The Everest Cleanup Campaign: Preventing the World’s Highest Peak from Becoming a Cemetery
Climate change is thinning the ice and snow on Mount Everest, exposing the bodies of hundreds of climbers who lost their lives in pursuit of their dream of conquering the world’s highest peak .
Among those climbing in the Himalayas this year is a group of people not aiming for the summit, but risking their lives to bring down some of the bodies. Five unidentified frozen bodies were found during a cleanup campaign on Everest and two neighboring peaks.
Bringing the bodies down is a grim, difficult, and dangerous task. Rescue teams must spend hours chipping away at ice with axes, sometimes using boiling water to free frozen remains . The bodies are then wrapped in bags and transported down on sleds .
Over 300 people have died on Mount Everest since expeditions to the 8,849-meter peak began in the 1920s, with 8 deaths recorded in the 2024 season alone . Many bodies remain on the surface, while others are buried by snow or swallowed by deep crevasses. Some have become landmarks on the route to the summit .
The 2024 Cleanup Campaign
The cleanup operation is part of Nepal’s “Safa Himal Abhiyan” (Clean Mountain Campaign), launched by the Nepali Army in 2024 with a budget exceeding $600,000 . The campaign involved 171 guides and porters and successfully removed 11 tons of garbage from the mountain .
In a 54-day operation that concluded in June, the team recovered four bodies and one skeleton from high-altitude areas, including the “death zone” above 8,000 meters . A particularly difficult retrieval near the summit of Lhotse required the team to transport the body to Camp Three before loading it onto a sled .
The Challenges of Body Recovery
Recovering a body from Everest is a highly controversial and dangerous undertaking . It takes up to 12 rescuers to bring a body down from the death zone, with each requiring multiple oxygen cylinders . The cost of oxygen alone can reach $20,000 per recovery . Additional expenses include the use of porters, yaks, and helicopters for transport .
The frozen state of the bodies adds to the difficulty. A body that weighs 100 kilograms at lower elevations can become significantly heavier when encased in ice . One body recovered in 2024 was found frozen in ice near the South Col and took two days to retrieve . Another, located at 8,400 meters, required 18 hours of work to move to Camp II for helicopter evacuation .
Psychological Impact on Climbers
Major Aditya Karki, leader of the 2024 cleanup campaign, explained the necessity of the operation: “People believe that they are entering a divine space when they climb mountains, but if they see dead bodies on the way up, it can have a negative effect and can cause them to hesitate” .
The psychological impact of seeing corpses on the mountain has become increasingly concerning as climate change exposes more remains . In 2019, a backlog of climbers caused delays, and at least two climbers died at the summit afterward .
The Garbage Problem
The 2024 campaign removed 11 tons of garbage from the mountain, much of it frozen in layers from older expeditions . Among the items recovered were rechargeable batteries for flashlights dating back to 1957 . Despite these efforts, estimates suggest that 40 to 50 tons of trash still remain frozen in layers around the South Col alone .
Since 2014, Nepal has required climbers to deposit $4,000, refunded only if they bring back at least 8 kilograms of waste . In 2024, the government mandated that climbers carry their own excrement in poop bags and wear GPS tracking chips for safety .
A Five-Year Strategy
In response to the growing crisis, Nepal is preparing a five-year Clean Mountain Strategy (2025–2029) following a Supreme Court order . The plan proposes the creation of a “Mountain Ranger” team to monitor waste, the use of drones for cleanup, and a refundable garbage deposit for climbers .
Climbing fees have also been increased by 30% to fund environmental protection efforts . A portion of the revenue will be earmarked for cleanup campaigns and local community involvement .
A Call to Action
Major Karki emphasized the urgency of the cleanup: “We have to bring them back as much as possible. If we keep leaving them behind, our mountains will turn into a graveyard” .
As global warming continues to thin the snow cover, more bodies and trash will be revealed . The cleanup campaigns, while difficult and dangerous, are essential to preserving the sacred nature of Everest and preventing it from becoming the world’s highest cemetery.
Primary Sources:
Smithsonian Magazine — Everest cleanup and body recovery reports (2024)
The Kathmandu Post — Nepal Army cleanup campaign (2024)
AFP — Interviews with Major Aditya Karki
The Economic Times — Recovery operations and climate change impacts
London Evening Standard — Death zone recovery details
The Daily Guardian — 11 tons of trash removed, 40-50 tons remain