German Elder Climbs Everest to Clean Up Trash

   　Paul Schurren is already 68 years old. As a teenager, he read about Mount Everest in books. As an adult, this German has consistently run marathons, practiced rope climbing on ice rinks, and has successfully conquered Mount Kilimanjaro at 5,893 meters above sea level and Argentina’s Aconcagua at 6,962 meters.

　　But ultimately, this German came all the way to the Himalayas—not to fulfill his dream of reaching the summit, but to climb up and clean up the mountain’s trash.

　　What kind of spirit is this?

　　Alright, let’s put the discussion of spirit aside for a moment. In fact, although aerial photos show Everest covered in snow, climbers know that it hides a massive amount of trash—“it’s practically the highest garbage dump in the world.”

　　It is widely believed that in 1953, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary achieved the first human conquest of Everest. During the perilous journey, Hillary hired 1,200 porters to carry equipment, with each climber’s oxygen bottle weighing 15 kilograms, and even the coins used for shopping along the way filled up 25 wooden boxes. Hillary admitted that he left that equipment on Everest, and thousands who summited after him did the same.

　　According to statistics, from 1921 to 1999, a total of 615 tons of trash were discarded on this sacred snow mountain. A top Nepalese explorer found that people had left behind oxygen bottles, prayer flags, ropes, and worn-out tents. Sometimes, even tuna can lids were blatantly lying on snowfields just a dozen minutes’ walk from nearby villages. “And as far as I know, there are two bodies of failed mountaineers that have been there for a year. The roof of the world is losing its beauty.”

　　Compared to the past, today’s explorers are more conscious of their behavior. They are required to pay a 4,000 USD deposit before summiting, promising to leave nothing behind except footprints. However, an official from the local Pollution Control Committee stated, “Mountain enthusiasts are often careless. Although they bring trash bags, they still leave all kinds of waste behind.” During the annual mountaineering season, about 30,000 climbers and tourists visit the Everest region. Calculating six liters of water carried per person per day, the number of discarded mineral water bottles alone is “staggering.”

　　The cold weather there also greatly extends the decomposition time of trash. People may find tin cans from 1962 on Everest, and sometimes, a single step in crampons will hit a can discarded 20 or 30 years ago. The exterior of that trash was once wrapped in thick layers of ice, but with the intensification of global warming, these waste materials are resurfacing.

　　Schurren is not the only mountaineer concerned about this issue. More than a decade ago, a group of 44 people from Japan, South Korea, Georgia, and other countries formed the High Mountain Cleanup Team. Its founder, Ken Noguchi, found that “mountaineering teams that litter on the mountain often have serious environmental issues in their own countries, while those who care for the mountain environment come from very clean countries.”

　　Last year, the Nepalese government and civil organizations launched the “Save Everest Waste Management 2011 Campaign.” The activity lasted over a month, with participants including 29 highly trained Nepalese mountaineers, 65 porters, and 75 yaks.

　　The mountaineers climbed over 8,000 meters on the snow mountain to collect 8 tons of trash, which was then transported by porters and yaks to the town of Namche Bazaar at 3,440 meters above sea level. Trash including helicopter wreckage, woven bags, and ropes was either processed on-site or transported to Kathmandu, with items of particular commemorative value going to museums.

　　The area cleaned by these sanitation workers is the so-called “death zone” on Everest. The air is thin, and in 2006 alone, 11 climbers died there, with their bodies left in place. The brave team entered the death zone in groups multiple times, aiming to bring back 15 kilograms of trash per person per trip.

　　Before ascending, they told the media full of ambition: “The risks we face are huge. Despite extremely complex weather, cold, and blizzards, we are confident in completing the challenge.”

　　Mountaineer Schurren is no exception. This year, his Eco-Everest Expedition team carried heavy food and equipment to Camp 2 at 7,200 meters, collected trash, and returned the same way. Since 2008, this team has collected 13 tons of trash, including several hundred kilograms of feces and several bodies.

　　He can understand why there is so much trash on this high mountain. “On Mount Everest, once you reach a certain altitude, you focus all your energy on climbing or safely returning. You don’t even have the energy to think about anything else besides preserving your own life.” He knows that oxygen bottles that have run out of air become a heavy burden for climbers, and the tents used along the way are often surrounded by blizzards. Generally speaking, exhausted explorers simply don’t have the strength to drag such heavy trash down the mountain.

　　But many “Everest cleaners” still hope to use their actions to awaken the environmental awareness of climbers as much as possible. They say, “Please do not desecrate its sanctity. After all, we only have one rooftop of the world!”