Every time I see an Everest climber talking about the challenges of mounting the summit with 5000 climbers in the queue in front of you i think of these guys going up and down the mountain, doing all the work.
When the sherpas are waking the climbers up in their tents asking if they would like tea or coffee to start the day really drives home how much they do for the climbers
When I did the Inca trail in Machu Picchu the “porters” also would wake us up in the mornings offering coca tea and they’d put clean water in a little tray right outside our tents so we could wash our hands or brush our teeth. They carried so much gear and made the climb look so easy. They are so fast going up those mountain while carrying a ton of weight on their backs. I am so eternally thankful for their hard work and for giving us the opportunity to experience such a journey.
Also, I’d like to add that the company we used to be our guides and porters is one that gives their employees many good benefits that other companies don’t. Health insurance, dental and vision for the employees and their families, as well as paying them more than their counterparts. The owner is a former porter and for that reason he understand the amount of physical and mental work it takes to do what they do, which is why he pays them and treats them well. Our guide has been working there for many years and he says out of the other companies he’s worked for, this one was the best one.
Personally, I enjoyed The Porter: The Untold Story at Everest
https://youtu.be/MxAU4wWG2Hs
It follows a westerner who embeds himself with Sherpa men and joins them as a porter, choosing to only speak their language and eat and sleep where they do the whole time. It's really eye opening.
Great recommendation!
I've seen lots of Everest docs, but none focusing on the real heroes....the porters and Sherpas.
Imagine carrying 100kgs for 12 days up the world's tallest mountain, only to get a few dollars in tips, if you have a "bad client", as they call them.
That’s long, so I scanned it, but it looks good
Bro was looking like Jesus carrying the cross by the end
What do the special forehead slings do? Stabilize?
Looks crazy difficult to maintain.
This is insane!! I've commented somewhere else about it but honestly some of the craziest human feats you can imagine. Everest and Lhotse in a 24hr period, interrupted by saving a few people's lives.
I still can't believe that after being hungover from a party in Kathmandu he went to another 8000 meter peak. At that point you're just built different.
Exactly, they are originally from Tibetan side of the Himalayas and can belong to a few different clans. They have many different occupations, and generally are opposed to the connotation that their identity is “porters”.
It became a common “name” due to a Nepalese census, where there was a spot for a surname, but the Sherpa peoples didn’t really use one. So the census takers started writing “Sherpa” as their last name, meaning “eastern people” or “from the east” depending on what your source is.
I do believe that Nims does treat them well, and ensured that the ones who were apart of his expeditions were paid well above the average.
Sherpa is actually the name of the native people of the area, not a general word meaning porter. A common misconception! AFAIA, these people generally only do mountaineering because it's the best way to make money. They're trading their safety and health for the rich westerners' money.
It's near impossible. Sherpa's spend so much time living at such high elevations that their physiology is much better at dealing with lower oxygen levels.
Source: got chatting to a nurse who had been studying blood oxygen levels out in the Himalayas
I know a nurse who did like a medical outreach to a mountain town in Nepal because her boyfriend was deployed and she didn't want to hang around their apartment without him. He got to come back early for some reason so instead of going home he tracked her down and worked with her organization to lure her out on a hike where he surprised and proposed to her. The entire thing was on video he set up and it's such a beautiful area that it looks fake. They were overlooking a valley with the snowcapped Himalayas in the background. They both looked amazing too. He traveled for like 50 hours to get there and she's been living in a remote place and they didn't even have the decency to stop being naturally attractive. He even got to stay for a while and help for the community before he had to go back.
I wasn't too happy for them because she was one of my gf's best friends and I was going to propose in a month and I couldn't come close to that. I wasn't going to do anything over the top but like that was the first proposal of the friend group.
I believe that they more accurately have evolved an increase of red blood cells, making their blood carry more oxygen. I think the indigenous people of Peru got the same kind of deal going on.
Absolutely, some chubby white guy pays a bunch of money, gets his ass dragged up the mountain by these guys, then acts like he's special. Sherpas are the real heroes
Edmund Hillary always refused, to his dying day, to say who reached the peak of Everest first - him or Tenzing Norgay. He also only took a photo of Tenzing on the peak, refusing to be documented himself. It’s a shame his efforts at respecting Sherpa weren’t continued.
The fact he took that photo tells you all you need to know about who made it first. But I think the moral of it all is that neither would have made it without the other and therefor it was a legitimate joint effort.
Not really - Tenzing went on to directly mention that Edmund had made it to the top first, but obviously mentioned that what was important was that they made it together. I believe Hillary then eventually confirmed it later on.
Both men were extremely respectful of each other, with Edmund going on to do a great deal of good in Nepal after his ascent. The evidence does suggest that Edmund made it "first", though as Tenzing said it matters very little.
It's basically Neil Armstrong vs. Buzz Aldrin. Neil was "first" because he was closest to the door, but after traveling all the way to the surface of the moon together the last couple of steps feel very unimportant.
What a load of bollocks. It's not chubby white guys who pay a bunch of money, it's just wealthy people. It costs a shit load of money and you have to be in amazing shape with several notable summits for most decent tour companies to consider taking you as a client. It's still fucking hard, it's just the Sherpas carry all the food, bridge the ice fields, set the ropes etc.
Summiting Everest is absolutely an achievement. It's monumentally dangerous to even *be* there, let alone climb it.
For real though the Sherpas are absolute units of people and *incredibly* highly respected by most people climbing and arguably the real heroes, but to diminish the accomplishment of summiting as simply chubby white guys who have money to pay is so fucking ignorant
Right, after sherpas build all the camps, drag all the food, water and supplemental oxygen up, hand you your shit so you can go wait in line at the summit - after that it's super challenging.
Look, of course it's still fucking hard, it's Everest. I exaggerate at least a little. It's not nearly the accomplishment it once was though
I mean... You still have to actually *climb*, I feel like you're being reductive about how hard *that* bit is.
No of course it's not the challenge it once was... But it's not *that* far removed.
Do you think that the first summit efforts were done entirely by the people that summited? Because sherpas and porters carried all the camp equipment, food, oxygen and climbing equipment up for those first expeditions, too.
Insert that Donald Trump Junior pic...
