Now, Climbers Are Required To Bring Their Faeces Back To Base Camp To 'Save' Mount Everest

For many years now, the area around Mount Everest range has been struggling with the issue of pollution, be it the plastic waste left by mountaineering excursions or the human waste left by the mountaineers as they scale the highest mountain in the world. In a bid to tackle the issue of human waste, the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee has put out a new rule that mandates every climber to bring their faeces back to the base camp in special biodegradable ‘poop bags’. Previously, mountaineers defecated in holes that were dug in the ice. These holes were later covered with snow.

Owing to the freezing climate, the faeces would not decompose. While speaking to BBC, Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, said, “Our mountains have begun to stink. We are getting complaints that human stools are visible on rocks and some climbers are falling sick. This is not acceptable and erodes our image.”

Allan Cohr, an Australian mountaineer and the owner of expedition company Everest One, spoke to the Guardian about how his company is preparing for the rule change. He said that they will be using the waste alleviation gelling bags, also known as WAG bags. These bags have polymer and enzyme gel to absorb any fluid and solidify human waste. The gel also neutralises odour.

Cohr added that all climbers and Sherpas who assist them have to use these bags in “Camp I, Camp III and Camp IV or in any other location where you have to go.” All waste alleviation gelling bags would later be collected at Camp II and then flown out to be properly discarded away from the Everest range.

Mountain climber Alan Arnette who scaled Everest in 2011 expressed doubt about the execution of this rule. He said that Nepal has a long history of making rules about waste management but these rules are rarely enforced. He added, “The wag bags should have been done decades ago. It’s been done on Denali in Alaska, in Aconcagua in Argentina and on Mount Vinson in Antarctica.”

Mingma Sherpa told BBC that they will be stringent in enforcing the new law and said, “The state has always been missing at base camps leading to all kinds of irregularities including people climbing our mountains without permits. This will all change now. We will run a contact office and make sure our new measures, including making climbers bring back their excrement, are implemented.”