far more numerous trekkers heading as far as base camp. Whether the Everest region can continue to cope with a booming tourism sector remains to be seen, according to mountain geographer and environmentalist, Alton Byers. The combination of climate change and tourism, he says, is creating new stresses on the Sherpa homeland. The retreat, and in some cases disappearance, of glaciers in the Everest region are having a major impact already. “Everywhere you go, people are talking about how there’s less water. There’s less water for agriculture and less water for all the new lodges that are getting built.” In the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar, he says, a new five-mile pipeline is being laid to bring water to service the growing tourist demand for showers and flush toilets. The local stream has become contaminated with human waste and does not provide enough water for a place that, in high season, is bursting at the seams. “Every village is digging a pit just beyond the houses for garbage. Khumbu has the highest landfill sites in the world,” he says. Human waste at base camp is now managed well and removed in plastic barrels. But, according to Byers, these barrels are emptied into a huge pit a few hours down the valley that could leak into the region’s watercourses. “These problems can be solved, but we need to get serious about it,” he says. “One climber can