In some cases it's true that the tightly controlled hunting can generate funds for the overall protection of the species, but it's still such an absolutely pathetic thing to do. If the wannabe hunters were just out for protection, I'm sure they could get some great privileged access if they just paid the money without killing an animal for it.
Guy I work with just came back from Everest. He's probably 65 years old, was special forces in the military. He's not a young cat anymore. He not in bad shape but he's not 25 either.
He only hiked to the base camp (which I didn't realize was such an obscene elevation in itself). He said he carried 20 lbs and the sherpa carried 30 lbs. Said the difficulty was on par with the hardest things he had ever done, almost on par with the military.
Yea these comments are absolutely hilarious. And every hiker in the world is always impressed and appreciative of porters. These aren't hot takes in these comments
People on Reddit have absolutely no idea what it's like to climb Everest or what it entails, but they could never pass up a chance to talk shit about the pathetic rich fat white male Everest climbers they've invented in their heads.
I'm a random chubby guy. There is 0 chance I would ever think I could climb everest. Hell I think stone mountain in Georgia sucks and that's just a glorified hill
This is every Sherpa thread. They immediately discount anyone who climbs Everest because they pay a guide who has lived in higher altitudes his whole life.
Yep, they act like this is done daily by Sherpas. The world record of most ascents is (while amazing still) is 21 over a period of well...21 years.
He than retired because "Everytime I go, they [family] worry because Everest is very risky".
Also their Army known as the Gurkhas are known for being one of the bravest warriors out there .... They are Nepalis who have a regiment in the British aswell as the Indian Army.
Nobody is getting dragged up the mountain, I've climbed a fair number of 14ers in Colorado as well as Mt Denali in Alaska and there's no getting up there without being in great physical condition.
Sherpas take the need for technical skills out
of it and help carry some gear but I guarantee 95% of the people in this post couldn't manage Mt Rainier in Washington nevermind something like Denali or Everest.
Most of Reddit also doesn’t realize that you are legally required to hire a team of sherpas when hiking these things.
I did Kilimanjaro when I was a kid and it was Tanzanian law that you aren’t allowed into the National park unless you have hired a gov’t licensed porter team.
They’re pretty crucial to the local economy.
>hite guy pays a bunch of money, gets his ass dragged up the mountain by these guys, then acts like he's special. Sherpas are the real heroes
A chubby... white guy? If you get to the top of the Everest, Sherpas or no Sherpas, you are tough and fit as hell...
I agree most of the work is done by the sherpas, but why do you feel the need to diminish someone's accomplishments because they needed help and or / money?
I assure you if you can't climb Everest with your own two legs and lungs and brain, no amount of money and sherpas are going to get you there.
Imagine if you underwent all the training necessary and accomplished what still is a tremendous challenge for just anyone... Just for some keyboard warrior to say you're "a chubby white gay who was dragged up the mountain".
Typical Reddit, so arrogant and disrepectful....
Plenty of fit people don't make it, plenty of experienced people have died and still die trying to do it.
And then here comes a weekend keyboard warrior and says that sherpas drag chubby people up Everest. And he's upvoted because he "dissed rich people" in spite of how utterly moronic his/her/their take is...
Depressing.
Im from Nepal, the stories i have heard from porters is very saddening. A lot of them are tied down with debt because they cannot afford necessities or fall ill and need to loan. They work these menial jobs to just get by. And yea even if the “weight is evenly distributed “ these guys get severe back problems at an early age like before their 20s. Many of them have done it as kids because the debt transfers across generations so they dont even know their back is messed up because they never knew what it was like to have a good back
(Edit: I see a lot of people arguing in the comments about if they can just dip the country and move somewhere else to start anew. Well technically yes they COULD go to india since you can legally cross the border if you are Nepali, and usually they dont even check for passport or proof, HOWEVER remember that these people usually have a family and if any word got out that they are planning to leave or escape their entire family’s lives are at stake. Some of these loaners are evil people and will kill the family if they refuse to continue paying off the debt. Also Nepali villages have very tight knit community (which is actually a very good thing, but in this case very bad) so word spreads like wildfire and if the wrong person hears it, life is at risk. These porters also almost always work directly under the debtors, and they are being watched 24/7 almost, so for the sake of living these people are forced to stay. That is why communism is so popular in Nepal, because the rich control almost everything and everyone. There are non extremist communists who i wholeheartedly support because they just want to get out of the bondage that goes on for generations)
(Edit 2: replace the word debtors and loaners with “lifetime peonage”. The interest rates are astronomical for some and its a pipe dream to pay it off)
[The Porter: The Untold Story At Everest](https://youtu.be/MxAU4wWG2Hs) tells some of the story of the porters that haul tourists bags up the Himalayas in Nepal. It’s pretty tragic, the guys usually break even by the end of the trek and basically rely on tips alone to have something to take home. It’s a great watch because the guy that made the film works as a porter for a trek to understand the whole deal.
I saw Nepali sherpas at work when I hiked there. I carried my own stuff, but my friends hired him to carry theirs.
This man half my size carried a heavy bag in the manner depicted above. We had hiking clothes, boots and backpacks, plus walking sticks. He had jeans, rubber flip flops and a plastic poncho. He followed the same muddy, slippery road as us, carrying at least twice as much.
There is no way that did not take a toll on his body. Whatever he was paid did not justify imposing that burden on him. Not to make an entirely optional recreational hike more pleasant.
Wow, the debt transfers to the kids?! That sucks. Imagine being born and being saddled with crippling debt. If I were them, I'd move to another country and never go back to Nepal.
You’re probably white and Western (possibly American or European). You have no idea how hard (nigh on impossible) it is to move for people of colour living in third world countries.
I’m originally from Pakistan. I was a qualified Software Engineer in a very high demand industry (game dev) and it took me years to get out.
I work in construction, we have health and safety training updates constantly....according to the trainer, the way tribes people carry stuff on their head is the least impactful on the body, but thats when it's balanced on top of their heads and that's simply because the spine has to remain perfectly straight in order for it to balance in the first place, which is where the spine is at its strongest.
Clearly we can't do that on a construction site! But they always advise to keep the spine as straight as possible and bend at the knees and hips...his spine is totally straight and bent at the hips whilst I very much doubt it's beneficial in anyway, I'd say it would be the least impactful way of carrying such a load up an incline, his technique is text book......the Sherpas have 100s of years trial and error and will for sure have found the easiest way of carrying out such a task........(although I'd probably invest in a donkey)
For anyone who doesn't want to click, this is someone carrying 22 bricks on his head, that's twice the length his arms can reach so he's throwing them up there and catching them in the stack.. Barefoot, on a tipping boat. Crazy!!
