Clean-up campaign at Everest
( 2001-05-21 16:32 ) (8 )

A team of 44 volunteers from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Nepal and Georgia have climbed 6,500 meters up Mount Everest for a joint clean-up drive.

The team, organized by a well-known Japanese mountaineer, will collect garbage cast off by mountaineers from various countries and corpses of victims at an elevation ranging from 6,500 meters to 8,000 meters.

At the Everest base-camp, 18 teams from a dozen countries are making final preparations. Many of them are familiar with members of the clean-up team.

"The team made a clean-up at Everest last year. The current move is much bigger than the previous one. It began in mid-April and will last until the end of May. An estimated two or three tons of garbage will be collected," said Zintian, the team's Tibetan female interpreter who is staying at the base-camp.

A liaison officer at the base-camp surnamed Guo said "The team has discovered a great deal of cast-off equipment and asked us to provide a tent for storing the garbage they have collected."

Hundreds of mountain climbers have come to Everest each year since the world's highest peak was opened to foreigners in 1980. However, many have left their oxygen tanks, mountaineering equipment and daily garbage on the peak.

Generally, the Everest Administrative Department is responsible for garbage below the elevation of 6,500 meters, while professional mountaineers take charge of garbage above 6,500 meters.

A garbage van goes to the base-camp once a week to collect garbage, which is then shipped to Tingre County for disposal.