Photo: Denis Linine | Pexels
In May of 2019 a photo of a human traffic jam snaking up Mount Everest went viral, showing the impact of over-tourism on the fragile area. That year the Swiss luxury brand Bally launched Bally Peak Outlook, an initiative to help preserve the world’s most extreme mountains and environments, in partnership with local Sherpas. The initiative is being led by Dawa Steven Sherpa, a Nepali climber, environmental activist and tourism entrepreneur based in Kathmandu, who has led expeditions to remove mountain garbage since 2008. Peak Outlook got started with litter removal in 2019 and continued their efforts in 2020. In September of 2020, Dawa and a team of 12 climbers set off to clean basecamps of four mountains, including Everest. The trip lasted 47 days, and Dawa’s expedition team removed 2.2 tons of rubbish, crossing four alpine glaciated passes to do it. “When we take garbage from the mountains, it must feel to the gods like taking a thorn out of their finger,” Dawa said.
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