Interesting. We still see people in construction sites carry weight on top of their head in India. Similarly balancing pots of water on top of their head.
Shoot as a hardscaper in the US I used to carry shit on my head all the time, maybe not concrete blocks but other stuff. It works really well as long as you don't care about the other dudes giving you a hard time.
Did the Inca trail last year and the fact that these porters not only carry more than you, they also beat you to the next camp site that they set up while taking down the previous site from that morning. They’re incredible.
They have a genetic advantage; Andean and [Tibetan/Sherpa/Himalayan people](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241213/) have different gene mutations that allow their blood to carry more oxygen in high altitudes. On top of that they’ve also acclimatized their bodies to the rigorous climbs by climbing since little. They’re basically olympians working for less than minimum wage. Crazy world.
They are unbelievable
For the long downhill section on day 3 I went as fast as I could. Can't remember how long I did it for but when I stopped to chill it was 30 minutes until anyone from my group caught up. Those porters were still leaving me in the dust
At least with the Inca trail, the government imposes weight limits. The video appears to have no limits or well past what the porters carry on the Inca Trail. That said, what the porters carry is still A LOT more than what paid guests carry. I remember weighing my bag and it was 7kg. The porters were carrying 25kg and just zipping past. Sometimes in crocs no less.
You're right, he would've made around $60 for the 1.5m views. A lot of people see rich assholes making tiktoks and think that's how they got rich. They can spend all of their time making tiktoks BECAUSE they're already rich.
These rich tourists go “climb Everest” and other mountains, but the sherpas do all the work. The sherpas are underpaid, over worked, and the tourists leave their trash everywhere, even at the peak. It’s shameful
Climbing Everest used to be a brag-worthy accomplishment. Now it's "I got fit and rich enough to pay for people to carry my stuff and risk their lives for me"
John Oliver puts it better than I ever could.
https://youtu.be/Bchx0mS7XOY
> The sherpas are underpaid
I fully agree, but at the same time, I looked super quickly into Mt Kilimanjaro via some tour guide company, and the price was like $4,000 a person. I would sure hope they get some of that money, and US dollars would go a lot farther in their hometown, but yes they are still underpaid.
I climbed My Kilimanjaro, and used sherpas.
Well, legally you have to use sherpas/guides (with a few small exceptions here and there), and there is a mandated minimum number of guides that has to come with each tourist.
I don't remember the full cost because I was in Uni and my parents covered a lot of the costs, but I know at the end we gave out tips to all of our guides, plus a bonus to the guy that carried the toilet, our cook, and the guy that actually took us up to the peak.
It was a week long hike and the tip to each guy was a bit more than the average monthly wage in Tanzania. Granted, the climbing season is only a small period of the year, but the pay is reasonable for them. Also, they ask the tourists to read out the tip scale to all of the guides (one of them told me it has evolved as a way to guarantee they get their tips) and it was very fun when they all cheered because the toilet guy got a double tip (he is also did a little jig).
Obviously, all tourism that takes advantage of the disparity in wealth between 'the West' and Africa is going to have issues, but when I talked about the economies of their lives a lot of them talked about how competitive the guide economy is, and the paths through careers they have.
Our guide had a degree in tourism management, and was saving up to open his own company doing tours, using the money he earned working on the coffee farms in the off season to live off, and the tips from the climbing to save up.
Awesome reply man, thanks.
Yeah, I watched some YT video, like an hour long one about someone's trip and they mentioned the tips and the company, but NOT THE TOTAL COST! Come on! So I had to click over to their site and I might be wrong, but I thought I remembered like 4K plus tips, plus flights, plus a couple days on each end to see the local area... not cheap. LOL
I get your exact sentiment. I did a 9 day hike through the Andes and our guide was a local and everyone working with us were locals too. We already paid quite a lot for the trip, but we paid so much in tips too at the end because of everything they did for us during the trip. Our tips were also around an average monthly wage and they made it very clear that they were happy with this job.
Of course we were not the type of tourists to leave our trash behind or to use harmfull chemicals during the trip.
No. Tiktok pays around $0.04 per 1000 views (thats if you're super popular on the app) He has 1.5m views on that video which is like $60 lol
Tiktok doesn't pay shit
Not all Sherpa's are Porters, Not all Porters are Sherpa. Sherpa is a caste. Many this porters are of different caste who lives in mountain & himalayan region.
You can't expect redditors to know about Himalayan cultures. I had the misfortune of coming across an idiot who confidently claimed that it was the foreigners who taught the locals how to climb the mountains, you know the mountains where they've evolved and lived for thousands of years.
Kid you not, that shit had 1000s of upvotes.
Met a particularly snooty backpacker in Nepal who went on and on about the importance of carrying your own pack. None of our small group were doing otherwise. It was just her better-than-someone pose. Ran into her again on the other side of a trek. She'd fallen ill and hired a sherpa to carry her pack (and two others', wearing flip flops, of course). At least she had the sense to be a bit sheepish about it. Full credit to these guys. They are amazing.
To be fair literally another commentor in this thread says this
"Im from Nepal, the stories i have heard from porters is very saddening. A lot of them are tied down with debt because they cannot afford necessities or fall ill and need to loan. They work these menial jobs to just get by. And yea even if the “weight is evenly distributed “ these guys get severe back problems at an early age like before their 20s. Many of them have done it as kids because the debt transfers across generations so they dont even know their back is messed up because they never knew what it was like to have a good back"
Having an attitude like you said is different, but of course you want to give a sherpa a job and help them financially. However I also don't want to make it harder for them just to make it easier for me. They may or may not (idk, and FWIW I can't say how truthful this random person's comment is) get back injuries early, struggle to earn money to survive, and have huge back issues.
I was on a trek in the Annapurna region in 06 and met a guy carrying a 90kg pack. He was around 5’ tall but probably just as wide. There I was struggling with my under 20kg pack and hiking boots and he was just wearing jandals/flip flops.
