WIRED

Who Carries the Load I Campbell MacDiarmid

he first warning was T a sharp crack that punctured the stillness like an exclamation mark.

At 4240 meters, Urdukas camp sits on a series of terraces among the looming boulders of a moraine wall. More rocks perch precari- ously on the mountainside above. Most expe- ditions stop here on their way up the in the Range of It’s warmer than the sites on the glacier, but the truly notable feature is the view: on a clear day, you can look out on mountains that jut like jagged teeth over the glacier’s tongue. , , Cathedral Peaks. Names that resonate with mountain lore and forms that evoke a silent awe. On August 16, 2011, the summits were obscured by a low ceiling of cloud. The moun- tains, the sky, the glacier—everything was a gunmetal grey. It was early afternoon. A gentle drizzle fell. The trekkers were in their tents. likens the boulder to a small truck “making its processions of men trudging up valley and The porters huddled under sheets of plastic or way in slow motion down the hill, rolling end glacier, occasionally halting approach marches in whatever dry spots they could find. Eight over end. I recall seeing faces underneath this with strikes. of them sheltered under a large boulder. The rock, and you just watched it go down.” It’s easy to forget that the majority of Kara- stone was the size of a house, but at some point koram visitors still rely on low-altitude porters. in the past, it had split in two. One half leaned Much of the current writing about moun- Even alpine-style climbers hire them to ferry way out, creating an overhang, cantilevered in tain workers in the Karakoram focuses on the loads from the road’s end to the start of cut- place by the weight of the other half and by a experiences of Sherpa and Pakistani high- ting-edge objectives on peaks like Great Trango few smaller boulders wedged underneath. altitude support crews on commercial and Tower and Latok I. American alpinist Kelly A dozen trekkers sat in a mess tent playing quasi-commercial teams. Sherpa heroes have Cordes explains, “If you’re doing technical cards. It was their first rest day, and the loud appeared on the covers of major magazines. routes, given the equipment and supplies you crack jolted them from their post-lunch Recent books like Amanda Padoan and Peter need to bring to base camp, and the amount torpor. This was something different than Zuckerman’s Buried in the Sky (2012) have of time you spend there, it’s hard to imagine the familiar Baltoro noise of distant rockfall, examined 8000-meter climbing from the per- getting by without porters.” Rehmat Ali, a avalanches and glacial grumblings. It was omi- spective of indigenous high-altitude workers porter coordinator for Nazir Sabir Expeditions, nously close. The sound was followed almost and guides. Since the 1970s, some Pakistani describes them as the “umbilical cord” of nearly immediately by a second crack. The trekkers high-altitude staff have gone on from expedi- all Karakoram climbs (Buried in the Sky). rushed to the door just in time to see the rock tion work to become internationally respected Likewise, the porters and their families above the eight porters slowly tip, and then climbers, such as Nazir Sabir, who made the now depend on the revenue. Many come tumble down the slope. “Then it picked up first ascent of the West Ridge of in 1981. from remote villages in the Hushe, Shigar momentum and tore off down the mountain- At the same time, low-altitude porters— and Braldu valleys of the region— side,” one trekker, Jeff Dungen, says. “It was a who carry an expedition’s supplies to base areas with short growing seasons and long home-sized boulder ripping down the moun- camp—have remained as dim outlines in most winters, where traditional farming provides tain ejecting rocks and people.” published stories. When men- only a bare subsistence. Portering offers one of Another trekker, Kim Carter-Brown, tioned, they generally appear as anonymous the few alternative forms of income, helping

