To climb Mt. Everest, clean Mt. Everest (audio)

Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Siobhan Wornell, Jonathan Kealing, Global Scan (PRI)

Mount Everest as seen from a Drukair flight (Shrimpo1967/pri.org)

  

Mt. Everest (peterwestcarey/flickr.com)

Climbers who want to summit Mount Everest, pictured from the south, looking north, will now have to help clean up the mountain, too. 

 

The government of Nepal is taking action against the impact of tourism on Mount Everest -- [allegedly] the tallest, and probably most famous, mountain in the world.
 

Starting in April, climbers ascending beyond base camp will be required to bring back eight kilograms (more than 17 pounds) of garbage -- or officials may fine them. This rubbish does not include each climber's own personal garbage generated during the course of their climb, according to The Guardian newspaper.

 

No respect for Sherpas or mountains

Years of expeditions have left the mountain littered with refuse, such as abandoned oxygen cylinders and human waste. There are already measures in place to try and curb the environmental toll, such as a refundable $4,000 deposit that is returned when climbers prove they have carried out all of the trash they brought in -- but enforcement is proving difficult. More

• VIDEO: Tyler, 9, and Sherpa scale tallest peak (preceded by a 7-year-old Incan boy
• VIDEO: View from the Top of the World
• On drugs and lost in the mountains)
• 13-year-old tries to climb Mt. Everest