Six ways to fix Everest + gallery

Last Friday is being called the deadliest day in the history of Mount Everest. Sixteen Himalayan mountaineers, or Sherpas, died in an avalanche while climbing along the popular south ridge route. While the magnitude of this incident is unprecedented, Mount Everest has been in a state of crisis for some time. Brent spoke to National Geographic contributor and Everest climber Mark Jenkins, who claims that Everest is ' maxed out'. Mark proposes six ways to fix the mountain. 

1. Fewer permits: Limit the total number of climbers and Sherpas on the mountain.

Unidentified mountaineers walk past the Hillary Step while pushing for the summit of Everest. Photo:STR/AFP/Getty Images

2. Smaller teams: Reduce dangerous traffic jams on the standard Southeast Ridge route.

Unidentified mountaineers walk descend from the summit of Everest. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

3. Certify outfitters: Make sure that they meet acceptable standards of safety and mountain knowledge.

Relatives carry a casket bearing the body of a Mount Everest avalanche victim for cremation in Kathmandu on April 21, 2014 photo: Prakash Mathema/AFP

4. Require experience: Ensure that climbers and Sherpas are prepared for high-altitude challenges.      

Bangladeshi mountaineer Wasfia Nazreen descends on the lonely Lhotse face on Mount Everest.

5. Leave no trace: Remove human waste and garbage from the mountain, and pay Sherpas to do that work.

A Nepalese sherpa packing garbage collected from the Everest clean-up expedition at Everest Base Camp. Photo:AFP

6. Remove bodies: To show respect not only for the dead but also for the living, who encounter corpses on main routes.

A corpse of a mountaineer being retrieved by unseen Nepalese sherpas during the Everest clean-up expedition at Mount Everest. Photo: AFP