“What should we do with all this poop?”
February 27, 2019 8:28 PM Subscribe
Mount Everest is a ‘fecal time bomb.’ Here’s one man’s idea for handling 14 tons of poop. [Washington Post] “In the roughly two months that it takes to climb Mount Everest, the average alpinist will have produced nearly 60 pounds of excrement. This season, porters who work on Mount Everest carried down 14 tons of human waste from base camp and other locations. It's dropped into earthen pits on Gorak Shep, a frozen lake bed near a village 17,000-feet above sea level, as The Washington Post's Peter Holley wrote in 2015. If not handled properly, the frozen fecal matter will spend years littering one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. As Grayson Schaffer, an editor for Outside magazine wrote in a 2012 Washington Post opinion piece: “The peak has become a fecal time bomb, and the mess is gradually sliding back toward base camp.””
“It is a problem Garry Porter is well aware of. He's a retired engineer who got more than 20,000 feet up the mountain in 2003 before too-strong winds forced his climbing party to turn back. He's spent a good chunk of his retirement thinking about Everest — and about how to clean it up. His solution for what he calls a potential environmental nightmare is simple: Use a biogas digester to turn mountaineer excrement into something more useful. The digester would produce fertilizer and methane, a renewable biogas that can be used to cook food and light homes.”
“It is a problem Garry Porter is well aware of. He's a retired engineer who got more than 20,000 feet up the mountain in 2003 before too-strong winds forced his climbing party to turn back. He's spent a good chunk of his retirement thinking about Everest — and about how to clean it up. His solution for what he calls a potential environmental nightmare is simple: Use a biogas digester to turn mountaineer excrement into something more useful. The digester would produce fertilizer and methane, a renewable biogas that can be used to cook food and light homes.”
Step 1: rich white idiots, stop flying across the world to climb a fucking mountain.
Step 2: yeah the biogas thing sounds good.
posted by kafziel at 8:34 PM on February 27, 2019 [39 favorites]
Step 2: yeah the biogas thing sounds good.
posted by kafziel at 8:34 PM on February 27, 2019 [39 favorites]
Well that's a mental image.
posted by praemunire at 8:42 PM on February 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 8:42 PM on February 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
Humans: we came, we saw, we pooped, we went home.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:44 PM on February 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 8:44 PM on February 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
Fecal time bomb is definitely my new band name.
I'd say we should stop climbing the damn thing for a bit, but the industry has obviously generated an entire economy around itself in Nepal which would collapse without it. So there's that small issue.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:45 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
I'd say we should stop climbing the damn thing for a bit, but the industry has obviously generated an entire economy around itself in Nepal which would collapse without it. So there's that small issue.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:45 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
well, shit.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:00 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:00 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
Another poop post? Fine, I'm leaving the room.
Good luck, Johnny Wallflower, Fizz et al.
(BTW Johnny W, honey is bee poop, don't think I didn't notice earlier.)
posted by zaixfeep at 9:05 PM on February 27, 2019 [7 favorites]
Good luck, Johnny Wallflower, Fizz et al.
(BTW Johnny W, honey is bee poop, don't think I didn't notice earlier.)
posted by zaixfeep at 9:05 PM on February 27, 2019 [7 favorites]
Logistics of a climb must generate a lot of waste beyond poop. I would think that would be the greater problem.
posted by sjswitzer at 9:06 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by sjswitzer at 9:06 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Plenty of corpses litter the climb, but the poop is probably a bigger problem by both weight and sanitation standards.
posted by hippybear at 9:10 PM on February 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 9:10 PM on February 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't know who needs to see this but "biogas" is "bio gas" and not the plural form of "bi-OH-ga", a word you don't know but were confident you'd learn more about from context.
posted by bleep at 9:12 PM on February 27, 2019 [72 favorites]
posted by bleep at 9:12 PM on February 27, 2019 [72 favorites]
I saw Fecal Time Bomb warm up for John Butcher Axis at Bunratty’s back in ‘82. They blew the doors off the place.
posted by slkinsey at 9:23 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by slkinsey at 9:23 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
I just did every possible search to find the word "bioga" and it doesn't exist anywhere.