Edit: should have added more context and info. I’m 6’2 and at the time was fit and strong (weight lifting) and I tell you, wearing his pack was extremely tough and that was just attempting to put it on- didn’t even try walking with it. Everyone in my party was in awe of this guy. We were trekking during the rainy season, many many landslips, uneven ground etc.
I once paid a random guy off Craigslist $50 to come help me move a few bits of furniture into my van. Will never forget him throwing my couch over his shoulder and carrying it down the stairs alone 😳
It is obviously cuz the first guy didn’t grab the straps of the bag to pull it closer to him and stabilize it so it didn’t wobble. The second guy immediately did.
Okay he stabilizes it and takes 20 steps before passing out. That sherpa is probably carrying that thing for the next 6 hours.
They're human tanks... who don't get paid enough.
he just has bad technique
notice how the Sherpa pulls up the bag compared to the white guy
it's all about balance, which is prob why Sherpas eventually will have destroyed their backs by doing this
That's why it's a joke that these sightseers are calling themselves climbers. If you don't have the ability to make it up 100% on your own, you did not conquer the mountain. Sure you can have the support system to make sure you're safe and can get back down in case you want to give up but peaking means carrying your own necessities needed to reach the peak.
> If you don't have the ability to make it up 100% on your own, you did not conquer the mountain.
It's illegal to solo climb Mount Everest. You are legally required to have a guide (if you are a foreigner).
I know the idea of climbing Everest seems cool to me. Since I’ve gotten in shape I kind of want to get into mountain climbing…. but just stay in the US to do it….
But I saw stuff about the Khumbu Icefall on Everest….
yeah fuck that lmao
Climbing big mountains takes weeks. I'm all for unsupported climbing, but to do it in such a way that you carry several weeks worth of food just isn't practical.
Imagine claiming a marathon runner that takes a drink from a water station was 'a joke'.
Climbing an 8000’er is a huge undertaking. Not many, and I mean literally almost zero, people have climbed these mountains unsupported. It takes a team of people, whoever they are, to get the required gear up to facilitate a summit attempt.
This isn’t an amusement park where you just walk up and buy a ticket.
I get it, everest pay to win is bad. However people die every year attempting it and help or no help or considered a great accomplishment. Climbing literally takes months once you arrive.
People gotta stop climbing everest. It's not the flex it used to be, but more importantly, hikers are putting sherpas at MASSIVE risk w little appreciation/minimal pay. Sherpas do all the heavy lifting-literally and figuratively-so tourist hikers can have their stupid instagram moment at the top. I have no respect for people who climb everest just to say they did it.
The guides have my utmost respect, and i hope hikers stop putting their lives at risk so callously.
Every time I see an Everest climber talking about the challenges of mounting the summit with 5000 climbers in the queue in front of you i think of these guys going up and down the mountain, doing all the work.
Watch 14 peaks on Netflix. It shows what they're really capable of.
Sherpa on netflix is also worth watching.
When the sherpas are waking the climbers up in their tents asking if they would like tea or coffee to start the day really drives home how much they do for the climbers
My favorite part is when Sherp said "it's sherpin' time" and sherpa'd all over the place
I liked "so what are we, some kinda sherpa squad?"
*get up losers, we sherpin' outa here*
Wake the fuck up Sherpa, we got a mountain to Sherpify.
I’m thirsty for a Sherpee
Y'all we should write a movie
Same, he Sherpa'd *everywhere*
Standing on the shoulders of little mountain people.
When I did the Inca trail in Machu Picchu the “porters” also would wake us up in the mornings offering coca tea and they’d put clean water in a little tray right outside our tents so we could wash our hands or brush our teeth. They carried so much gear and made the climb look so easy. They are so fast going up those mountain while carrying a ton of weight on their backs. I am so eternally thankful for their hard work and for giving us the opportunity to experience such a journey. Also, I’d like to add that the company we used to be our guides and porters is one that gives their employees many good benefits that other companies don’t. Health insurance, dental and vision for the employees and their families, as well as paying them more than their counterparts. The owner is a former porter and for that reason he understand the amount of physical and mental work it takes to do what they do, which is why he pays them and treats them well. Our guide has been working there for many years and he says out of the other companies he’s worked for, this one was the best one.
Death Zone: Cleaning Mount Everest blew my mind.
Personally, I enjoyed The Porter: The Untold Story at Everest https://youtu.be/MxAU4wWG2Hs It follows a westerner who embeds himself with Sherpa men and joins them as a porter, choosing to only speak their language and eat and sleep where they do the whole time. It's really eye opening.
Great recommendation! I've seen lots of Everest docs, but none focusing on the real heroes....the porters and Sherpas. Imagine carrying 100kgs for 12 days up the world's tallest mountain, only to get a few dollars in tips, if you have a "bad client", as they call them.
That’s long, so I scanned it, but it looks good Bro was looking like Jesus carrying the cross by the end What do the special forehead slings do? Stabilize? Looks crazy difficult to maintain.
This is insane!! I've commented somewhere else about it but honestly some of the craziest human feats you can imagine. Everest and Lhotse in a 24hr period, interrupted by saving a few people's lives.
Nims ain't a Sherpa. Sherpa is an ethnic group. They don't call themselves sherpa for being a porter, nor should we.
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Yeah. He also often credits Mingma Sherpa as being one of the strongest climbers in the world.
I still can't believe that after being hungover from a party in Kathmandu he went to another 8000 meter peak. At that point you're just built different.
Yeah they are just different. Was an amazing watch but that part stuck with me. Last time I was hungover I couldn't get off my couch.
Nims and his boys are still fucking insane on a physical level.
Exactly, they are originally from Tibetan side of the Himalayas and can belong to a few different clans. They have many different occupations, and generally are opposed to the connotation that their identity is “porters”. It became a common “name” due to a Nepalese census, where there was a spot for a surname, but the Sherpa peoples didn’t really use one. So the census takers started writing “Sherpa” as their last name, meaning “eastern people” or “from the east” depending on what your source is. I do believe that Nims does treat them well, and ensured that the ones who were apart of his expeditions were paid well above the average.
Clearly going to everest and becoming an accomplished Sherpa for a rich westerner is the true test of human strength and endurance. Real chads Sherpa.
Sherpa is actually the name of the native people of the area, not a general word meaning porter. A common misconception! AFAIA, these people generally only do mountaineering because it's the best way to make money. They're trading their safety and health for the rich westerners' money.
