Ropes on climbing routes litter Mount Everest

Around 50 tonnes of climbing ropes are estimated to lie buried under the snow on different mountains.

Record-setting mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa didn’t find any fixed ropes in the “death zone” on Mt Everest when he climbed the peak in the spring. Sherpa, who holds the world record for summiting 8,000-metre mountains an astounding 39 times, knows the value of the ropes for climbers crawling up the frozen slopes.