Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Apa Sherpa Summits Everest for Record 21st Time



Apa Sherpa, Climbing Leader of Eco Everest Expedition 2011 reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the 21st time on May 11 - a new world record. Apa said he is committed to supporting the efforts of Dawa Steven Sherpa, leader of the Eco Everest Expedition to bring awareness to the world community about Climate Change and to help remove old garbage from the slopes of Mt. Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest).

Dawa Steven Sherpa said that “This Expedition is focused on climbing in an Eco-sensitive manner to keep Everest clean and collect garbage, debris and waste left by past expedition groups. The collected garbage will be brought down to the Base Camp by members of the clean up team for proper disposal. The Eco Expedition used alternative energy solutions such as parabolic solar cookers, solar lights, ultraviolet light pens for water purification, and portable toilets called CMC (Clean Mountain Can).


In addition wreckage parts of the Italian Army helicopter were also recovered from the edge of the Khumbu Icefall. The helicopter crashed at 6100 to 6500m during the Italian Everest Expedition in 1973 (thus demonstrating the movement of the Khumbu Icefall 1.3 km over the past 36 years. Also more than 400 kilos of human waste produced by Eco Everest Expedition was removed, along with four dead bodies brought down from the mountain for a dignified burial.


The sponsors of this year's Eco Everest Expedition 2011 "Cash for Trash" garbage collection program are Asian Trekking Pvt. Ltd and The North Face.


Dawa Steven Sherpa and his Eco Everest Expedition team are continuing this initiative to create awareness among the local people and among the climbers to help keep Mt. Everest and the Himalayan Mountains clean.

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