From schlepping equipment to collecting garbage, UAVs ease burden for sherpas
KATHMANDU, JUNE 5
One of the highlights of the 2025 spring climbing season featured plentiful use of drones for the route-fixing process across the treacherous Khumbu Icefall section.
Annually, the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), tasked by the government, deploys a team of Icefall Doctors to fix climbing routes and ensure climbers have safe passage across the deadly icefall section.
Although the initial plan was to utilise unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for garbage collection from the Everest region, they were mostly used for transporting equipment up the mountain this spring.
"The use of drones was very effective in transporting rope-fixing equipment over the Khumbu Icefall section. Although we had hoped to transport more waste from the high camps, we could not do so after one of the drones became unfit to fly following an emergency landing due to high winds," said Tshering Sherpa, CEO of SPCC.
Mapping and hauling
This year, through the use of UAV, the icefall doctors navigated the route without any loads on their backs as equipment, including ropes, ladders and even lunch, was carried by drones, operated by Airlift Technology Pvt Ltd. Through the use of aerial technology, the distance to traverse the deadly section was cut short by over one hour, Milan Pandey, cofounder of Airlift Technology Pvt Ltd, claimed.
"By using drone-based 3D mapping and aerial survey, the team were able to identify the safest way up to Camp I. For the first time in history, no ladders nor other route-fixing equipment needed to be carried by an Icefall doctor through the Khumbu Icefall section. Even when a serac collapsed on April 15, destroying some of the fixed ladders and widened crevasses, the drone managed to carry the required equipment and supply them within minutes, fixing the route for climbers. The drone was attached with an auto-release mechanism, making the process seamless as no man was needed on the ground to unclip the loads carried," Pandey shared, adding that it drastically reduced time and risks for the icefall doctors on the ground.
As a result, the route across the Khumbu Icefall section was finished within a shorter period compared to last year.
In August last year, the SPCC, Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, and Airlift Technology Pvt Ltd, Nepal's pioneering drone company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for collaboration aiming to utilise advanced drone technology for efficient management of garbage in the Khumbu region mountains.
According to Pandey, the use of UAVs this season managed to carry over 2.5 tonnes of equipment materials and some garbage, across the Khumbu Icefall section to Camp I and back to base camp, a significant increase compared to waste collected from the mountain last year during initial testing. The drone also reached the height of 6,130 metres on Everest setting a new record for drone technology.
Initially, around 15 test flights were conducted on Everest with a DJI FlyCart drone from Base Camp to just below Camp I by Airlift. The team managed to collect around 234 kilograms of waste from Everest during the test phase. Similar testing was conducted in autumn till Camp II at Mt Amadablam, collecting around 641 kilograms of waste, a milestone on the 6,812-metre peak, according to Pandey.
"This year, the drones carried 444 kg of icefall route fixing equipment and another 900 kg of the same for the 8K rope fixing team, who were assigned to fix the route from Camp I to the summit. Similarly, various equipment, including over 150 oxygen cylinders, and emergency essentials among others for expedition operators were transported to Camp I as well. In total, around 300 kg of equipment and garbage were carried by the drones daily," Pandey said.
He further shared that the drones were capable of carrying over six oxygen cylinders per flight. The drone operators, being mindful of climbers at Camp I, delivered the essentials just 60 metres adjacent to the camp so as to not create any disturbances.
"To achieve smooth operations from base camp, the team was constantly in contact with the traffic control tower in Lukla and aware of any chopper flying in and out of base camp. With the help of Lakpa Norbu Sherpa, a longline rescue specialist of Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal, the coordination was seamless," he added.
Even after a drone went offline following an emergency landing in the Icefall section, another drone was brought from Kathmandu to base camp within 10 days to resume operations.
694 scaled Everest
With the end of the spring climbing season in Nepal, it is reported that around 694 individuals scaled Mt Everest as per the unofficial data received by the Department of Tourism (DoT).
While the DoT had issued 468 permits for climbers seeking to scale the world's highest peak, 266 climbers with permits, including nine Nepali nationals, successfully summited the mountain supported by 421 Sherpas and high altitude guides and seven members of the rope fixing team from 8K expeditions.
The department is to release the final official numbers in the coming days.
"Although it has been informed that 694 individuals submitted Everest this spring climbing season, it is yet to be determined. The department will tally all the information received and release a statement when the final certificates are handed over to the climbers who successfully summited Sagarmatha," Himal Gautam, director at DoT, informed THT.
Alongside a large number of successful summits, the spring season on Everest recorded four deaths, including two foreigners above Camp IV and two Sherpas who breathed their last at base camp due to altitude-related sickness. Last year, seven people had died on Everest while another died during the course of treatment after being rescued from Camp IV. Of them, three were Nepali nationals.
82 tonnes of waste collected
As per the latest report unveiled by the SPCC, it has collected over 82 tonnes of waste from Everest this season.
According to Tshering Sherpa, CEO of SPCC, the committee collected over 25 tonnes of waste including paper, plastic and clothes; 8,374 kilograms of cans, tins and glasses; 17,861 kilograms of kitchen waste; and 31,797 kilograms of human waste. Similarly, 788 units of expandable propane gas canisters and 1,802 pieces of batteries were collected this spring climbing season.
"While a large proportion of waste collected came from base camp itself, others were collected from Camp I and above," Sherpa said.
A record-breaking year
Mt Everest saw various records broken this year, both by humans and machines.
According to Raj Bikram Maharjan, co-founder and CEO at Airlift Technology, their drones recorded a flight height of 20,111.55 feet or 6,130 metres on Everest this year, a feat achieved nowhere else.
"The drone that set the record on Everest had a payload of 36 kg. The same drones had reached the height of 5,900 metres on Everest and 6,100 metres on Amadablam last year. The recent flight on Everest breaks the record claimed by India's Bon V Aero of hovering an UAV at 19,024 feet carrying a 30 kg payload, a test conducted at Umling La Pass, Ladakh," Maharjan shared.
Further collaborations
Following the successful testing and use of UAVs in the Khumbu region, the Manaslu Conservation Area Project and Annapurna Conservation Area Project have also decided to collaborate with Airlift Technology.
"The collaboration will be for the use of UAVs in collecting garbage from the base camps of Manaslu and Annapurna, while also assisting in airlifting agro products from the high altitude regions where road networks are limited," said Maharjan.
In another development, Cimex BYD has announced a cleanup project to remove 1,000 kg of waste from mountains across the country in collaboration with Airlift.
