Everest's highest camp has been turned into a garbage dump. Images posted on social media have been circulating online showing abandoned tents, empty oxygen tanks and other debris.

Dozens of torn yellow tents remain exposed to strong winds.

Camp IV is located in the South Plateau, between Everest and Lhotse, respectively the highest and fourth highest mountains in the world.

At an altitude of 7,925 meters, it is the last resting point before the climbers' final attempt through the "Death Zone" towards the 8,148-meter summit.

"What should be one of the most spectacular places on the planet has, in many ways, become one of the ugliest aspects of the commercialization of Everest," wrote the Everest Today page, an account dedicated to mountaineering, in a post on X.

 

This is Camp IV on Mt Everest (~7,900 m), the highest campsite on Earth and the final stop before the summit.

What should be one of the most extraordinary places on the planet has, in many ways, become one of the ugliest faces of Everest's commercialization. Abandoned tents,… pic.twitter.com/0Th04sCa5J

- Everest Today (@EverestToday) June 1, 2026