Team heads to Mt Everest

FILE - In this May 2005 file picture, members of the Chinese Mount Everest expedition team climb up to measure the height of the mountain. A team of 20 Sherpa mountaineers plans to remove bodies of climbers who died in Mount Everest's "death zone," a treacherous stretch that has claimed some 300 lives since 1953, the team leader said Monday, April 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Suolang Luobu)

A team of mountaineers led by a veteran Sherpa guide Apa has flown to Mount Everest to begin an expedition that aims to clear away tons of garbage left on the world’s highest peak.

The expedition team plans to bring down 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) of garbage from the slopes of Everest during the spring climbing season. The team’s leader, Mr. Apa has climbed Everest a record 20 times.

Mr. Apa’s team hopes to bring down 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of garbage from the lower part of the mountain, and another 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) from the area near the 29,035-foot-high (8,850-meter-high) summit.

The team will get help bringing down the garbage by members of other expeditions who will be paid 100 rupees ($1.40) for every kilogram of trash they carry down.