May 29, 21:00hrs (NPT) Everest, from Bad to Worse
Highlights of fighting and a portrayal of an overcrowded tourist attraction may do the Sherpa community a big favor in the end.
Extortion and the upstream consequences
The ministry of Nepal demands every expedition pay a $4,000.00US garbage DEPOSIT. Once you've gone through all the steps, paying several thousands in Sherpa wages to clean the mountain off of all oxygen bottles, bringing all the nylon in the form of tents and any food garbage off the mountain and human waste. You also pay thousands to have it carried down the valley on yaks and then the costs associated with disposal. We paid $2200.00 alone just on human waste disposal not counting everything else. Probably close to $10k per permit by the time you're done on top of the $4K. You do your bit to prove it with the procedures in place and when you're done, you get your documentation to show it and you get your deposit back. Just the way it should be, and it worked once they got it all figured out that is.
The problem in the past was the SPCC (Sagamartha Pollution Conservation Control) in Namche Bazaar didn't really do much to have an expedition prove anything, they'd just sign everyone off without having to prove taking anything off the mountains- or - something much worse and this is what we are concerned with. Expeditions would come here and just build the $4k into their budget and assume it as a write-off and walk away from their garbage and call it a wrap at the end of the season without removing one darn thing. Nice and easy, this was done more often than not but it did stop once we started to make some noise about it.
We pushed hard here for better control in all our years. We even resorted to collect garbage from mountains like Pumori and was able to identify the team by the writing on their garbage, Tim caught up with SPCC and demanded they not signoff this expedition and brought it to the attention of the Ministry. They were listening then. We led by example about taking human waste off the upper mountains routes, and we can tell you before that none of them were on Everest. They were all throwing it into the crevasses in black garbage bags, thankfully that's now stopped - or at least we hope so.
For years we've fielded media request for headlines of things that to us just didn't make sense to be worthy of such attention. For quite a spell there was so much written about photos of old garbage on Everest but it was never really made clear that it was years past garbage that is melting out of the ice due global warming It was left behind in the day by old time expeditions like the Hillary one (not to let him off easy), even though these expeditions thought no one would ever follow in their footsteps. Today the medias lights are on crowds, records, death and now fighting putting a negative light on the beauty of climbing mountains and those who make it possible to maintain groups in a controlled fashion and that have a great interest in keeping their place of work clean and to be able to share it with rest of the world to those who aspire to do something healthy and appreciate our planets beauty, all while experiencing a new culture and not to disrupt it with debris.
The Himalayas is a mountaineering paradise and for this country it has brought much good to the people and economies, not only here, but other mountainous regions on all continents who are lucky enough to have them and the ability to create green employment. True renewable spin-off to local green economies instead of clear cutting forests and mining that outdoor enthusiasts are always in a tug-o-war with. The green industries always seem to lose in the end. Tree huggers always get pushed aside when there's things like financial drama and war in world, or similar press for Everest antics, gimmicks, and claims of heroism.
Sherpa land and its people are going to be in a situation that will be out of their control. It's in the hands of the Ministry of Nepal in Kathmandu to do the right thing here.
Sherpa land is going to get trashed and the villagers won't be able to keep up with what's coming. The ministers in the tourism office in Kathmandu are not giving back garbage deposits, they are getting lost in the pockets of corruption in their tourism office. They kept ours and other expeditions from last year with no explanation, once again this year we are being told it's in the mail kind of thing which means: don't expect it, which also means extortion.
Corruption needs to be cleaned at the foothills of the Himalayas before the mountains will ever stay clean. When we used to climb Ama Dablam located nearby Everest in the early nineties, we made a fuss to the ministry that the base area of Ama Dablam couldn't sustain the human waste being covered over with dirt each season. The practice then was to make a hole and each expedition was to bring a toilet tent and erect it over the hole, when that hole was full, they'd just move and make a new one. Hundreds of expeditions were starting to come here and in no time at all they were digging into old toilet pits. Our first experience on Ama Dablam was in 1996, we explained loudly to the ministry that the base area is just too small and nothing breaks down at that altitude. We put pressure on the ministry to use some of the peak fee money and get some toilets constructed there to collect it and move it out and they did and it works. It's solid ground at Ama Dablam base camp as it is at CBC (Chinese Everest base camp) on the Tibetan north side of Everest so it's possible to do so. On the south it's a moving glacier and not possible. It's "suppose" to be collected, weighed and the team is responsible to pay porters to carry it in buckets down the valley where it's burned.
Fortunately on Ama Dablam "in the day" the ministry was curious to learn on how to do things better and that worked out, but then the waste up above on the route started to be a more serious health concern. Our complaints and suggestions started to fall on deaf ears and that's why we don't climb there anymore. Nothing worse than digging into some snow to melt the much needed water, say no more.
After waiting four days and talking to various individuals at the Hillary breakfast celebration I learned that a couple of expeditions did get their garbage deposit back but not until some bribes were paid to certain folks in office. Very disappointing.
At the end of the day all we can do is simply ask expeditions to continue to do above and beyond to keep the mountain clean with or without broken rules in a broken system.
That's the end of our rant.
Tim and Becky Rippel
Late check-in today as the Chinese satellite was kicking the Thuraya Satellite off this evening. Everyone is down minus Kevin and Tashi who are at Camp 2. The glacier is super hot in the heat of the day and it's not necessary since we have Camp 2 and Kami Sherpa there waiting to accommodate them. They're going to come down first light when it's cooler. 
out to Kathmandu by helicopter (weather pending of course). The rest of us will have one more night waiting for Kevin, then we'll be out of here at 08:00hrs May 23rd for the great walk back to Lukla, and then (fingers crossed) pending weather we would like to be in Kathmandu on May 26th if all works out.
Mountain Conditions: Busy but fantastic weather. Tim says it's breezy at base camp but calm on the summit with beautiful warm sunshine. Cameras are clicking away and then the home stretch begins shortly. 
05:39hrs Sean Mooney and Pho Temba Sherpa were the first to summit. The others are following close behind. Happy !!!!! Remember to help his charity he supports if you can: 
way to the summit. Murad and Lee pulled out of camp with their personal Sherpas at 19:00hrs NPT, Sean, Patrick and Kevin pulled out at around 20:00hrs NPT. Marty will call when they reach the balcony at around 02:00hrs. 
and now it's calm. Tomorrow will probably be the longest day of their lives, though the summit push physically will be the longest day for them the mental part of climbing Everest begins here. They slumber and twiddle with anything that's twiddleable while waiting for the passing of the next set of pages of 
on sleep they will start to drift in and out of confused dream patterns caused by the thin air. 
living in Canada he is from Northern Ireland and has a Irish passport, having said that he has potential to become the youngest Irish to summit Everest and climbing with another Irish climber- Sean Mooney- same team, hadn't known each other before now and have become the best of friends throughout this journey. 
helicopter over to an area as a reconnaissance. When the pilot went back to get him he was found dead on the glacier. He wasn't actually climbing so they don't know if it was rock fall or what happened. Other reports said something about a severed rope but facts are all unclear at this time. 
s like being careful when adjusting your partners flow rate, cumbersome gloves and foggy thinking can put your partner at risk if you aren't precise with the settings. 
me how happy they are to be back. The enjoyed being down where things were green and living but it got old quick. They said they missed the food and comforts here.
over head right now up there, it may get postponed once again as we suggested it might a few days ago. Have to keep trying, we have a lot of people here now ready to climb and good spacing is mandatory.
mind when I sat down to begin today's blog. 
tents, fuel, food and oxygen is in place at Camp 3 and part of it at Camp 4.