Sad, it seems like a perfectly serviceable word. Would you go to the bodega to get a bioga?
posted by hippybear at 9:41 PM on February 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
Sad, it seems like a perfectly serviceable word. Would you go to the bodega to get a bioga?
posted by hippybear at 9:41 PM on February 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
Logistics of a climb must generate a lot of waste beyond poop. I would think that would be the greater problem.
You can go back and read the many other articles on Everest on the blue; many of them discuss other ecological aspects of the mountain and the people who climb it, such as the corpses left behind. Of course, there's other litter, such as the many abandoned oxygen bottles. The thing with the organic waste--poop and bodies--is that the Himalayas are being affected by climate change (like everywhere else) and this stuff might not stay frozen year-round, which poses all kinds of potential health hazards for the people who climb and make their living on the mountain.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:43 PM on February 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
You can go back and read the many other articles on Everest on the blue; many of them discuss other ecological aspects of the mountain and the people who climb it, such as the corpses left behind. Of course, there's other litter, such as the many abandoned oxygen bottles. The thing with the organic waste--poop and bodies--is that the Himalayas are being affected by climate change (like everywhere else) and this stuff might not stay frozen year-round, which poses all kinds of potential health hazards for the people who climb and make their living on the mountain.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:43 PM on February 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Plenty of corpses litter the climb,
Each one formerly a wealthy and highly motivated individual. Now reposing among the frozen turds of other one-percenters.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:47 PM on February 27, 2019 [24 favorites]
Each one formerly a wealthy and highly motivated individual. Now reposing among the frozen turds of other one-percenters.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:47 PM on February 27, 2019 [24 favorites]
Huh, I never thought about this aspect of the Everest climb.
posted by limeonaire at 9:57 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by limeonaire at 9:57 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Huh, thought I heard my name for a second there.
posted by biogeo at 10:01 PM on February 27, 2019 [37 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 10:01 PM on February 27, 2019 [37 favorites]
Each one formerly a wealthy and highly motivated individual. Now reposing among the frozen turds of other one-percenters.
Not quite.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 10:03 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
Not quite.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 10:03 PM on February 27, 2019 [10 favorites]
is it just me or has there been an increase of "shitposting" on Metafilter lately?
posted by azarbayejani at 10:07 PM on February 27, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by azarbayejani at 10:07 PM on February 27, 2019 [15 favorites]
I haven't noticed anything different over the past couple of months. Has anyone else?
posted by hippybear at 10:11 PM on February 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:11 PM on February 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
People should probably stop climbing Everest. It has, after all, been done.
posted by silby at 10:30 PM on February 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by silby at 10:30 PM on February 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
frozen mountain of poop threatened by climate change. the promise of bioga!
posted by mwhybark at 10:45 PM on February 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by mwhybark at 10:45 PM on February 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Fizz, thanks for the post! I've been meaning to do a post about human waste disposal on Denali. Looking forward to finding the time to watch the embedded video in the article you linked.
Each one formerly a wealthy and highly motivated individual. Now reposing among the frozen turds of other one-percenters.
I want to push back on the idea that the only people climbing and dying on Everest are wealthy one-percenters:
Each one formerly a wealthy and highly motivated individual. Now reposing among the frozen turds of other one-percenters.
I want to push back on the idea that the only people climbing and dying on Everest are wealthy one-percenters:
- The first successful, recorded summit of Everest was not by Edmund Hillary. It was by Tenzig Norgay and Edmund Hillary together.
- About 290 people have died on Everest, one-third of whom are Sherpas.
- On a single day in April 2014, 16 Sherpas working on the mountain were killed in an avalanche. It was at the time the deadliest single incident on the mountain. In the aftermath of the disaster, Sherpas working for various companies on the mountain initiated a work strike. The documentary Sherpa recorded the reactions of visiting climbers on the mountain; one visitor asks the owner of his hired guide service if there's any way he can talk to the "owners" of the Sherpas who organized the strike. The remark receives no pushback from his Western guide or any of his fellow climbers.
