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. 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 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 major 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 livelyhoods of the mountain communities.

Ang Tshering Sherpa

Asian Trekking