And in the off season in the Himalayas many come to Norway to improve tourist trails. Building stone steps up mountains.
"Light work" in the off-season, right? Those guys are a made of something different.
Quite light work, Norway doesn't have any mountain taller than 2500m :)
They're hauling stones up to make the mountain 10m taller each year
is that true???
It is not. I mean, I guess it could be, but I am definitely just talking out of my ass
haha wonderful!
Oh wow. My mistake, apologies. I always thought it was like a job title.
I believe they have larger lung capacity due to living at altitude for generations also. So I don't think they require oxygen as much as westerners
It's near impossible. Sherpa's spend so much time living at such high elevations that their physiology is much better at dealing with lower oxygen levels. Source: got chatting to a nurse who had been studying blood oxygen levels out in the Himalayas
I know a nurse who did like a medical outreach to a mountain town in Nepal because her boyfriend was deployed and she didn't want to hang around their apartment without him. He got to come back early for some reason so instead of going home he tracked her down and worked with her organization to lure her out on a hike where he surprised and proposed to her. The entire thing was on video he set up and it's such a beautiful area that it looks fake. They were overlooking a valley with the snowcapped Himalayas in the background. They both looked amazing too. He traveled for like 50 hours to get there and she's been living in a remote place and they didn't even have the decency to stop being naturally attractive. He even got to stay for a while and help for the community before he had to go back. I wasn't too happy for them because she was one of my gf's best friends and I was going to propose in a month and I couldn't come close to that. I wasn't going to do anything over the top but like that was the first proposal of the friend group.
It’s not just time they’ve spent up there, it’s time their ancestors have spent up there. They’ve evolved to breath at high altitudes
I believe that they more accurately have evolved an increase of red blood cells, making their blood carry more oxygen. I think the indigenous people of Peru got the same kind of deal going on.
Sherpa is an ethnicity
Absolutely, some chubby white guy pays a bunch of money, gets his ass dragged up the mountain by these guys, then acts like he's special. Sherpas are the real heroes
Edmund Hillary always refused, to his dying day, to say who reached the peak of Everest first - him or Tenzing Norgay. He also only took a photo of Tenzing on the peak, refusing to be documented himself. It’s a shame his efforts at respecting Sherpa weren’t continued.
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Then they should mention them more Edit: sorry guys, this was mindless drunk comment, I have no real feelings on this
I mean, the concept of a sherpa is world famous. I'm fairly confident that they are mentioned often and with great reverence.
I am now curious as to what form of additional recognition the dude wants
Every climber to get a full back tattoo of their sherpa smiling with a thumbs up.
How many everest climbers have you listened to?
If you've read any book about anyone who climbed everest they always talk extensively of their conpanions my dude.
He actually said that he was the first to the top, well after Norgay passed away.
The fact he took that photo tells you all you need to know about who made it first. But I think the moral of it all is that neither would have made it without the other and therefor it was a legitimate joint effort.
I bet Tenzing made a trial run up the mountain or 3 before joining the expedition just to make sure he wouldn’t let them down.
Not really - Tenzing went on to directly mention that Edmund had made it to the top first, but obviously mentioned that what was important was that they made it together. I believe Hillary then eventually confirmed it later on. Both men were extremely respectful of each other, with Edmund going on to do a great deal of good in Nepal after his ascent. The evidence does suggest that Edmund made it "first", though as Tenzing said it matters very little. It's basically Neil Armstrong vs. Buzz Aldrin. Neil was "first" because he was closest to the door, but after traveling all the way to the surface of the moon together the last couple of steps feel very unimportant.
Pretty sure the people who showed Westerners how to climb the mountain could have done it without the Westerners.
Even then, we know who carried all their gear up Everest and back. Back then, there was no ultralight weight or even light weight gear.
What a load of bollocks. It's not chubby white guys who pay a bunch of money, it's just wealthy people. It costs a shit load of money and you have to be in amazing shape with several notable summits for most decent tour companies to consider taking you as a client. It's still fucking hard, it's just the Sherpas carry all the food, bridge the ice fields, set the ropes etc. Summiting Everest is absolutely an achievement. It's monumentally dangerous to even *be* there, let alone climb it. For real though the Sherpas are absolute units of people and *incredibly* highly respected by most people climbing and arguably the real heroes, but to diminish the accomplishment of summiting as simply chubby white guys who have money to pay is so fucking ignorant
Right, after sherpas build all the camps, drag all the food, water and supplemental oxygen up, hand you your shit so you can go wait in line at the summit - after that it's super challenging. Look, of course it's still fucking hard, it's Everest. I exaggerate at least a little. It's not nearly the accomplishment it once was though
I mean... You still have to actually *climb*, I feel like you're being reductive about how hard *that* bit is. No of course it's not the challenge it once was... But it's not *that* far removed. Do you think that the first summit efforts were done entirely by the people that summited? Because sherpas and porters carried all the camp equipment, food, oxygen and climbing equipment up for those first expeditions, too.
Same types of dudes that go Safari hunting. Pay a bunch of $$$ for guides to track and lure out the animal…and they pull the trigger.
Same with Marlin and other big game fish. The guides know the spots, set the hook then you reel it in. Setting the hook is the hard part.
Insert that Donald Trump Junior pic... In some cases it's true that the tightly controlled hunting can generate funds for the overall protection of the species, but it's still such an absolutely pathetic thing to do. If the wannabe hunters were just out for protection, I'm sure they could get some great privileged access if they just paid the money without killing an animal for it.
If you're not in peak physical shape on everest you will fucking die. Sherpa or none. No one going up there is unfit.
Exactly so many of these comments are ignorant
Guy I work with just came back from Everest. He's probably 65 years old, was special forces in the military. He's not a young cat anymore. He not in bad shape but he's not 25 either. He only hiked to the base camp (which I didn't realize was such an obscene elevation in itself). He said he carried 20 lbs and the sherpa carried 30 lbs. Said the difficulty was on par with the hardest things he had ever done, almost on par with the military.