- In a more recent and I think particularly terrible incident, a Sherpa last year died on the mountain while working for a team engaged in a promotional stunt. Visiting climbers littered the summit with a thumb drive containing what they said was $50,000 worth of cryptocurrency. One of their hired Sherpas died descending the mountain; the weird video they filmed there made no mention of the death.
- Sherpas working on Everest have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, and can earn as little as $3,000 each year on the mountain.
Yes but those sherpas are dying so the 1% can have some fun on a mountain right?
posted by LizBoBiz at 12:13 AM on February 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by LizBoBiz at 12:13 AM on February 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
> Step 1: rich white idiots, stop flying across the world to climb a fucking mountain.
Your melanin filter may help, but it's not going to solve the problem:
Number of climbers between 2010-2018 per country, non-hired only
(only countries with 10 or more climbers are shown)
11 Mongolia
11 Pakistan
12 Hungary
12 Indonesia
12 Romania
13 Czech Republic
14 Finland
15 Iran
15 UAE
17 Singapore
20 Denmark
20 Ukraine
22 Belgium
22 Ecuador
29 Ireland
35 Sweden
36 Argentina
36 Brazil
37 Chile
37 Netherlands
43 Mexico
44 S Africa
45 Malaysia
47 Italy
49 Spain
59 Switzerland
67 France
68 S Korea
69 Norway
71 Poland
78 Austria
91 New Zealand
102 Germany
118 Canada
149 Australia
152 Russia
180 Japan
207 Nepal
396 UK
401 China
585 India
745 USA
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:14 AM on February 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
Your melanin filter may help, but it's not going to solve the problem:
Number of climbers between 2010-2018 per country, non-hired only
(only countries with 10 or more climbers are shown)
11 Mongolia
11 Pakistan
12 Hungary
12 Indonesia
12 Romania
13 Czech Republic
14 Finland
15 Iran
15 UAE
17 Singapore
20 Denmark
20 Ukraine
22 Belgium
22 Ecuador
29 Ireland
35 Sweden
36 Argentina
36 Brazil
37 Chile
37 Netherlands
43 Mexico
44 S Africa
45 Malaysia
47 Italy
49 Spain
59 Switzerland
67 France
68 S Korea
69 Norway
71 Poland
78 Austria
91 New Zealand
102 Germany
118 Canada
149 Australia
152 Russia
180 Japan
207 Nepal
396 UK
401 China
585 India
745 USA
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:14 AM on February 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
Plenty of corpses litter the climb
I'm currently reading the new graphic novel High Crimes, which centres on a couple of climbers who carve hands off any corpses they find half way up Everest, use a corrupt cop to identify them via fingerprints, and then contact the relatives back home with an offer to recover the remains in return for a large cash sum. How legal any of this would be, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure something very similar must happen in the real world.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:45 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm currently reading the new graphic novel High Crimes, which centres on a couple of climbers who carve hands off any corpses they find half way up Everest, use a corrupt cop to identify them via fingerprints, and then contact the relatives back home with an offer to recover the remains in return for a large cash sum. How legal any of this would be, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure something very similar must happen in the real world.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:45 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
“The peak has become a fecal time bomb, and the mess is gradually sliding back toward base camp.”
Sounds like it's a self-correcting problem.
posted by chavenet at 1:45 AM on February 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Sounds like it's a self-correcting problem.
posted by chavenet at 1:45 AM on February 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
This looks to me like the archetypical 3rd-world problem, being visited on an "undeveloped" place by well-off people from elsewhere. The 1st-world version is the concept of dog parks, where the responsible humans are expected to remove feces they've caused to be deposited.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:21 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:21 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
I have a vague memory that early astronaut diets were engineered to reduce the amount of fecal waste produced - ie high in meat, low in starches and other bulk foods.
