KATHMANDU, MAY 30

Senior tourism entrepreneur Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa has just returned from the world's highest peak after spending nearly two months in the Mt Everest region. The 63-year-old from Khumbu region stood atop the roof of the world on May 17, completing all seven summits.

"I have felt victorious while spending about half-an-hour at the Everest summit," Sherpa, the chairman of Yeti Group, told THT.

Sherpa, who has also become the first Nepali to complete all seven real summits, is worried about degradation of the Everest environment in recent years. "The Everest base camp, where I spent many days during the Everest expedition 30 years ago, is now on the verge of extinction," Sherpa said.

"If we don't move the base camp from the current location, it will disappear in a decade,"

Sherpa said. According to Sherpa, unmanaged tents, human faeces and urine are the biggest threat to the Khumbu glacier. Lack of government's presence for effective monitoring of climbing activities at the base camp also adds to the problem, he opined. Commercial expeditions are also playing foul at the Everest base camp, he said.

This season, there were over 3,000 people who spent two months at the base camp and they went to open toilets. "Imagine, how much litter has been spread across Everest base camp," he said, adding that faeces and urine have been piling up there for years.

"It's a big threat to the Everest environment as well as to downstream residents who consume water from Dudhkoshi River," he said.

Every season, expedition operators dig out snow at the base camp to place their luxury tents. "Digging holes in the glacier to set up tents every year is also causing harm to the base camp," he said, adding, "If the government, in coordination with Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality cannot take initiatives to relocate the base camp to the lower belt, it will move up to Camp II in the next 10 years," Sherpa warned.

According to Sherpa, the base camp can be relocated to Gorakshep or Lobuche. "The current base camp can be used as advance base camp, where climbers can spend a couple of days to kick start their climb to the higher camps," he said.

Unmanaged helicopter flights above the base camp is another serious issue, which has adversely impacted the cryosphere. "Except in emergency evacuation, cargo flights to Camp II can be allowed to minimise risk in the treacherous icefall section," Sherpa said, adding that a strict collective mechanism should be in place to monitor chopper flights in the region.

Limiting the number of climbers is not a solution. Proper management and monitoring from the government side are needed, he said, asking the government to issue individual climbing permits to all climbers and also to make it mandatory for each climber to have a Sherpa guide.

"Rope fixing task shouldn't be given to a Kathmandu-based NGO called Expedition Operators' Association," Sherpa said, suggesting that it should be assigned to trained Icefall doctors from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee.

Besides, traffic jams on Everest have tarnished Nepal's image in recent years. Sherpa was surprised when he witnessed a single rope for going up to and descending from the summit point. "There should be at least two separate ropes for ascent and descent as that will help address the issue of traffic jams," he said.

Sherpa also asked for proper management from the government side. "Everest royalties, garbage deposit and helicopters' landing and take-off charges can be raised instead of limiting the number of climbers on Everest," Sherpa said, adding that communication networks should be prompt in the Everest region.

"Why are Nepal Telecom and Ncell services not available there?" he wondered.

South Col is highly polluted due to tents left behind by the expeditions. "Tents litter Camp IV," he said. Sherpa also asked the international community, including the United Nations to help Nepali stakeholders look for alternatives to the tents currently in use.

He proposed that the possibility of inventing biodegradable tents be explored to keep the mountain pristine.

Sherpa, who helped hundreds of climbers scale mountains through his company 'Thamserku Trekking' for over 40 years, started climbing mountains after the 2015 earthquake shook the nation.

According to him, he uses climbing as natural therapy.

"As I had already completed the other six peaks, I set out for Everest this season to complete all seven of them as well as to mark the 70th anniversary of the first Everest ascent by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary," Sherpa said.

He added that he took almost 12 hours from Camp IV to reach the summit point.

Sherpa spent three nights at South Col waiting for a fair summit window.

Sherpa's autobiography is coming out in a couple of months.

He will also be documenting his experiences of all the seven summits.

"To keep the mountain environment clean, I will also personally lobby with the SPCC, buffer zone, national park and rural municipality to ban the use of plastic in the Khumbu region," Sherpa said.

Key advices

• Faeces and urine have been piling up in the Everest region

• Base camp must be relocated to save the mountain environment

• Choppers need to be allowed for cargo flights to Camp II

• At least two ropes should be there to manage traffic on Everest

• Alternatives should be explored to prevent tents littering South Col

• Individual Everest permit with mandatory guide is needed

A version of this article appears in the print on May 31, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.