Outdoors brand pledges support to ambitious clean-up project in the Himalaya Mountains

Nimsdai Foundation’s Big Mountain Cleanup (Image credit: Elite Exped / Nimsdai)

A popular rucksack brand has announced its support of a campaign to work towards cleaning up the Himalaya Mountains.

Osprey Europe is backing the Nimsdai Foundation’s Big Mountain Cleanup initiative. And this month, Osprey is also donating 20% of Green Friday sales – from November 26 to 29 – to the ambitious project in Asia.

a sherpa as part of the big mountain clean up — A sherpa working as part of the Big Mountain Cleanup team (Image credit: Elite Exped)

What is the Nimsdai Foundation?

The Nimsdai Foundation was founded by Nepalese mountaineer Nimsdai Purja this year as a means of giving back to the mountain communities of the Himalaya. The hope is to support educational and technological projects and to give guidance to the climbers of the future.

Another objective of the foundation is the Big Mountain Cleanup. The goal is to tackle the problem of the ever-increasing accumulation of expedition waste, which is polluting the environment of the Himalaya.

Each climber in the mountain range generates on average an excess of 18lbs of waste, which includes abandoned tents, oxygen canisters, food containers, discarded equipment and faecal matter.

Pollutants from this waste are being washed into rivers by rainfall and snowmelt, contaminating water supplies for local populations posing serious health risks from disease.

In addition to this, the Nimsdai Foundation wants to ensure improved safety in the mountains and to put a stop to the potential dangers of climbers accidentally clipping onto old, rotten and forgotten lines.

This autumn, Nimsdai, who is an Osprey ambassador, took a team of skilled Nepalese Sherpas to clean the first mountain, Manaslu. Over the next two years, he will tackle the pollution problem at Everest, Ama Dablam and K2.

Nimsdai says: “I’m happy to say that despite heavy snow on Manaslu, we were able to start the Big Mountain Cleanup. This was our first cleanup and a first step towards our main goal – cleaning Everest next year.Our team cleaned 500kg of waste from this beautiful and sacred mountain.”

Osprey support for the Nimsdai Foundation

Jonathan Petty, managing director of Osprey, says: “What the Nimsdai Foundation is set to achieve in the next two years is testament to Nimsdai. He is an outstanding advocate to the world we live in.

“Not only does he show us what you can achieve with sheer determination and passion but that you can also give back to the beauty of our planet.

“It is for this reason we are proud to stand alongside Nimsdai and his Big Mountain Cleanup quest.”

See Ospreyand Nimsdai.

Fiona Russell is a widely published adventure journalist and blogger, better known as Fiona Outdoors. She is based in Scotland and is an all-round outdoors enthusiast with favorite activities including trail running, mountain walking, mountain biking, road cycling, triathlon and skiing (both downhill and backcountry). Aside from her own adventures, Fiona's biggest aim is to inspire others to enjoy getting outside and exploring, especially through her writing. She is also rarely seen without a running skort! Find out more at Fiona Outdoors.