posted by Mogur at 4:31 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Mogur at 4:31 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
But these knuckleheads in all their high-tech gear
Look ready to be walking on the moon
They spread around some cash
And a good amount of trash
Then go lookin' for another place to ruin
'Cause it's there, it's there
They come because it's there
Now there's another dumbass on the mountain
A rescue's underway
I wonder who will pay
There's another dumbass on the mountain
Those Darn Accordians - There's Another Dumbass on the Mountain
posted by Lunaloon at 4:51 AM on February 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Look ready to be walking on the moon
They spread around some cash
And a good amount of trash
Then go lookin' for another place to ruin
'Cause it's there, it's there
They come because it's there
Now there's another dumbass on the mountain
A rescue's underway
I wonder who will pay
There's another dumbass on the mountain
Those Darn Accordians - There's Another Dumbass on the Mountain
posted by Lunaloon at 4:51 AM on February 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Ask your doctor if Bioga is right for you.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:53 AM on February 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 4:53 AM on February 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
I have a vague memory that early astronaut diets were engineered to reduce the amount of fecal waste produced
The floating turd mystery that still haunts NASA.
posted by msbrauer at 5:09 AM on February 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
The floating turd mystery that still haunts NASA.
posted by msbrauer at 5:09 AM on February 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
What is the angle of repose of human excrement?
posted by eirias at 6:23 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by eirias at 6:23 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
zaixfeep - honey is not bee poop, it's bee vomit. Bee poop is decidedly its own thing. (Now thinking about a post about bee poop)
posted by Sophie1 at 6:26 AM on February 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Sophie1 at 6:26 AM on February 28, 2019 [9 favorites]
mountain poop = excremontagne, crapennine, fujiyamanure
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:29 AM on February 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:29 AM on February 28, 2019 [8 favorites]
The poop trifecta is in play on the front page today.
posted by slogger at 6:34 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by slogger at 6:34 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Carry out what you carry in. It can't weigh too much more than the food and water you brought with you, for poople mountain majesties.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:53 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:53 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
the mess is gradually sliding backHuh. I'd always been told it *rolls* downhill.
Would you go to the bodega to get a bioga?You can get biogas from bodegas; try the microwave bean burrito.
is it just me or has there been an increase of "shitposting" on Metafilter lately?'Tain't just you.
What is the angle of repose of human excrement?I'd guess between 40 and 50 degrees at different conditions, but that might just be me being an ass.
posted by roystgnr at 7:01 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'd always been told it *rolls* downhill.
Well, a slightly more generic variation is part of the Three Rules of Plumbing:
1. Payday's Friday.
2. Shit goes downhill.
3. Don't chew your fingernails.
posted by notsnot at 7:11 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Well, a slightly more generic variation is part of the Three Rules of Plumbing:
1. Payday's Friday.
2. Shit goes downhill.
3. Don't chew your fingernails.
posted by notsnot at 7:11 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Plenty of corpses litter the climb, but the poop is probably a bigger problem by both weight and sanitation standards.
Solution:
It's all bioga(s).
posted by BlueHorse at 7:32 AM on February 28, 2019
Solution:
It's all bioga(s).
posted by BlueHorse at 7:32 AM on February 28, 2019
I assume he has done the math, but I have to wonder if there is really enough feces available up there to generate enough biogas to be worth it, particularly given the challenges/extra costs of trying to keep the digester at a useful temperature. It seems like a very elaborate solution but kudos to them if it works.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:39 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Dip Flash at 7:39 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
So, wealthy transients on a mountain are leaving crap everywhere? Can't they just go to SF and do this stuff?
posted by Afghan Stan at 8:12 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Afghan Stan at 8:12 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
zaixfeep - honey is not bee poop, it's bee vomit. Bee poop is decidedly its own thing. (Now thinking about a post about bee poop)
posted by Sophie1
Thanks for the correction... May we have a moratorium on poop posts for a while... Pleeeeeeeeeze?
posted by zaixfeep at 8:21 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Sophie1
Thanks for the correction... May we have a moratorium on poop posts for a while... Pleeeeeeeeeze?
