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How do you poop on Mt. Everest?
The days of poop-behind-a-rock be gone - a Nepali climber has recently started promoting the use of a packable toilet for hikers up the world's tallest mountain. Tired of the 965 kilos of waste he picked up during an expedition in May (including a corpse dating back to 1972! wtf!), Dawa Steven Sherpa is determined to make Mt. Everest a cleaner place. His solution is the Luggable Loo – a portable bucket-cum-toilet that stores waste in a gas-impervious bag. This way, hikers will have a potty to sit on (plus!) but poop to haul out (not so much plus). The bags do their job to keep unwanted aromas from reaching expeditionists while they hike.
Still, if hauling your own waste out seems like too much trouble, what the hell are you doing climbing Mt. Everest anyway? Any good hiker knows that the first rule of messing with Mother Nature is to leave her exactly as you found her. That includes poop, too.
The loo retails from Cabela's Outfitters for $15 – not too shabby – and 6 of the "Doodie Bags" (as they are so named) will cost you $12.99. If I were Mr. Sherpa, I'd be handing these things out at the base camp. Who wants to clean up someone else's 20-year-old, iced-over poo anyway?
Filed under: Activism, Climbing, Hiking, Gear, Asia, Nepal, What's in Your Pack?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Casey Dec 24th 2008 11:18AM
Just found this article and this is actually nothing new in the States. Several mountains including Mt. Whitney the tallest in the lower 48 states require you to pack out your poop and they actually give you the doodie bags with your climbing permit, one for each person listed. At first I was a little weary of this BUT i have hear horror stories of some of the camps being littered with nasty stuff but during my recent trip we found no traces of that, so it must be working.
Porta Potty Princess Jan 16th 2009 12:58PM
I think it's a great idea! Need to clean up after ourselves, something we learn in 1st grade, nice to know hikers are getting it. www.diamondprovides.com