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Mount Everest is too crowded and dirty, says last living member of Hillary team | Mount Everest | The Guardian

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Kanchha Sherpa, 91, says more respect should be shown to sacred peak that has been climbed thousands of times since 1953 ascent The only surviving member of the mountaineering expedition that first reached the summit of Mount Everest has said the world’s highest peak is too crowded and dirty, and the mountain is a god that needs to be respected. Kanchha Sherpa, 91, was one of the 35 members of the team that helped the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay to the top of the 8,849-metre (29,032ft) peak on 29 May 1953. “It would be better for the mountain to reduce the number of climbers,” Kanchha said in an interview in Kathmandu on Saturday. “Right now, there is always a big crowd of people at the summit.” Since the Hillary-Tenzing expedition, the peak has been climbed thousands of times, and it has become more crowded every year. During the spring climbing season in 2023, 667 climbers scaled the peak, bringing in thousands of support staff to the base camp be

People climbing the Hillary Step en route to the summit of Mount Everest. Photograph: Lakpa Sherpa/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen People climbing the Hillary Step en route to the summit of Mount Everest. Photograph: Lakpa Sherpa/AFP/Getty Images Mount Everest This article is more than 2 years old Mount Everest is too crowded and dirty, says last living member of Hillary team This article is more than 2 years old Kanchha Sherpa, 91, says more respect should be shown to sacred peak that has been climbed thousands of times since 1953 ascent Associated Press in Kathmandu Sat 2 Mar 2024

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