Conqueror of Everest has global warning
Source: Agencies |
May 26, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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A NEPALESE Sherpa who scaled Mount Everest for a record 20th time said yesterday that the melting of glacier ice along its slopes due to global warming was making it increasingly difficult to climb the peak.
"The rising temperature on the mountains has melted much ice and snow on the trail to the summit," Apa said after flying to Katmandu.
"It is difficult for climbers to use their crampons on the rocky surfaces."
Apa reached the 8,850-meter summit on Saturday for the 20th time, beating his own record.
The 49-year-old first climbed Everest in 1989 and has repeated the feat almost every year since.
His closest rival is fellow Sherpa guide Chhewang Nima, who has made 16 trips to the summit.
Apa said when he first began climbing Everest, there was hardly any rocky surface on the trail to the summit.
Now the trail was dotted with bare rocks, he said.
The melting ice has also exposed deep crevasses, making it dangerous for climbers.
Apa has been campaigning on global warming's negative effect on the Himalayan peaks for the past three years.
In a separate environmental campaign to clean up the mountain, his Eco-Everest Expedition team has been collecting garbage from the slopes of the mountain.
This year the team collected 4,770 kilograms of trash.
Apa grew up in the foothills of Everest and began carrying equipment and supplies for trekkers and mountaineers at the age of 12.
He moved to the United States in 2006 and lives in Utah, in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper.
"The rising temperature on the mountains has melted much ice and snow on the trail to the summit," Apa said after flying to Katmandu.
"It is difficult for climbers to use their crampons on the rocky surfaces."
Apa reached the 8,850-meter summit on Saturday for the 20th time, beating his own record.
The 49-year-old first climbed Everest in 1989 and has repeated the feat almost every year since.
His closest rival is fellow Sherpa guide Chhewang Nima, who has made 16 trips to the summit.
Apa said when he first began climbing Everest, there was hardly any rocky surface on the trail to the summit.
Now the trail was dotted with bare rocks, he said.
The melting ice has also exposed deep crevasses, making it dangerous for climbers.
Apa has been campaigning on global warming's negative effect on the Himalayan peaks for the past three years.
In a separate environmental campaign to clean up the mountain, his Eco-Everest Expedition team has been collecting garbage from the slopes of the mountain.
This year the team collected 4,770 kilograms of trash.
Apa grew up in the foothills of Everest and began carrying equipment and supplies for trekkers and mountaineers at the age of 12.
He moved to the United States in 2006 and lives in Utah, in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper.
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