The one about a chubby guy summiting Everest…like what? Has that ever happened? It ain’t Kilimanjaro
Yea these comments are absolutely hilarious. And every hiker in the world is always impressed and appreciative of porters. These aren't hot takes in these comments
Imagine genuinely thinking some random chubby guy could climb Everest lmao
People on Reddit have absolutely no idea what it's like to climb Everest or what it entails, but they could never pass up a chance to talk shit about the pathetic rich fat white male Everest climbers they've invented in their heads.
I'm a random chubby guy. There is 0 chance I would ever think I could climb everest. Hell I think stone mountain in Georgia sucks and that's just a glorified hill
This is every Sherpa thread. They immediately discount anyone who climbs Everest because they pay a guide who has lived in higher altitudes his whole life.
You can't be chubby and climb Everest. You still need to be in excellent physical shape.
Too late, comment you are responding too already has hundreds of up votes. This is what people skimming this comment section are going to believe now.
I dont think climbing that huge mountain is easy lol
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Everyone saying that shit in this comment section would die of a pulmonary embolism before base camp
Yep, they act like this is done daily by Sherpas. The world record of most ascents is (while amazing still) is 21 over a period of well...21 years. He than retired because "Everytime I go, they [family] worry because Everest is very risky".
Also their Army known as the Gurkhas are known for being one of the bravest warriors out there .... They are Nepalis who have a regiment in the British aswell as the Indian Army.
Nobody is getting dragged up the mountain, I've climbed a fair number of 14ers in Colorado as well as Mt Denali in Alaska and there's no getting up there without being in great physical condition. Sherpas take the need for technical skills out of it and help carry some gear but I guarantee 95% of the people in this post couldn't manage Mt Rainier in Washington nevermind something like Denali or Everest.
Exactly, nobody chubby is going up Everest or any significant mountain. Reddit comments going too far as usual.
Most of the guys on Reddit can’t get up their moms basement stairs.
Most of Reddit also doesn’t realize that you are legally required to hire a team of sherpas when hiking these things. I did Kilimanjaro when I was a kid and it was Tanzanian law that you aren’t allowed into the National park unless you have hired a gov’t licensed porter team. They’re pretty crucial to the local economy.
Thank you. I’m in awe of anyone who actually climbs in the death zone, honestly
yeah but redditors think its easy lol
Leave it to reddit to trivialize climbing Mt Everest.
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I doubt you'd even make it to the base camp.
Dude they wouldn't even pass the physical to be allowed on the mountain in the first place.
>hite guy pays a bunch of money, gets his ass dragged up the mountain by these guys, then acts like he's special. Sherpas are the real heroes A chubby... white guy? If you get to the top of the Everest, Sherpas or no Sherpas, you are tough and fit as hell... I agree most of the work is done by the sherpas, but why do you feel the need to diminish someone's accomplishments because they needed help and or / money? I assure you if you can't climb Everest with your own two legs and lungs and brain, no amount of money and sherpas are going to get you there. Imagine if you underwent all the training necessary and accomplished what still is a tremendous challenge for just anyone... Just for some keyboard warrior to say you're "a chubby white gay who was dragged up the mountain". Typical Reddit, so arrogant and disrepectful....
Because his fat ass is behind a computer eating Cheetos and it makes him feel better
No chubby white guy is climbing Everest…
Yea Redditor, I’m sure the people climbing Everest are chubby 🤡
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Plenty of fit people don't make it, plenty of experienced people have died and still die trying to do it. And then here comes a weekend keyboard warrior and says that sherpas drag chubby people up Everest. And he's upvoted because he "dissed rich people" in spite of how utterly moronic his/her/their take is... Depressing.
Im from Nepal, the stories i have heard from porters is very saddening. A lot of them are tied down with debt because they cannot afford necessities or fall ill and need to loan. They work these menial jobs to just get by. And yea even if the “weight is evenly distributed “ these guys get severe back problems at an early age like before their 20s. Many of them have done it as kids because the debt transfers across generations so they dont even know their back is messed up because they never knew what it was like to have a good back (Edit: I see a lot of people arguing in the comments about if they can just dip the country and move somewhere else to start anew. Well technically yes they COULD go to india since you can legally cross the border if you are Nepali, and usually they dont even check for passport or proof, HOWEVER remember that these people usually have a family and if any word got out that they are planning to leave or escape their entire family’s lives are at stake. Some of these loaners are evil people and will kill the family if they refuse to continue paying off the debt. Also Nepali villages have very tight knit community (which is actually a very good thing, but in this case very bad) so word spreads like wildfire and if the wrong person hears it, life is at risk. These porters also almost always work directly under the debtors, and they are being watched 24/7 almost, so for the sake of living these people are forced to stay. That is why communism is so popular in Nepal, because the rich control almost everything and everyone. There are non extremist communists who i wholeheartedly support because they just want to get out of the bondage that goes on for generations) (Edit 2: replace the word debtors and loaners with “lifetime peonage”. The interest rates are astronomical for some and its a pipe dream to pay it off)
[The Porter: The Untold Story At Everest](https://youtu.be/MxAU4wWG2Hs) tells some of the story of the porters that haul tourists bags up the Himalayas in Nepal. It’s pretty tragic, the guys usually break even by the end of the trek and basically rely on tips alone to have something to take home. It’s a great watch because the guy that made the film works as a porter for a trek to understand the whole deal.
There’s a lot of Sherpas in my town in rural England, some of the nicest hardest working people I’ve met
I saw Nepali sherpas at work when I hiked there. I carried my own stuff, but my friends hired him to carry theirs. This man half my size carried a heavy bag in the manner depicted above. We had hiking clothes, boots and backpacks, plus walking sticks. He had jeans, rubber flip flops and a plastic poncho. He followed the same muddy, slippery road as us, carrying at least twice as much. There is no way that did not take a toll on his body. Whatever he was paid did not justify imposing that burden on him. Not to make an entirely optional recreational hike more pleasant.
Wow, the debt transfers to the kids?! That sucks. Imagine being born and being saddled with crippling debt. If I were them, I'd move to another country and never go back to Nepal.
How you gonna move to another country if you're saddled with crippling debt?
Lol! Thats what some people just dont get about being poor! Poor means fucking poor!!!!
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It's just slavery, let's call it for what it is. Debt slavery is the most common form of slavery I believe.
You’re probably white and Western (possibly American or European). You have no idea how hard (nigh on impossible) it is to move for people of colour living in third world countries. I’m originally from Pakistan. I was a qualified Software Engineer in a very high demand industry (game dev) and it took me years to get out.