posted by zaixfeep at 8:21 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
> Carry out what you carry in
"Leave no trace" while hiking is such a basic concept that we teach it to children; I don't know how these climbers can justify not doing it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:52 AM on February 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
"Leave no trace" while hiking is such a basic concept that we teach it to children; I don't know how these climbers can justify not doing it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:52 AM on February 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
Related: Pooping on a mountain is even more complicated than it sounds [Popular Science]
“Preparation is the key to an ethical and sanitary mountain poo.posted by Fizz at 9:03 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
If you’re going to pack it all out, a WAG (Waste Alleviation and Gelling) bag will make your life a lot easier. There are lots of existing WAG bags you can buy all ready to go; most kits will include an internal bag for catching waste, something inside to help neutralize odors, and an exterior bag to keep it all from exploding inside your backpack. Cleanwaste GO Anywhere Toilet Kit Waste Bags get solid reviews, and you can get a pack of 12 for less than 40 bucks. Most people poop once a day so that purchase should get a pair of hikers through a decent backpacking trip without much drama.
For DIY-or-die types, homemade WAG bags are an option. Get yourself a bunch of bags to poop in (biodegradable puppy poop bags are a logical choice) and scoop a bit of cat litter into each one before you hit the trail. Once you’ve done the deed, you can shove the whole mess into a sturdier external bag—Trailspace recommends freezer-strength Ziploc bags—and pack it away for later disposal.
Whether you’re using a store-bought or bespoke WAG bag, remember to drop any toilet paper or wet wipes in with your poo before sealing the whole thing up. You definitely don’t want to leave those behind. Don’t forget to sanitize your hands as you seal up the bag, too; plenty of hikers get sick from their own feces.”
They can justify it in the same way that we justify leaving people if they fall over - it is potentially too dangerous to spend anything but the least amount of energy in reaching the summit. If you expend more energy than required at such inhospitable heights then your risk of death increase exponentially.
posted by trif at 9:05 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by trif at 9:05 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
But the variant of "leave no trace" that requires you to pack your poop out is relatively recent and, I think, rarely practiced. (Last I heard, disposal of shit on the Appalachian Trail and other heavy-use trails was still a problem.) Early Everest climbers got away with it because there just weren't that many of them, and as the numbers increased, the climbers could cite tradition. You could also cite the risk of "unnecessary" energy expenditure as trif does above, although the sheer number of climbers in recent decades would argue against that excuse; if it's that dangerous, then why are so many people on the mountain?
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:09 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:09 AM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
I climbed Kilimanjaro last winter, and the amount of poop in the areas adjacent to the main trails was horrifying.
posted by suelac at 9:34 AM on February 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by suelac at 9:34 AM on February 28, 2019 [6 favorites]
I have to wonder if there is really enough feces available up there to generate enough biogas to be worth it, particularly given the challenges/extra costs of trying to keep the digester at a useful temperature. It seems like a very elaborate solution but kudos to them if it works.
Yeah - generally the digester projects I'm familiar with are working in the tens of thousands of tons of feedstock per year. But it sounds like they're scaling things and properly thinking through how the thing needs to work; I get the impression that the base camp where this will be installed is big enough (and permanent enough) that utilizing the gas is feasible. To my mind the main challenge seems to be to get people to collect it and bring it back to base camp.
posted by nickmark at 9:51 AM on February 28, 2019
Yeah - generally the digester projects I'm familiar with are working in the tens of thousands of tons of feedstock per year. But it sounds like they're scaling things and properly thinking through how the thing needs to work; I get the impression that the base camp where this will be installed is big enough (and permanent enough) that utilizing the gas is feasible. To my mind the main challenge seems to be to get people to collect it and bring it back to base camp.
posted by nickmark at 9:51 AM on February 28, 2019
Wow. People can actually poop while travelling? TMI but I can barely handle a few days between NYC & Miami. Everest? Kilimanjaro? Too cold & outta the question.
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 10:05 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 10:05 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
If you go a even a day without defecating, there's probably something wrong with your guts!
posted by GoblinHoney at 11:57 AM on February 28, 2019
posted by GoblinHoney at 11:57 AM on February 28, 2019
They can justify it in the same way that we justify leaving people if they fall over - it is potentially too dangerous to spend anything but the least amount of energy in reaching the summit. If you expend more energy than required at such inhospitable heights then your risk of death increase exponentially.
