Eco Everest Expedition Spring 2011 press release
World record holder Apa Sherpa going to the summit of Mt. Everest for the 21st time.
Having succeeded in the Eco Everest Expedition 2008, 2009 and 2010, the Eco Everest Expedition 2011 is heading on 6th April towards Mt. Everest Base Camp from Kathmandu under the leadership of Dawa Steven Sherpa , the Managing Director of Asian Trekking, Nepal and Apa Sherpa, World Record holder of 20 ascents of Mt. Everest, as a Climbing Leader of the Expedition.
Dawa Steven Sherpa, organizer of Eco Everest Expedition talked about this year’s Eco Everest Expedition. “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 would again be using the alternative energy solutions like the parabolic solar cookers, solar lightings and the ultraviolet light pens for water purification,” he said.
Since 2008, the Eco Everest Expeditions have collected and brought off the mountain nearly 12,000 kgs of garbage and over 300 kgs of human waste produced by Eco Everest Expedition. Also four died bodies recovered and brought down from the mountain for a dignified burial.
The Eco Everest Expedition 2011 plans again to collect and bring down garbage from high altitude . His team targets to bring down 4000 kilograms of garbage from the mountain like the previous Eco Everest Expedition on the basis of "Cash for Trash" program which offers 1 hundred rupees for one kilo garbage brought down to Base Camp. Furthermore, together with Japanese Mt.Everest Summiteer and Environmentalist Ken Noguchi, the expedition aims to bring down another 1 thousand kilos of garbage between Camp II and the Summit. The aim is to clean up a total of 5000 Kilograms of garbage from Mt. Everest this year.
At Base Camp, the collected garbage will be sorted into biodegradable and burnable which will be handed over to the Sagarmatha or Everest Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), an NGO based in the Everest region. The non-degradable and non-burnable garbage will be brought to storage in Asian Trekking's warehouse in Khumjung village.
The main sponsors of Eco Everest Expedition 2011 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. Eco Everest Expeditions have been taking a message to "stop climate change" as it destroys the Himalayan environment and threatening the lives and livelihoods of the mountain communities.
ECO EVEREST EXPEDITION SPRING 2011
There are 23 Climbing member consisting of 10 Americans, 6 Indians, 3 Brazilians, 1 Japanese, 1 Spanish,1 Mexican and 1 Swiss. Eco Everest Expedition's advance team staffs are already at Base Camp building platform sites for tents. We are using 124 sleeping tents for members and staffs, 7 big dinning tents at BC and Camp II, 5 kitchen tents, 2 storage tents, 4 shower tents, 1 communication tent and 6 toilet tents for this expedition.
To manage this huge expedition is a very professional task, which will be done by Dawa Steven Sherpa (Managing Director of Asian Trekking and My Son) who has the experience of handing a huge team like this. This year also, Apa Sherpa will be our climbing leader, whose world record of 20 times summit of Mt. Everest will be called upon to manage the climbing schedules of all our members. Apa will be climbing again for a new record again, 21st time! To look after the logistics and Sherpas, our senior Sirdar Naga Dorje will be managing a team of 40 climbing Sherpas, including 2 other Sirdars.
At the base camp we have Mr. Lee Bennett (better known as Wiggy), who is our Base Camp Manager and Communication In-charge. Wiggy is a qualified mountain guide and was a Communication Engineer in the Royal Navy (UK) until he retired last year. Our head cook Birbal will be providing a varied menu for various nationalities to suit their plates. Birbal has a team of 11 cooks and kitchen helpers to make sure all the climbers are fed well.
Ms. Premlata Agrawal, Ms. Sunita Singh, Mr. Narendra Singh and their Sherpas flew to Lukla on 29th of March, heading for a Pre-Everest climb on Island Peak for acclimatization before joining the main team members at Everest Base Camp. The first expedition briefing of Asian Trekking's Eco Everest Expedition Spring 2011 was held on 28th March. The briefing was given by Expedition Leader Dawa Steven Sherpa, senior Sirdar Nanga Dorje Sherpa and Ted Atkin (Inventor of Top Out Oxygen Mask) and attended by the first group of expedition member Ms.Premlata Agrawal, Ms.Sunita Singh, Mr. Narendra Singh and Pawan Grewal and their Sherpa Team members.
The Eco Everest Expedition was organized successfully for three consecutive years (2008, 2009 and 2010) to create international awareness about the impact of Climate Change in the Himalayas and the lives of the mountain communities. That is why the expedition uses highly successful alternative energy solutions like the parabolic solar cookers, solar energies for lighting and the SteriPENs for water purification and also encourages other expedition teams to use them.
Besides this, Eco Everest Expedition also focuses on cleaning of Mt. Everest and it seems somehow successful in this task. Since 2008 until today Eco Everest Expedition has brought down more than 12,000 kilos of previous expedition garbage and more than 300 kilos of human waste produced by Eco Everest Expedition from Mt. Everest for proper disposal. Also four died bodies recovered and brought down from the mountain for a dignified burial and funeral.