Mt. Everest climbing season begins amid serious trash talk

As another Mt. Everest climbing season gets underway, much of the scrutiny is on Jordan Romero, 13, a Southern California resident who over the next several weeks will attempt to become the youngest person to summit the world's tallest peak.

But perhaps more noteworthy--especially among veteran climbers who disdain the pursuit of these kinds of records--is an expedition involving Apa Sherpa (pictured), a Nepalese mountaineer aspiring to conquer Everest for the 20th time.

Apa, who lives in Utah, seeks to round off a record number of ascents to the 29,035-foot top of the Himalayan giant. But the focus of the journey is not so much about who's going up, but what's coming down: hundreds of pounds of discarded gear and waste left behind by past climbers.

Yes, Apa will begin this monumental quest as chief trash collector, carrying a message to save the mountains.

The Eco-Everest Expedition is in its third year. Two years ago its climbing crew removed 143 pounds of human waste and more than 2,000 pounds of garbage from above Base Camp. Last year it hauled down 252 pounds of human waste and more than 12,000 pounds of garbage, including the wreckage of an Italian Army helicopter that crashed between Camp 1 and Camp II in 1973.

Dawa Steven Sherpa, who along with Apa is leading this year's expedition, said the goal this time is to collect garbage from more dangerous higher altitudes.