Sierra Blogging Post Archives

You may have heard of Ken Noguchi before... he once held the record for the youngest person ever to climb all Seven Summits (highest peaks in the world). A world-class climber, Noguchi is also an environmental steward. Since climbing the summits, his mission has now become cleaning them up.

If you've never climbed Everest (or any of the Seven Summits), you probably didn't know that they needed to be cleaned up at all. When I think of Everest, the last thing I think about is piles and piles of trash. But apparently there's a lot of garbage up there--so much so that Everest is known as the "world's highest junkyard". Plastic water bottles, empty air and fuel tanks, and discarded gear litter the mountain. Leave No Trace does not have a presence here.

Apparently people abandon gear on the way down for many reasons, but the most common one is that they might not make it otherwise. Everest can be extremely dangerous and if it comes down to littering or living, you better believe living will win every time. But that leaves the mountain a mess.

Thankfully, there are people like Noguchi who care enough to clean up. You may even be one of them. If you are doing something to clean up your community, favorite hiking trail, mountain, or recreation area, or know someone who is, send us your story.