‘Heavy Lifter’ Garbage Drones Set to Solve Mount Everest’s Trash Problem
Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth, ushering now hundreds of adventures to try their hand at the summit every year. However, that means that the face of the mountain has become cluttered with garbage, but perhaps maybe not for long.
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00:00Mount Everest is the highest point on earth, ushering in hundreds of adventurers to try
00:08their hand at the summit every year.
00:11However, that means that the face of the mountain has become covered with garbage, but perhaps
00:15maybe not for long.
00:16According to Insider, climbers have left a staggering 50 metric tons of trash on the
00:20slopes of the mountain, which is why Nepal now plans to deploy an army of trash carrying
00:25drones to fly up there and bring the garbage down.
00:28They're referring to them as heavy lifter drones, and they are able to fly to high altitudes
00:32where they can then be loaded up with refuse.
00:34Test flights were already completed back in April, with just one drone being able to remove
00:39some 500 pounds of trash in an hour.
00:41With the Kathmandu Post reporting that would have taken a dozen Sherpas around six hours.
00:47Not to mention, it is much more dangerous for the local travel guides and mountain stewards,
00:51and that's a particular concern in the Khumbu Icefall, a 1.6 mile stretch of ice just above
00:56Everest Base Camp.
00:57One that is constantly sliding down the mountain at a rate of around three to four feet a day.
01:02In fact, just last year, three Sherpas died in an avalanche in that very section, meaning
01:06these drones could clean the mountain's face, all while saving lives.