We’ve just received word from the Madison Mountaineering mountain cleanup project expedition team that in total, they have cleaned up over 300 kilos of trash and waste so far! These cleanup efforts have taken place throughout the trek into base camp and as high as Camp 2 on Annapurna. After a well-deserved rest day tomorrow, the team will continue these efforts and look to make their next rotation up the mountain! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Annapurna Base Camp:
Today we continued our cleanup effort here on the north side of Annapurna 1 (8091m/26,545ft). After an early breakfast, we hiked down the Miristi Khola trail, which is the famous, historic approach route to this side of the mountain. Annapurna was the first 8000m peak climbed, via the north face by the French in 1950. The Miristi Khola gorge was notoriously treacherous back then. Today the trail is well-maintained and very scenic, with waterfalls and towering rock walls. We hiked most of the way to the trailhead while picking up trash, making sure to cover the areas where we saw the most waste on our walk-in. Then we returned to base camp (4130m/13551ft) for dinner and a cozy evening playing cards.
In total, we’ve now collected more than 300 kilos of waste from the approach trail, base camp, and the climbing route as high as Camp 2. We’ll continue collecting waste as we go, but on the whole Annapurna is relatively clean. So we don’t expect to find a lot more. We’ll transport all of this waste out of the mountains at the end of our climb.
We’ll be in touch tomorrow, during our well-earned rest day!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
- Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“
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