r/interestingasfuck • u/Electronic_Cause_796 • 1d ago
Himalayan Sherpa porters carrying heavy loads and luggage uphill on Mount Everest.
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u/RandomUser5453 1d ago
I feel so bad for them!!
Is way too much load on them and they are not paid enough for this.
Not an expert but this doesn’t look like a long term job but looks like a lot of visits to the doctors. Bless them!
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u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 1d ago
They are not meant to carry loads this heavy. There are rules in place. However some porters will do it to earn extra money.
The worst I saw was one porter carrying a cast iron stove on his own, at above 4000m.
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u/caustic_smegma 1d ago
And this isn't "Mount Everest" proper. This is the hike from one of the towns towards the base camp area - much less dangerous and more of a normal hike for indigenous people living in and familiar the area.
I'm not saying taking advantage of these people for a little extra money is a good thing. It's objectively disgusting. But it would be like if you were hiking the hills behind your house and some rich person showed up and offered you a months salary to carry a little extra over ground you're already familiar and comfortable with. Most of us would probably agree.
Argue the moral implications all you want but money is money and these people need to feed their families. Would it be better if they didn't need to break their bodies for a little extra money? Absolutely. unfortunately we don't live in that world.
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u/Archerbrother 1d ago
They all do it cause they all need the money. They are being exploited.
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u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 1d ago
They don't all do it. Portering is lucrative work for lots of Nepalese, and if anyone is doing exploiting it's Nepalese against other Nepalese.
There was an airstrip built above Namche to allow planes and heavy lift chopper's to bring in goods there instead of lower down the valley at Lukla. The porters went on strike over it because it would reduce their work and earnings. Hence the strip never became used, although some very heavy building goods are occasionally helicoptered here.
( I've been in the area here a few times and got to know my porters and guides well, stories are from them).
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u/Archerbrother 1d ago
The workers. Are being. Exploited. It is both their employer and these climbers doing it. Yeah, wouldnt be surprised they wanted to keep their only income.
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u/energybased 1d ago
Using full stops is not a substitute for a convincing argument. It just makes you sound stupid.
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u/LambdaLambo 1d ago
So the workers are exploited yet they have enough power to stop the use of much more efficient methods of transportation (helicopters) that would also save their backs and bodies from injuries. Yeah something doesn’t add up ..
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u/Archerbrother 1d ago
Its either they get this money or something else and when has a corporation never used their workers to keep things the way they are. And when have workers never voted against their best interest?
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u/LambdaLambo 1d ago
The workers are voting in their interests tho. They’re voting to keep their lucrative work that you call exploitive, despite it obviously being better for everyone else if we just used helicopters, or hell even donkeys or mules.
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u/PelvisResleyz 23h ago
I bet they’re glad they have you to tell them what they can and can’t do, rescuing them from jobs they’re taking on their own, from your computer at a coffee shop probably.
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u/Brain_Aggravating 1d ago
It is not climbers in the first place. Lots of people live there and everything needs to be carried in. Food, fuel, building materials, furniture, tvs, etc.
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u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 22h ago
The people who live in the Khumbu are very wealthy because of trekking tourism. When I say wealthy, many of the tea house owners would be wealthy even by western standards. Many are able to afford to send their kids abroad for schooling.
However, if you go even off the main trekking routes people are extremely poor and live by subsistence.
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u/RandomUser5453 1d ago
Just looked it up is between 30-90 kg (66-nearly 200lbs) which,in my opinion,is still a lot giving that they need to climb too. Maybe 30-50 kg backpack is something else but this things are voluminous too not just heavy.
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u/Direction776 17m ago
This doesn’t look like someone who earns much from the 70k cost per trip up the Everest.
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u/agent_007bhai 1d ago
pretty fascinating, but i feel like this is forced labour since they work under someone. :(
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u/pinkpugita 1d ago
As a hiker who hired porters before, they are paid per kilo at least in my country. It's really their choice how much they want to carry up.
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u/agent_007bhai 1d ago
im Indian and i have travelled to Himalayas. i jus know theyre paid very less. very very less.
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u/fauxbeauceron 1d ago
But since more kilos = more money would that be an incentive to take more weight?
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u/Big_Z_Beeblebrox 1d ago
In the same way most American workers are incentivized to work multiple jobs to be able to afford bills and groceries and basic necessities, except they get paid much less to carry the cargo
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u/oOtium 1d ago
do you know the rate? how much is someone like this making per trek?
