Mount Everest is now a trash-filled, overcrowded tourist spot, says the last living member of Edmund Hillary's team

• A 35-member team helped Edmund Hillary and his sherpa reach the top of Mount Everest in 1953.
• Kanchha Sherpa is the last surviving team member at age 91.

Kanchha Sherpa was part of the team that first conquered Mount Everest more than seven decades ago, but he's worried these days.

"It would be better for the mountain to reduce the number of climbers," Kanchha said during an interview with the Associated Press. "Right now there is always a big crowd of people at the summit."

Kanchha would know.

The 91-year-old was part of the 35-member team that helped Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and his sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, reach the top of Mount Everest in May 1953, the outlet reported. At 29,032 feet, Mount Everest is considered the highest point on Earth and attracts a plethora of tourists. That includes the 667 people who successfully reached the mountain's peak during last spring season in addition to the "thousands" of support staff who assisted climbers at base camp, AP reported.

But Kanchha is concerned about more than large crowds. He told AP that the snow-covered expanse is also becoming dirty and covered in trash by careless climbers.

"It is very dirty now. People throw tins and wrappings after eating food. Who is going to pick them up now?" Kanchha said.

The outlet noted that there's been discontent over the number of visitors and resulting waste, and local authorities aren't expected to stop handing out climbing permits. There are also official rules that ask climbers to bring trash and equipment with them down the mountain, but monitoring has been ineffective, AP reported.

"Some climbers just dump their trash in the crevasse, which would be hidden at that time but eventually it will flow down to base camp as the snow melts and carries them downward," Kanchha added.

Kanchha concluded his thoughts by explaining that sherpas revere Mount Everest, also known as Qomolangma, the goddess mother of the world. Sherpas perform religious rituals before attempting to reach the mountain's peak, AP reported.

"They should not be dirtying the mountain. It is our biggest god and they should not be dirtying the gods," Kanchha said. "Qomolangma is the biggest god for the Sherpas but people smoke and eat meat and throw them on the mountain."

Representatives for Kanchha did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Mount Everest remains one of the most popular tourist spots in the world, but it doesn't come without risks. More than 310 people have died climbing Mount Everest since explorations first launched in the 1900s.

Some climbers have said overcrowding is one reason for the recent issues on Mount Everest. In 2019, a photo shared to X — formerly known as Twitter — showed a long line of climbers huddled together as they waited to reach the summit. At the time, The New York Times reported that the situation on Mount Everest mirrored the 1954 novel "Lord of the Flies," which followed a group of young boys marooned on an island and their struggles with self-governance.

"I saw some people like they had no emotions," an 18-year-old told The Times in May 2019. "I asked people for water and no one gave me any. People are really obsessed with the summit. They are ready to kill themselves for the summit."