--- title: Mount Everest Climb: Indian Army To Climb To Remove Trash description: When mountaineers from the Indian Army scale Mount Everest later this month, they will be tasked with carrying down non-biodegradable trash. canonical: https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-01T14:56:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:36:34.312Z article:section: Science og:title: Indian Army to Climb Everest to Remove Thousands of Pounds of Trash og:description: "Sadly, Mount Everest is now also called the world's highest junkyard" og:url: https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad6a9e940f7e45b8/6987862d8e0601548d45b0cc/everest-trash.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Indian Army to Climb Everest to Remove Thousands of Pounds of Trash twitter:description: "Sadly, Mount Everest is now also called the world's highest junkyard" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad6a9e940f7e45b8/6987862d8e0601548d45b0cc/everest-trash.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Indian Army to Climb Everest to Remove Thousands of Pounds of Trash ## Video: Waking the Dead: Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life [Watch (HLS stream): Waking the Dead: Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7mURxfr4.m3u8) (4:03)  _Published 2014-03-12. Conservationists and scientists have a saying, "extinction is forever." But soon biologists will clone long-gone animals in the hope to redefine that axiom to "DE-extinction is forever."_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2015 2:56 PM UTC  This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows a Nepalese sherpa collecting garbage, left by climbers, at an altitude of 8,000 meters during the Everest clean-up expedition at Mount Everest. This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows a Nepalese sherpa collecting garbage, left by climbers, at an altitude of 8,000 meters during the Everest clean-up expedition at Mount Everest.Namgyal Sherpa—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2015 2:56 PM UTC Mountaineers from the Indian Army will scale Mount Everest later this month to [clean up trash left behind by past climbers](http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mount-everest-swachh-bharat-mission-trash-garbage-indian-army/1/426657.html). The 34 members of the climbing team plan to collect and carry down more than 8,800 lbs. (4,000 kg) of non-biodegradable garbage and equipment that has been dumped by thousands of people who have made the trip over the years, _India Today_ reports. “Sadly, Mount Everest is now also called the world’s highest junkyard,” said major Ranveer Singh Jamval, the leader of the climb. “Our aim is to carry forward our prime minister’s dream of cleanliness everywhere,” Jamval added of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made a push to clear the country’s roads and public places of trash. The trip falls on the 50th anniversary of the successful Everest climb by Indian Army mountaineers. \[[_India Today_](http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mount-everest-swachh-bharat-mission-trash-garbage-indian-army/1/426657.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/"},"headline":"Indian Army to Climb Everest to Remove Thousands of Pounds of Trash","datePublished":"2015-04-01T14:56:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:36:34.312Z","description":"\"Sadly, Mount Everest is now also called the world's highest junkyard\"","url":"https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/","keywords":["Environment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad6a9e940f7e45b8/6987862d8e0601548d45b0cc/everest-trash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad6a9e940f7e45b8/6987862d8e0601548d45b0cc/everest-trash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows","caption":"This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows","creditText":"Namgyal Sherpa—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/","name":"Indian Army to Climb Everest to Remove Thousands of Pounds of Trash"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Waking the Dead: Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life","description":"Conservationists and scientists have a saying, \"extinction is forever.\" But soon biologists will clone long-gone animals in the hope to redefine that axiom to \"DE-extinction is forever.\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7mURxfr4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-03-12T14:27:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7mURxfr4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/","duration":"PT4M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3766862/mountaineers-everest-trash/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```