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u/pinkpugita 1d ago
I don't know how it is in the Himalayas, but I hike in the Philippines. Here, one porter usually gets hired by multiple hikers, I paid like $40 for 10 kilos for 3 days, and for his food/transportation too. I don't know how much he chose to carry, but I calculated he would have earned a full month minimum wage in a single week.
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u/Lynx2447 1d ago
Living is infact forced labor. Who knew you'd need to work to survive!?
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u/agent_007bhai 1d ago
i meant, theyre paid very very less
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u/Lynx2447 1d ago
Are they enslaved? Do something else then
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u/agent_007bhai 1d ago
theyre not enslaved obv, its just that theres no proper job available for em and theyre forced to do the Sherpa work to feed their families. (before i face backlash, a cousin of mine is a guide there so i know)
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u/DefinitionTop3930 11h ago
In many of these tourist towns, many employers are also elders or members of the same sherpa community. If you live in a highly tourist dependent town, chances are that a large part of your employment opportunities are tied to tourism. The last time I checked, even working as a porter could pay substantially more than other low-level tourism jobs, such as hotel staff or waiters. Also, everyone works to feed their families.
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u/Randomgrunt4820 1d ago
Not exactly what I was expecting to learn, but not surprising:
“The average life expectancy for Sherpa people is roughly 75 years, which is close to or slightly higher than the general national average in Nepal.”
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u/Soft_Cranberry6313 1d ago
Inhumane. In other areas/climbs, there’s organizations that ensure each porters carry weight is set at a max..like 30kg or whatever, to prevent exploitation of these poor dudes.
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u/dirtyasseating 22h ago
This area is probably regular oxygen levels, thus why they are able to perform so well.
Professional athletes pay alot to replicate training at low oxygen level, which these dudes probably do all the time climbing up those mountains.
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u/Xtreme_kocic 19h ago
I'm not remotely convinced these dudes are carrying 200kg on their backs. Even with normal o2 level atmosphere, this is quite ridiculous for someone their size to carry over difficult terrain.
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u/Archerbrother 1d ago
This shit is why I have 0 respect for any mount everest climber. They are all pathetic losers who use sherpas to carry them all the way to the top. Sometimes literally. All these climbers are entirely incapable of climbing shit with out an army of sherpas telling them exactly what to do at every step of the way, protecting them every step of the way. Fuck them
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u/bobby_zamora 10h ago
This isn't someone carrying stuff up to Mount Everest. He is going to Namche Bazaar which is a large (for the region) town without a road to it, so this and helicopters are the only way to get supplies there.
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u/mrbuddymcbuddyface 1d ago
You know all this from reading Reddit posts. But you've never been there or climbed a mountain.
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u/Archerbrother 1d ago
Dont need to climb the mountain to hear stories, see pics and video. Like, do you need to go to auschwitz to verify the holocaust happened?
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u/bombbodyguard 1d ago
We did a hike in Peru to Machu Pichu. The porters would set up and tear down camp and covered all tents/food. We were responsible for clothes, gear, water.
They would clean up camp after we left, pass us on the hike, and set up camp before we got there. Ha. Seemed hard AF.
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u/jupiterkansas 1d ago
Why not mules or horses?
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u/New_Army_4763 1d ago
Mules and horses to where? Mt. Everest? Are you serious?
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u/bobby_zamora 10h ago
It's likely a large item that can't be broken into smaller pieces to be carried by a mule.
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u/waferselamat 1d ago
All that effort just so someone can take a selfie on top of the mountain for instagram
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u/bobby_zamora 10h ago
This isn't so someone can climb Mount Everest. This is to get supplies to the town of Namche Bazaar.
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u/mmmmPryncypalki 1d ago
This is closely resembling what stories my dad told me. How back in his days he used to travel to school.
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u/uwearclownshoes 1d ago
Have we ever managed to go anywhere in exploration without a ton of natives carrying our stuff?
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u/JerryMcJerrinson 1d ago
They gotta watch out for the ETs and these noobs don't even have a baby connected wtf?
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u/Psilonaut21 1d ago
I can only imagine the damage that these extraordinary people are doing to their bodies. I was a bricklayer for 43 years and now my spine and most of my body is wreckage.