It doesn't seem unreasonable to require parties to take along an extra poop-toting Sherpa for every two climbers. In theory that's unnecessary as the weight of the poop should be less than the weight of the food removed from the packs, but I suspect climbers rely on their packs getting lighter with time so having an extra sherpa to uhh... pick up the load seems like a decent plan. They don't even need to summit, which brings their risk way down.
I'd propose a few Sherpas for bringing down corpses too, but unless you're going to equip the Sherpas with chainsaws (what? The corpses are already frozen) it would be awkward to carry the bodies down.
It looks like a top-end Sherpa gets paid around $2500 a month and a full Everest expedition takes two months. If you can afford to do an Everest climb you can afford $5000 per pair of climbers to clean up your mess.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:53 PM on February 28, 2019
It doesn't seem unreasonable to require parties to take along an extra poop-toting Sherpa for every two climbers. In theory that's unnecessary as the weight of the poop should be less than the weight of the food removed from the packs, but I suspect climbers rely on their packs getting lighter with time so having an extra sherpa to uhh... pick up the load seems like a decent plan. They don't even need to summit, which brings their risk way down.
I'd propose a few Sherpas for bringing down corpses too, but unless you're going to equip the Sherpas with chainsaws (what? The corpses are already frozen) it would be awkward to carry the bodies down.
It looks like a top-end Sherpa gets paid around $2500 a month and a full Everest expedition takes two months. If you can afford to do an Everest climb you can afford $5000 per pair of climbers to clean up your mess.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:53 PM on February 28, 2019
If you go a even a day without defecating, there's probably something wrong with your guts!
Absolutely not. The majority of people go less frequently than that.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:57 PM on February 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Absolutely not. The majority of people go less frequently than that.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:57 PM on February 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Wow. People can actually poop while travelling? TMI but I can barely handle a few days between NYC & Miami. Everest? Kilimanjaro? Too cold & outta the question.
I have a natural tendency to get dehydrated and, how you say, "irregular" when traveling, too. I now force myself to drink a lot of water, eat as close to my usual times as possible, and not put off pitstops, and I do OK.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:44 PM on February 28, 2019
I have a natural tendency to get dehydrated and, how you say, "irregular" when traveling, too. I now force myself to drink a lot of water, eat as close to my usual times as possible, and not put off pitstops, and I do OK.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:44 PM on February 28, 2019
I was shocked at how nasty Concordia was on the way to K2 base camp. The glacier is just too cold to dig out properly for toilet tents even if the teams are trying to be low footprint. Not surprising so many end up with Giardia near the big mountains. A fixed solution which could be converted to biogas for the guides who stay up there through the climbing seasons would be a great thing.
posted by frumiousb at 3:09 PM on February 28, 2019
posted by frumiousb at 3:09 PM on February 28, 2019
Am I missing something? Why does it need elaborate solar panels to heat it up. It's a thing that MAKES heating gas right?
posted by Megafly at 4:57 PM on February 28, 2019
posted by Megafly at 4:57 PM on February 28, 2019
Special Agent Dale Cooper's link above is an absolutely spectacular and fascinating read.
posted by *becca* at 10:49 AM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by *becca* at 10:49 AM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Step 1: rich white idiots: Problem is, climbing Mount Everest makes you dumber.
posted by larrybob at 12:03 PM on March 1, 2019
posted by larrybob at 12:03 PM on March 1, 2019
Megafly: "Am I missing something? Why does it need elaborate solar panels to heat it up. It's a thing that MAKES heating gas right?"
You need something to heat it up before it starts producing (if I'm understanding the system it is batch rather than continuous so lots of starts/stops). Also the electricity can be used for process control (pumps, agitators, lights, control valves etc.).
posted by Mitheral at 8:46 PM on March 1, 2019
You need something to heat it up before it starts producing (if I'm understanding the system it is batch rather than continuous so lots of starts/stops). Also the electricity can be used for process control (pumps, agitators, lights, control valves etc.).
posted by Mitheral at 8:46 PM on March 1, 2019
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