Surviving member of first team to ever climb Mount Everest says it's 'very dirty' and overcrowded

A file photo of a long queue of mountain climbers along a path up to Mount Everest just below Camp Four.
Mount Everest attracts thousands of visitors every year. Credit: AP

Mount Everest has been labelled "very dirty" and overcrowded by the only surviving member of the first mountaineering expedition to reach its summit.

Kanchha Sherpa, 91, said the mountain, which attracts thousands of tourists every year, would benefit from a reduced number of climbers.

He added that people should not be "dirtying" the mountain, which for Sherpas - a Tibetan ethnic group - is regarded as Qomolangma or goddess mother of the world.

Mount Everest's peak has been scaled thousands of times since the first conquest - which Mr Sherpa was part of in 1953 - and in the spring climbing season of 2023 saw 667 climbers successfully achieve the feat.

Littering concerns have grown as more people take on the months-long challenge, but authorities have previously said they have no plans to reduce the number of permits that are issued to climbers.

Kanchha Sherpa. Credit: AP

Climbers are required to bring down their own rubbish, equipment and anything they take with them up the mountain or risk losing their trip deposit. However, monitoring of this has been deemed ineffective.

Mr Sherpa said: "It is very dirty now. People throw tins and wrappings after eating food. Who is going to pick them up now?

"Some climbers just dump their trash in the crevasse, which would be hidden at that time but eventually it will flow down to base camp as the snow melts and carries them downward."

He added: "They should not be dirtying the mountain. It is our biggest god and they should not be dirtying the gods."

Mr Sherpa was among a 35-member team which helped put New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, atop Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.

Mount Everest's peak was first scaled in 1953. Credit: AP

He was among the three Sherpas to go to the last camp on Everest along with Mr Hillary and Mr Norgay.

They first heard of the successful ascent on the radio before being reunited with the summit duo at Camp Two.

"We all gathered at Camp Two but there was no alcohol so we celebrated with tea and snacks," he said.

"We then collected whatever we could and carried it to base camp."

The route they opened up from the base camp to the summit is still used by climbers. Only the section from the base camp to Camp One, over the unstable Khumbu Icefall, changes every year.

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