93 trekking and mountaineering have helped to contributes to the development of chronic keep the fickle tourism industry afloat and to health problems.” mitigate the region’s poverty, offering jobs to A few clients assume that porters are thousands of porters each season. somehow better adapted to harsh conditions or that they don’t experience suffering the When available, portering is hard and same way that Westerners do. “But they’re dangerous work. Most porters bear more- born to do it” is one refrain. Or: “Listen to the than-twenty-two-kilo loads on wooden or way they sing at night. They’re happy.” steel frames with straps made from bits of “They are singing about love,” Nabi says. rope or webbing. Porters usually walk in cheap sandals or plastic shoes, dressed in cotton On its way down the mountain, the boulder shalwar kameez with old jerseys or jackets for smashed through the empty tent of a second when it gets cold. They frequently subsist on group of trekkers. Everyone at Urdukas rushed a diet of black tea and chapattis. In the eve- to survey the damage. The trekkers quickly nings, porters make do with whatever shelter ascertained that the members of their parties is at hand, typically constructing low stone were unharmed. It took longer to account huts with ceilings of plastic. Lying on thin for the porters. “We didn’t know them all,” mats, with blankets or old sleeping bags, they Dungen says. “But when we heard the porters huddle for warmth. Often, they wake in the crying we knew that some of them had died.” night to beat off the falling snow that threat- Eventually, two bodies were found on ens to collapse the roofs. the glacier. Another corpse was partly buried Muhammad Hussain Balti first worked for near where the rock had fallen. All three men villagers send their children to school, buy a trekking group at age fourteen. Twelve years were from the village of Thorgu in the Shigar staples during food shortages, and plant cash later, he mostly remembers the cold of the district: Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad crops, such as fruit and potatoes. heights, how intense it felt without warm gloves Akbar and Muhammad Inayat. Four other Balti men have carried foreigners’ loads for or boots. Porters also struggle with the separa- porters suffered injuries. Most wounded more than 100 years. Throughout the nine- tion from their families. “This is the hardest porters are expected to make it off the glacier teenth and early twentieth centuries, portering part, to be away for so long,” says Ghulam on foot or by horseback. This time, at the tour was mainly a form of obligatory labor, insti- Nabi, a guide for Snowland Treks and Tours. agency’s urging, the chief minister of Gilgit- tuted by colonial or feudal rulers to enable Beyond such difficulties, there are serious Baltistan approved a humanitarian evacuation. travel across the region’s vast, roadless terrain. risks. Base camps can be distant from the nearest Meanwhile, several trekkers who had medical After 1947, when Pakistan became indepen- village. Merely getting to the start of climbing training performed emergency care. At 11 dent, porters continued to work for visiting routes can require crossing swift-flowing rivers, a.m. the next day, a helicopter expeditions. Then in 1963 the government hiking over crevassed glaciers and traversing arrived to carry the injured and the dead. closed the range to foreigners because of the unstable terrain above 4000 meters. Near the “The Westerners were really annoyed it conflict in Kashmir. A decade later, American upper Baltoro, as supplies are used up, a few took so long to arrive,” Carter-Brown says. alpinists and Pakistani businessmen began dis- porters may be sent home early—sometimes “The porters were amazed it came at all.” cussing how mountain tourism might assist without the necessary equipment or training Baltistan’s struggling economy (Steve Swenson, for rescues if one of them falls into a crevasse. All travelers through the Karakoram Range “K2,” Alpinist 38). By 1975, they’d succeeded University of Toronto professor Kenneth face objective hazards. It was only by chance in reopening the Karakoram. Gradually, inter- MacDonald has studied Balti portering com- that some of the trekkers didn’t die in the national and Pakistani companies started hiring munties since the 1980s. He says there are Urdukas rockfall. Yet although trekkers and and managing porters for treks and climbs, and no reliable figures for how many porters die climbers choose to take certain risks, many an adventure travel industry developed. because of their work: “Many injuries that con- porters say they wouldn’t work on expeditions After the terrorist attacks of September tribute to death go unreported.” Zahid Hussain if they had other opportunities, and they hope 11, 2001, the number of visitors dropped pre- Rajput, a guide who volunteers for the porter their sons won’t end up in the same occupation. cipitously. According to Jasmine Tours, their advocacy NGO Khurpa Care, estimates that For now, portering often seems like a means to business declined between 40 and 60 percent. two or three porters are killed in accidents each work toward a better future for their families. Naiknam Karim, the managing director of season. At least four men died in 2012. Porters currently earn about three times Adventure Tours Pakistan, says some porters “Both in the short term and in the long the daily minimum wage in Pakistan (ca. $3). dealt with the loss of income by buying food term, it’s a hazardous occupation,” MacDon- The Gilgit-Baltistan Council Secretariat sets on credit; others looked for work in cities or ald says. “The long-term effects are invisible certain rules that govern their jobs and pay. the Middle East. Since 2008, the Alpine Club to us: corneal ulcers aggravated from the glare The routes are divided into fixed stages. If a of Pakistan has tried to make the country more off the ice; chronic joint problems, hernias…. porter covers two in a day, the normal distance, appealing to foreign climbers, persuading the Hard labor at high altitudes with inadequate he will get about $10. There is a maximum government to reduce peak fees. In recent years, nutrition exacerbates existing conditions and load limit of twenty-five kilos (less than what

