The government of Nepal and Everest expedition organisers have launched a clean-up operation at 21,000ft to remove rubbish left on the world’s highest peak after a series of deadly avalanches.



Sherpas and other climbers have been given 10 canvas bags each capable of holding 80kg (176lbs) of waste to place at different elevations on Mount Everest.

Dambar Parajuli, president of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, said on Wednesday the bags had been sent to camp two, a large camping site established in 2014 after an avalanche killed 16 Nepalese guides, leading to the cancellation of the climbing season.

The following year’s climbs were also axed after an earthquake-triggered avalanche swept Everest’s south base camp, killing 19 people.

Veteran guide Russell Brice said the tents and supplies left by rescued climbers needed to be removed.

Once full, the bags will be winched by helicopters and flown down the mountain. Removing the sacks by air means Sherpa guides do not have to risk carrying heavy loads of waste through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall to the base camp.

It is also cheap: the operation will use helicopters that would ordinarily return empty after dumping climbing ropes on the site. “This way we hope to bring down the trash without any extra cost,” Durga Dutta Dhakal, an official at the Nepal tourism department, told Reuters.

Recreational climbers will be urged to pick up any rubbish along their route, while Sherpas who carried equipment up the mountain for their clients will be paid extra – US$2 per kg – to return with bags of trash.

Hundreds of climbers and their guides are expected to attempt to scale the 8,850-metre (29,035ft) peak during the spring season. Climbers generally arrive in April and attempt to reach the summit in May when conditions are favourable.

Rubbish litters the Everest base camp a day after a quake-triggered avalanche. Photograph: AFP/Getty

Mountaineers have previously removed more than 16 tonnes of litter from Everest, but there are no estimates of how much is still on the mountain.

More than 600 people scaled the summit last year via Nepal and China. Hiking officials expect the number to swell this season as many mountaineers, whose $11,000 (£9,000) permits received two-year extensions after the quake, are expected to return.

A group of hiking companies that sponsor climbers said it was trying to bolster coordination between teams at high camps to avoid long queues of climbers in the mountain’s “death zone”.

“This will reduce crowding, minimise risks and improve safety,” Parajuli said.