Cleanup effort updates from Ama Dablam
The Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team is in Base Camp after their acclimatization rotation on the mountain! They took a well-deserved rest day today to recover some more following their time up high. Meanwhile, we finally had a chance to go through the waste collected and removed from the mountain so far! All in all, we’ve removed 103 kilos / 227 pounds of waste left behind by previous expeditions. This effort is running in partnership with the Madison Mountaineering Environmental Foundation, and in support of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee and Sagarmatha Next. Awesome work, team! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checked in with this dispatch from Ama Dablam Base Camp:
Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering 2026 Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) expedition. Today is November 7th.
Today we’re taking a rest day here in Base Camp (4600m/15,100ft) after having successfully completed our rotation as high as the top of the Yellow Tower. It’s a beautiful day here in Base Camp! So we’re taking the opportunity to sort and tally the waste we’ve collected as part of our cleanup on this program.
This program doesn’t just include an ascent of Ama Dablam. It’s also an environmental restoration climb, run in partnership with the Madison Mountaineering Environmental Foundation. So thanks to our climbers’ presence here on the mountain and the generous support of our donors, we’re able to devote time and effort to cleaning up waste while we’re here at this beautiful mountain!
So far, our cleanup crew has picked up waste above base camp and at the foot of the southwest ridge below Camp II (5980m/19,619ft) where waste tends to accumulate, as well as along the route up to Camp I (5791m/19,000ft), in Camp I itself, and along the route as high as Camp II. In total, we’ve cleaned up 103 kilos of waste. That includes old mountaineering gear, such as discarded tents and old fixed-lines, as well as plastic bottles, tin cans, discarded clothing, and other general waste like food wrappers, things like that.
So the effort’s going really well so far! We’ll continue picking up trash during our summit push. And then, we will send most of that waste to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, and the old mountaineering gear will be sent to Sagarmatha Next, where it will be used for materials for the resident artists who work with that nonprofit.
So everything’s going really well here in Base Camp! We feel good about the amount of waste we’ve picked up so far and looking forward to doing more. We’ll be in touch tomorrow.
Plastic waste cleaned from the mountain (photo by Terray Sylvester)
Ngima Tashi Sherpa, Uttar Rai and Aang Phurba Sherpa weighing waste in Base Camp (photo by Terray Sylvester)
Old fixed line removed from near Camp 2 (photo by Terray Sylvester)
Cleanup crew member, Uttar Rai, hauling trash down to Ama Dablam Base Camp (photo by Terray Sylvester)
103kg of waste collected so far! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)
Old prayer flags cleaned from above Ama Dablam Base Camp (photo by Terray Sylvester)
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.“
– Instagram:
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