People hoping to climb Mount Everest will have to add another item to their packing list -- their poop.
In an effort to tackle pollution, climbers will now be required to bring their excrement down with them from the world’s highest peak, according to a report on CNN.com.
Thanks to the number of visitors and the harsh conditions on the 29,032-foot mountain that interfere with the degradation process, Mount Everest has a poop problem.
Jinesh Sindurakar of the Nepal Mountaineering Association told CNN that an estimated 1,200 people will be on Everest this season.
“Each person produces 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of excrement a day and they will spend 2 weeks on the higher camps for the summit push,” Sindurakar explained, adding that each climber will be given two poop bags, which can each be used six times.
The bags contain chemicals to solidify the human waste and make it odorless, Sindurakar said, and Nepal’s Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality will issue some 8,000 bags this season.
Without the new rules, the doo-doo dilemma was highly likely to get worse. Last year, Nepal gave out a record 478 climbing permits to climb the peak. Twelve climbers were confirmed to have died on the mountain, while another five remain officially missing.
Most people who attempt to climb Everest pay $11,000 just for the climbing permit. With gear, food, supplemental oxygen, Sherpa guides and more, it costs upward of $35,000 to take on the mountain.