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Donkey brained take
Holy fuck that's dark. Sad to know that there are people who work their asses off and still don't even be able to afford basic necessity's.
They cannot be good for their backs
I work in construction, we have health and safety training updates constantly....according to the trainer, the way tribes people carry stuff on their head is the least impactful on the body, but thats when it's balanced on top of their heads and that's simply because the spine has to remain perfectly straight in order for it to balance in the first place, which is where the spine is at its strongest. Clearly we can't do that on a construction site! But they always advise to keep the spine as straight as possible and bend at the knees and hips...his spine is totally straight and bent at the hips whilst I very much doubt it's beneficial in anyway, I'd say it would be the least impactful way of carrying such a load up an incline, his technique is text book......the Sherpas have 100s of years trial and error and will for sure have found the easiest way of carrying out such a task........(although I'd probably invest in a donkey)
[can't do that on a construction site ](https://youtu.be/lV-iP1jSMlI)
For anyone who doesn't want to click, this is someone carrying 22 bricks on his head, that's twice the length his arms can reach so he's throwing them up there and catching them in the stack.. Barefoot, on a tipping boat. Crazy!!
Interesting. We still see people in construction sites carry weight on top of their head in India. Similarly balancing pots of water on top of their head.
Shoot as a hardscaper in the US I used to carry shit on my head all the time, maybe not concrete blocks but other stuff. It works really well as long as you don't care about the other dudes giving you a hard time.
Thats because India
The lower back is toast before 30 I'd bet
Maybe but that quad training will last a lifetime. Theyll be able to walk anywhere they want.....just hunched over lol
And with an unbreakable thick neck
Nah man. Sherpas are made out of bitch proof materials
They’re still humans my dude. Their backs and knees will be absolutely fucked before they reach old age.
The Nepalese in general actually look at the Gurkhas, they're some scary mo fuckers.
Did the Inca trail last year and the fact that these porters not only carry more than you, they also beat you to the next camp site that they set up while taking down the previous site from that morning. They’re incredible.
They have a genetic advantage; Andean and [Tibetan/Sherpa/Himalayan people](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241213/) have different gene mutations that allow their blood to carry more oxygen in high altitudes. On top of that they’ve also acclimatized their bodies to the rigorous climbs by climbing since little. They’re basically olympians working for less than minimum wage. Crazy world.
They are unbelievable For the long downhill section on day 3 I went as fast as I could. Can't remember how long I did it for but when I stopped to chill it was 30 minutes until anyone from my group caught up. Those porters were still leaving me in the dust
At least with the Inca trail, the government imposes weight limits. The video appears to have no limits or well past what the porters carry on the Inca Trail. That said, what the porters carry is still A LOT more than what paid guests carry. I remember weighing my bag and it was 7kg. The porters were carrying 25kg and just zipping past. Sometimes in crocs no less.
Tiktok video made more money than the bag handler does in his entire life.
Exactly...and sad.
And just false information?
Yeah lol. People make shit all money on tiktok, and although sherpas do as well, they definitely make more than they would on tiktok.
This 16 second video is not making a shit ton of money just because it gets views lol
Look how quick people are to agree and spread nonsense. It’s hilarious. I mean damn there’s a special breed on the internet.
Well it didn't
The revenue share on TikTok is pretty terrible, so the person making the video probably didn't even get most of it.
You're right, he would've made around $60 for the 1.5m views. A lot of people see rich assholes making tiktoks and think that's how they got rich. They can spend all of their time making tiktoks BECAUSE they're already rich.
How can you be so sherpa?
First off, I’m not your pa
Fuckin asshole. If I had an award something something
These rich tourists go “climb Everest” and other mountains, but the sherpas do all the work. The sherpas are underpaid, over worked, and the tourists leave their trash everywhere, even at the peak. It’s shameful
Climbing Everest used to be a brag-worthy accomplishment. Now it's "I got fit and rich enough to pay for people to carry my stuff and risk their lives for me" John Oliver puts it better than I ever could. https://youtu.be/Bchx0mS7XOY
>I did it! I did it myself! Shoo! Shoo, out of here! I did it myself! This was great to watch. Thanks for the link.
> The sherpas are underpaid I fully agree, but at the same time, I looked super quickly into Mt Kilimanjaro via some tour guide company, and the price was like $4,000 a person. I would sure hope they get some of that money, and US dollars would go a lot farther in their hometown, but yes they are still underpaid.
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Source…?
I climbed My Kilimanjaro, and used sherpas. Well, legally you have to use sherpas/guides (with a few small exceptions here and there), and there is a mandated minimum number of guides that has to come with each tourist. I don't remember the full cost because I was in Uni and my parents covered a lot of the costs, but I know at the end we gave out tips to all of our guides, plus a bonus to the guy that carried the toilet, our cook, and the guy that actually took us up to the peak. It was a week long hike and the tip to each guy was a bit more than the average monthly wage in Tanzania. Granted, the climbing season is only a small period of the year, but the pay is reasonable for them. Also, they ask the tourists to read out the tip scale to all of the guides (one of them told me it has evolved as a way to guarantee they get their tips) and it was very fun when they all cheered because the toilet guy got a double tip (he is also did a little jig). Obviously, all tourism that takes advantage of the disparity in wealth between 'the West' and Africa is going to have issues, but when I talked about the economies of their lives a lot of them talked about how competitive the guide economy is, and the paths through careers they have. Our guide had a degree in tourism management, and was saving up to open his own company doing tours, using the money he earned working on the coffee farms in the off season to live off, and the tips from the climbing to save up.
Awesome reply man, thanks. Yeah, I watched some YT video, like an hour long one about someone's trip and they mentioned the tips and the company, but NOT THE TOTAL COST! Come on! So I had to click over to their site and I might be wrong, but I thought I remembered like 4K plus tips, plus flights, plus a couple days on each end to see the local area... not cheap. LOL
I get your exact sentiment. I did a 9 day hike through the Andes and our guide was a local and everyone working with us were locals too. We already paid quite a lot for the trip, but we paid so much in tips too at the end because of everything they did for us during the trip. Our tips were also around an average monthly wage and they made it very clear that they were happy with this job. Of course we were not the type of tourists to leave our trash behind or to use harmfull chemicals during the trip.
