Final surviving member of the primary crew to overcome Mount Everest says it’s crowded and soiled now

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The one surviving member of the mountaineering expedition that first conquered Mount Everest mentioned Saturday that the world’s highest peak is simply too crowded and soiled, and the mountain is a god that must be revered.

Kanchha Sherpa, 91, was among the many 35 members within the crew that put New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa information Tenzing Norgay atop the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on Could 29, 1953.

“It might be higher for the mountain to scale back the variety of climbers,” Kanchha mentioned in an interview in Kathmandu on Saturday, “Proper now there’s at all times a giant crowd of individuals on the summit.”

Because the first conquest, the height has been climbed hundreds of occasions, and it will get extra crowded yearly. Throughout the spring climbing season in 2023, 667 climbers scaled the height, however that introduced in hundreds of help workers to the bottom camp between the months of March and Could.

There have been issues in regards to the variety of folks dwelling on the mountain for months on finish, producing trash and waste, however authorities haven’t any plans to chop down on the variety of permits they situation to climbers.

There are guidelines that require climbers to carry down their very own trash, tools and all the things they carry to the mountain or threat dropping their deposit, however monitoring has not been very efficient.

“It is rather soiled now. Individuals throw tins and wrappings after consuming meals. Who’s going to choose them up now?” Kanchha mentioned. “Some climbers simply dump their trash within the crevasse, which might be hidden at the moment however ultimately it would circulation all the way down to base camp because the snow melts and carries them downward.”

For the Sherpas, Everest is Qomolangma or goddess mom of the world, and is revered by their neighborhood. They typically carry out spiritual rituals earlier than climbing the height.

“They shouldn’t be dirtying the mountain. It’s our greatest god and so they shouldn’t be dirtying the gods,” he mentioned “Qomolangma is the largest god for the Sherpas however folks smoke and eat meat and throw them on the mountain.”

Kanchha was only a younger man when he joined the Hillary-Tenzing expedition. He was among the many three Sherpas to go to the final camp on Everest together with Hillary and Tenzing. They may not go any additional as a result of they didn’t have a allow.

They first heard of the profitable ascent on the radio, after which have been reunited with the summit duo at Camp 2.

“All of us gathered at Camp 2 however there was no alcohol so we celebrated with tea and snacks,” he mentioned. “We then collected no matter we may and carried it to base camp.”

The route they opened up from the bottom camp to the summit continues to be utilized by climbers. Solely the part from the bottom camp to Camp 1 over the unstable Khumbu Icefall modifications yearly.

Kanchha has 4 youngsters, eight grandchildren and a 20-month-old great-granddaughter. He lives with household in Namche village within the foothills of Mount Everest, the place the household runs a small lodge catering to trekkers and climbers.