Nepal asks climbers to clean Everest camp

KATHMANDU: Nepal is urging climbers on Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, to help remove garbage from a camp abandoned two years ago after an earthquake triggered avalanches killing 18 people, as officials prepare to handle a rush of climbers.

Tourism and mountain climbing are the main sources of income for the Himalayan nation and make up 4 percent of its economy.

Climbing is recovering from a series of earthquakes in 2015 that killed a total of 9,000 people. Ten huge canvas bags each capable of holding 80 kg (176 lbs) of trash are to be placed at the ruined site of Camp Two on Mount Everest for climbers to deposit garbage they have retrieved, said Tourism Department official Durga Dutta Dhakal.

"This way we hope to bring down the trash without any extra cost, using helicopters that return empty after dumping climbing ropes at the high camp," he told Reuters on Wednesday.