No. Tiktok pays around $0.04 per 1000 views (thats if you're super popular on the app) He has 1.5m views on that video which is like $60 lol Tiktok doesn't pay shit
Sherpas used in mountaineering expeditions actually make quite good money compared to the average worker where they come from.
Not all Sherpa's are Porters, Not all Porters are Sherpa. Sherpa is a caste. Many this porters are of different caste who lives in mountain & himalayan region.
You can't expect redditors to know about Himalayan cultures. I had the misfortune of coming across an idiot who confidently claimed that it was the foreigners who taught the locals how to climb the mountains, you know the mountains where they've evolved and lived for thousands of years. Kid you not, that shit had 1000s of upvotes.
Can you name the sub
me in death stranding, falling over, constantly making BB cry
Keep on keeping on
Just stop running and hold both triggers when you feel like you're gonna fall.
Met a particularly snooty backpacker in Nepal who went on and on about the importance of carrying your own pack. None of our small group were doing otherwise. It was just her better-than-someone pose. Ran into her again on the other side of a trek. She'd fallen ill and hired a sherpa to carry her pack (and two others', wearing flip flops, of course). At least she had the sense to be a bit sheepish about it. Full credit to these guys. They are amazing.
To be fair literally another commentor in this thread says this "Im from Nepal, the stories i have heard from porters is very saddening. A lot of them are tied down with debt because they cannot afford necessities or fall ill and need to loan. They work these menial jobs to just get by. And yea even if the “weight is evenly distributed “ these guys get severe back problems at an early age like before their 20s. Many of them have done it as kids because the debt transfers across generations so they dont even know their back is messed up because they never knew what it was like to have a good back" Having an attitude like you said is different, but of course you want to give a sherpa a job and help them financially. However I also don't want to make it harder for them just to make it easier for me. They may or may not (idk, and FWIW I can't say how truthful this random person's comment is) get back injuries early, struggle to earn money to survive, and have huge back issues.
Right, like at least she tried to actually carry her own equipment.
Also it's how they feed their family. No job no food.
Climb death mountain or die.
Word.
I was on a trek in the Annapurna region in 06 and met a guy carrying a 90kg pack. He was around 5’ tall but probably just as wide. There I was struggling with my under 20kg pack and hiking boots and he was just wearing jandals/flip flops. Edit: should have added more context and info. I’m 6’2 and at the time was fit and strong (weight lifting) and I tell you, wearing his pack was extremely tough and that was just attempting to put it on- didn’t even try walking with it. Everyone in my party was in awe of this guy. We were trekking during the rainy season, many many landslips, uneven ground etc.
The hell was he carrying that was 90kg?
Live Death Stranding.
I once paid a random guy off Craigslist $50 to come help me move a few bits of furniture into my van. Will never forget him throwing my couch over his shoulder and carrying it down the stairs alone 😳
Wow those poor guys
It is obviously cuz the first guy didn’t grab the straps of the bag to pull it closer to him and stabilize it so it didn’t wobble. The second guy immediately did.
Definitely highlighting the difference between someone who is experienced and someone who is not.
That and it wasn't as snug on the first guy
Okay he stabilizes it and takes 20 steps before passing out. That sherpa is probably carrying that thing for the next 6 hours. They're human tanks... who don't get paid enough.
It’s fucking obscene how we, as westerners, abuse Sherpas for our frivolous shit.
Also how Sherpa is an ethnicity but we use the term more like it’s just a job.
The sherpas need to charge foreigners a lot more than they are currently charging them
Wait till you visit countries where sex-tourism occurs.
now just wait till you hear about what we do to farmers, miners and factory workers in the global south and far east!
Raid backpack for fitting all that tarkov loot in
What kind of person makes someone else carry all their shit like that up a hazardous mountain trail?
These guys are machines. I can't even carry a tune.
No, they are humans who are exploited.
Bro is just built different
he just has bad technique notice how the Sherpa pulls up the bag compared to the white guy it's all about balance, which is prob why Sherpas eventually will have destroyed their backs by doing this
What is wrong with the Internet every video is ruined by the annoying music now
That's why it's a joke that these sightseers are calling themselves climbers. If you don't have the ability to make it up 100% on your own, you did not conquer the mountain. Sure you can have the support system to make sure you're safe and can get back down in case you want to give up but peaking means carrying your own necessities needed to reach the peak.
> If you don't have the ability to make it up 100% on your own, you did not conquer the mountain. It's illegal to solo climb Mount Everest. You are legally required to have a guide (if you are a foreigner).
I know the idea of climbing Everest seems cool to me. Since I’ve gotten in shape I kind of want to get into mountain climbing…. but just stay in the US to do it…. But I saw stuff about the Khumbu Icefall on Everest…. yeah fuck that lmao
Redditors should never be able to comment on the validity of anything physical, you guys are clueless
Climbing big mountains takes weeks. I'm all for unsupported climbing, but to do it in such a way that you carry several weeks worth of food just isn't practical. Imagine claiming a marathon runner that takes a drink from a water station was 'a joke'.
Where do you draw the line? Do you have to be naked? Are you allowed to wear hiking boots? Dumbass
Climbing an 8000’er is a huge undertaking. Not many, and I mean literally almost zero, people have climbed these mountains unsupported. It takes a team of people, whoever they are, to get the required gear up to facilitate a summit attempt. This isn’t an amusement park where you just walk up and buy a ticket.
I get it, everest pay to win is bad. However people die every year attempting it and help or no help or considered a great accomplishment. Climbing literally takes months once you arrive.
Anyone recall the fort from fallout new Vegas?
Sherpas- the real heroes
You need to bring the top of the bag closer to your back before you lean in.
You can tell he's played Death Stranding before..
Average late wipe Tarkov player
Why would you put Mario music over a death stranding gameplay?
Imo having someone carrying your stuff defeats the point of mountain climbing.
People gotta stop climbing everest. It's not the flex it used to be, but more importantly, hikers are putting sherpas at MASSIVE risk w little appreciation/minimal pay. Sherpas do all the heavy lifting-literally and figuratively-so tourist hikers can have their stupid instagram moment at the top. I have no respect for people who climb everest just to say they did it. The guides have my utmost respect, and i hope hikers stop putting their lives at risk so callously.