- DJI announces the completion of three drone missions on Everest
- FlyCart 100 transports supplies in one direction and garbage in another
- DJI Matrice 4E and DJI EV50 involved in other tasks in the mountains
Mount Everest has a garbage problem. Decades of expeditions have left the world’s highest mountain strewn with discarded oxygen canisters, abandoned tents, food containers and worse; so much so that the peak has earned the unflattering nickname “the world’s tallest garbage dump.” But DJI believes its drones can help clean up the mess.
The drone giant has announced the successful completion of three missions on Everest, the main one being the DJI FlyCart 100. DJI’s heavy-lift delivery drone has spent the spring 2026 climbing season transporting supplies and trash between Base Camp and Camp 1 on the southern Nepal side of the mountain.
Working with local drone company Airlift, DJI says the FlyCart 100 has transported a total of 10,073kg between the two camps: 7,215kg of climbing supplies (think oxygen tanks, ropes and ladders) along the way; 2,858 kg of waste on the way back. In the future, the drone will help remove approximately 10,000 kg of waste per season from the highest camps that previously could not be cleaned at all.
This is a lot of trash being moved, but it is very necessary. According to National Geographic, the average Everest climber generates around 8kg of trash during their expedition, most of which is left on the mountain. And with more than 600 people attempting to reach the summit each season, each supported by at least one local guide or porter, the trash is piling up quickly.
Eight minutes versus eight hours
The advantages of the FlyCart 100 are not limited to its payload: the time (and risk) it saves is also a big help. Traditionally, transporting supplies from Base Camp to Camp 1 means Sherpas trek for six to eight hours on foot through the Khumbu Icefall, a treacherous maze of moving ice towers and crevasses that is among the most dangerous sections of the entire climb. The FlyCart 100 can travel the same route in just eight minutes.
That doesn’t mean that the drone is easy to handle. The FlyCart 100 can carry up to 100kg at sea level, but Everest is as far from sea level as the surface of our planet is. In DJI testing, the drone lifted up to 47kg while operating at altitudes of over 6,300m, in temperatures ranging from -15°C to 5°C, conditions that would ground most consumer drones (and most helicopters, for that matter).
“Our team remains dedicated to making the world’s tallest mountain safer and cleaner for Sherpas and mountaineers around the world,” said DJI spokesperson Christina Zhang. “The success of our latest operations marks a proud milestone and we look forward to our continued collaboration with the scientific community to further advance drone technology, saving lives and supporting conservation efforts around the world.”
The cleanup effort aligns closely with Nepal’s broader push to restore the mountain, including the Nepal Mountain Association’s “Zero Waste Initiative 2027.” The FlyCart 100 will also support the Nepalese climbing community’s goal of transporting around 5,000 oxygen cylinders between Base Camp and Camp 1 each season.
Mavic 3 against the mountain
Look
DJI has some history on Everest. In 2022, a DJI Mavic 3 became the first drone to capture images of the top of the 8,848.86m mountain, while in 2024 the FlyCart 30 completed the world’s first drone delivery tests on the mountain.
This year’s missions went even further: In addition to the headline-grabbing deliveries of the FlyCart 100, a DJI Matrice 4E mapped more than 3 km² of the Khumbu Icefall in centimeter-level detail in just 3.5 hours, providing climbing teams with real-time hazard data to plan safer routes. Meanwhile, on the north side of the mountain, DJI’s first eVTOL delivery drone, the EV50, carried ozone measurement equipment for atmospheric research, reaching a maximum altitude of 8,861 m, higher than the summit itself.
None of this will solve Everest’s overcrowding problem, and there are still literally tons of historical trash buried in its glaciers, with climate change exposing more every year. But if a drone can accomplish in eight minutes what used to take a Sherpa an entire day of life-threatening work, it seems like progress is really being made.
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