Everest Team Aims for Pinnacle of Clean

Climbers from Japan, Nepal and South Korea carrying 200 empty plastic bags will climb the northern slopes of Mt. Everest to pick up garbage dumped by previous expeditions, the leader of the team said Sunday.

“We plan to collect between [2 1/2 and 3 tons] of garbage,” said Ken Noguchi of Japan, who heads the team on the Tibetan side of the world’s highest mountain. Climbers begin their ascent of Everest from either Tibet or Nepal.

Noguchi said two Japanese, one South Korean and 30 Nepalese are expected to reach the base camp on the northern side of the 29,035-foot Everest on April 11. The actual cleanup will start in May at the advanced base camp, the site where climbers pitch their final camps before heading for the summit.

Noguchi, who climbed Everest in 1999, said the pollution on the world’s highest peak is so bad that the mountain is called the “world’s highest garbage site.”