The Exploitation and Destruction of Mount Everest

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At approximately 11:30 AM local time, on May 29th 1953, Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to successfully summit the tallest mountain in the world. Since then there have been approximately 19,000 more climbers who have made it past base camp. To date there have been over 6,000 climbers to successfully summit 29,035 foot behemoth of a mountain. While it is still the top of the world, in recent years, Mount Everest has take on something of a less rarified air. At around $75,000 USD for a guided climb, summiting Everest has become a commodity and is looking more like a tourist attraction. After conquering or at least attempting to conquer Everest, mountaineers leave behind items such as high tech climbing equipment, food, tents, refuse, oxygen bottles, and human excrement, just to name a few. Moreover, years of poor environmental practices are beginning to have effects extending beyond just the visual landscape. The exploitation of Mount Everest has had damaging social and environmental effects. These effects are examples of the negative impact tourists can have on any destination, no matter how desolate. Firm rules and regulations must be imposed and enforced by multiple entities in order to lessen negative impacts that continue to occur on Mount Everest.
According to The International Ecotourism Society, ecotourism is defined as "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well- being of local people." (TIES, 1990) Many people would not define summiting Everest as a form of ecotourism but as more of a type of adventure tourism. Nonetheless, with the increasing number of climbers to visit Everest each year, the impact has certainly worsened. Some might now ...

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Wearing, S., & Neil, J. (1999). Ecotourism: Impacts, potentials, and possibilities. Oxford: Butter- worth Heinemann.

The International Ecotourism Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.

http://www.personal.psu.edu/pak5110/Assignment%205.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/conquering-everest-60-facts-about-the-worlds-tallest-mountain-8632372.html

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text

http://www.nols.edu/news/expeditions/sagarmathaexpedition.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23543172

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/conquering-everest-60-facts-about-the-worlds-tallest-mountain-8632372.html

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/26/travel/everest-by-the-numbers/

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