For some adventurers, Mount Everest scaling represents the ultimate test of grain and determination: a visual signifier of the epic struggle of humanity to overcome the elements. For others, the peak can look more like a really large trash can.
Each year, around 600 climbers make the base of the mountain base camp at the top. During their time on Everest, each person produces around 18 pounds of waste, most of which are left behind. The climbers have reported a turn of frozen remains of food containers, oxygen tanks, beer cans and many frozen human excrement. Last year, the Nepalese government and local sherpas would have withdrawn 24,000 pounds of waste corpses and frost on the mountain slopes.
Currently, most of the waste collection is meticulously carried out by hand in icy temperatures. But a new approach using drones could make the process safer and much more efficient. Airlift Ventures, a company in Nepal, uses several DJI Flycart 30 drones of Chinese manufacturing to go to camps remotely, recover workers’ waste and transport it to the mountain for withdrawal. During the last escalation season, according to a recent report AFPAirlift drones have won 660 pounds of waste camps in the mountain base 1. Drons are also already used to deliver ladders, oxygen tanks and other critical camps to the camps. (Air transport technology did not immediately respond to Popular sciences comment request.)
Drones work like miniatures, flying garbage trucks
Each DJI drones of Airlift can transport up to 15 kilograms (approximately 33 pounds) of waste at a time. Although they can look like slightly larger versions of hobby drones you might see at the beach, they are much more expensive. Each DJI Flycart 30 sells for about $ 20,000 Bloomberg Note that Ultift probably received its models to a significant discount from DJI. Drones can operate at temperatures as low as -4 ° F and withstand gusts of wind up to 25 miles per hour. Beyond Everest, drones were also used to eliminate 1,413 pounds of Mount Ama Dablam waste in the East Himalaya mountains in the province of Koshi, Nepal.
“In just 10 minutes, a drone can transport as much waste that 10 people would take six hours to wear,” said the head of the Sagarmatha pollution control committee, Tshering Sherpa, in an AFP interview.
On Everest, drones have also been used this season to deliver materials to basic camps. These deliveries took place at more than 6,000 meters (19,685 feet), which, according to Anglift, is a record for the delivery of drones of the highest altitude. Sherpas responsible for collecting the materials and then cutting garbage bags filled with waste on drones for the return trip. A local sherpa speaking with Bloomberg Considers that up to 70% of garbage generally transported the mountain on foot was removed by drones this year.
Battle to clean Mont Everest
The Mount Everest waste problem has been preparing for years. Since the 1950s, more than 4,000 people have invited the highest peak in the world. The Sagarmatha National Park, which includes the Nepal mountain region where the Everest is located, attracts more than 100,000 visitors per year. This influx has led to overcrowding – and now infamous photos of climbers who were waiting in a single file, sometimes for hours, while they go slowly on the mountain path. Increasingly, this path is strewn with the accumulated detritus of past climbers.
In 2019, the Nepalese government launched an initiative aimed at withdrawing 22,000 pounds of waste from Mont Everest. They also introduced a system forcing climbers to pay a deposit of $ 4,000, which is reimbursed if they come back from the climb with at least 18 pounds of waste. In reality, Nepal could probably stem the growing wave of waste on Everest by limiting the number of tourists authorized to climb, but the country is based on these permits as a crucial source of income.
[ Related: New DJI drone policy could fuel even more conspiracy theories ]
Airlift said that in a statement, he planned to keep his buzzing garbage trucks that take place for future climbing seasons in order to get rid of the Everest of his reputation as “the highest dumping in the world”. He also plans to test future drone deliveries on Mount Manaslu, the eighth higher in the world located in the center-west of Nepal. However, the solution is not perfect. Thin air and unpredictable gusts of wind in the highest parts of Everest prevent drones from operating in some of the last camps leading to the top of the mountain. This means that climbers determined to go to the top will probably have to look at their step to avoid frozen excrement in the predictable future.
Airlift said that he planned to keep his buzzing waste drones that run in future climbing seasons, in order to get rid of Everest from his reputation as a “highest dumping ground in the world”. The company also plans to test future drone deliveries on Mount Manaslu, the highest eighth in the world.
However, the solution is not perfect. The slim air and unpredictable gusts of wind near the highest elevations of Everest prevent drones from operating in some of the final camps leading to the top. This means that climbers determined to reach the summit, in the predictable future, must still look at their step to avoid frozen excrement.
