Drones function like miniature, flying garbage trucks
Each of Airlift’s DJI drones can haul up to 15 kilograms (about 33 pounds) of trash at a time. Though they might look like slightly larger versions of the hobby drones you might see at the beach, they are far pricier. Each DJI FlyCart 30 retails for around $20,000, though Bloomberg notes that Airlift likely received their models at a significant discount from DJI. The drones can operate in temperatures as low as -4°F and withstand wind gusts of up to 25 miles per hour. Beyond Everest, the drones have also been used to remove 1,413 pounds of trash from Mount Ama Dablam in the eastern Himalaya mountains in Koshi Province, Nepal.
“In just 10 minutes, a drone can carry as much garbage as 10 people would take six hours to carry,” Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee chief Tshering Sherpa said in an interview with AFP.
On Everest, the drones were also used this season to deliver materials to base camps. These deliveries took place at over 6,000 meters (19,685 feet), which Airlift claims is a record for the highest-altitude drone delivery. Sherpas tasked with collecting the materials then clip garbage bags filled with trash onto the drones for the return trip. A local Sherpa speaking with Bloomberg estimates that as much as 70% of the garbage typically carried down the mountain on foot was removed by drones this year.
The battle to clean up Mount EverestÂ
Mount Everest’s waste problem has been brewing for years. Since the 1950s, more than 4,000 people have reportedly summited the world’s highest peak. Sagarmatha National Park, which encompasses the mountain region of Nepal where Everest is located, attracts over 100,000 visitors annually. This influx has led to overcrowding—and now-infamous photos of climbers waiting in single file, sometimes for hours, as they slowly inch up the mountain’s path. Increasingly, that path is littered with the accumulated detritus of climbers past.
In 2019, the Nepali government launched an initiative aimed at removing 22,000 pounds of trash from Mount Everest. They also introduced a system requiring climbers to pay a $4,000 deposit, which is refunded if they return from the climb with at least 18 pounds of waste. In reality, Nepal could likely stem the growing tide of trash on Everest by limiting the number of tourists allowed to climb, but the country relies on those permits as a crucial source of revenue.
[ Related: New DJI drone policy could fuel even more conspiracy theories ]
Airlift said in a statement it plans to keep its buzzing garbage trucks running for future climbing seasons in an effort to rid Everest of its reputation as the “world’s highest garbage dump.” It’s also planning to test future drone deliveries on Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest peak located in central-west Nepal. The solution isn’t perfect though. Thin air and unpredictable wind flurries at the highest parts of Everest prevent the drones from operating at some of the last camps leading to the top of the mountain. That means climbers committed to making their way to the summit will likely still have to watch their step to avoid frozen feces for the foreseeable future.Â
Airlift said it plans to keep its buzzing garbage-hauling drones running in future climbing seasons, in an effort to rid Everest of its reputation as the “world’s highest garbage dump.” The company also plans to test future drone deliveries on Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest peak.Â
The solution isn’t perfect, though. Thin air and unpredictable wind flurries near Everest’s highest elevations prevent the drones from operating at some of the final camps leading to the summit. That means climbers determined to reach the top will, for the foreseeable future, still need to watch their step to avoid frozen feces.
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