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. However, that means that the face of the mountain has
00:13become covered with garbage, but perhaps maybe not for long. According to Insider,
00:17climbers have left a staggering 50 metric tons of trash on the slopes of the mountain,
00:21which is why Nepal now plans to deploy an army of trash-carrying drones to fly up there and
00:27bring the garbage down. They're referring to them as heavy lifter drones, and they're able to fly
00:31to high altitudes where they can then be loaded up with refuse. Test flights were already completed
00:36back in April, with just one drone being able to remove some 500 pounds of trash in an hour.
00:41With the Kathmandu Post reporting, that would have taken a dozen Sherpas around six hours.
00:46Not 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, one that is constantly sliding down the mountain at a rate of around three to
01:01four feet a day. In fact, just last year, three Sherpas died in an avalanche in that very section,
01:06meaning these drones could clean the mountain's face, all while saving lives.