94 porters carry in ). Expeditions must Raza, the general manager of Alpha Insurance, meetings. As a result, reports of strikes, once provide basic supplies such as flour, ghee, dal, reports that some tour companies fail to submit common, have diminished. Khurpa Care tea, milk, meat, sugar, salt, fuel, stoves, shoes, the porters’ applications. While the three men has also secured an annual increase in wages. socks, sunglasses and some kind of rain gear. who died at Urdukas were insured, their rela- A few Balti porters have opened shops and But since porters have the option of receiv- tives had to go through a lengthy process to tea stalls or even started their own trekking ing a food and equipment allowance instead, receive the benefits—only about $1,100 each. companies. Some find work in cities between most choose to take the extra money, eat fru- They were fortunate to be paid at all, Rajput seasons, often in low-wage restaurant, hotel or gally, and make do with what they have. Some notes. The fine print excludes altitude sickness service jobs. Others still rely on portering as prefer to sell the gear rather than use it. “If you and unwitnessed accidents. At times, porters their main cash source, and they have trouble don’t scratch the sunglasses, you can get 100 are the only wage earners in their families. If saving any of it. rupees [ca. $1],” the porter Shujaat Shigri told they die or become disabled, their children or On the other hand, some of the smaller the authors of Buried in the Sky. “That’s a lot elderly parents can end up destitute. Pakistani companies are also struggling to stay of money.” Muhammad Hussain Balti, who During the summer, a porter might make in business in the post-9/11 age. Many in the now runs the adventure travel business K2 three or more trips. “A very hard worker,” industry say they fear that raising wages and Winners with Hassan Sadpara, argues that the Rajput says, “might get $600.” Roland Hunter, prices too high could drive tourists to cheaper gear allowance (ca. $6) isn’t enough for sturdy a British guide with the UK-based Mountain destinations in India or Nepal—shutting footwear. He says he has lobbied to increase Company, estimates as much as $1,000, taking down some local tour agencies and eliminat- the amount that companies have to spend. tips into account. Since 2007, Khurpa Care has ing their porters’ jobs. Since 2004, Cordes The regulations also require porters to carry worked to improve conflict resolution between has made four trips to the range, including life insurance, which clients usually purchase as porters and employers, making sure that the first ascent of the Azeem Ridge. “If [Paki- part of their expedition package. Yet Syed Amir porters’ voices are heard in tourist department stan’s] economy was such that everything were

[Opening Page] Three porters between Askole and the Baltoro Glacier, Pakistan. l [Facing Urdukas camp, above the Baltoro Glacier. A few days later, the split boulder in the back- Page] Trekkers and porters on the way to K2 Base Camp. Unlike the approaches to many ground fell and killed three porters. Trekkers provided emergency medical care to the climbs in Nepal, this area has no nearby villages for expeditions to re-supply. l [This Page] survivors and donated money to the families of those who died. Campbell MacDiarmid (all)

95 and little funding. Muhammad Hussain Balti argues that it’s hard to interest donors in pro- grams for low-altitude porters—who might still seem like part of the background. In some ways, these men’s experiences appear as half-visible in modern adventure media as they were in most nineteenth-century tales. Yet, today, their own mountain journeys represent a heroic struggle to improve their families’ lives. Portering provides essential income for Balti communities. By becom- ing more cognizant of the human context of treks and climbs, visitors can turn their travel into something more beneficial, equitable and safe for these local people. Cordes verifies that the outfitters he hires pay at least the regula- tion wage. New Zealand alpinist Pat Deavoll insists on seeing documentation that porters Two porters on the Baltoro Glacier. Lieutenant Colonel Manzoor Hussain (Rtd.), President of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), writes, “Porter welfare cannot be ignored or denied.... ACP is of the view that porter registration must be under- are insured, and she makes sure everyone taken in the concerned valleys so they can be well organized in groups for managing their welfare.” Campbell MacDiarmid gets enough food. Paul Charlton, an Ameri- can climber who volunteers for Khurpa Care, American prices,” he says, “we couldn’t go on price: only about 5 percent of his prospective urges alpinists to be sure that porters have (and the trip to begin with. Granted, that’s a long clients ever ask about porter welfare. If more use) appropriate gear, particularly on exposed ways off—Pakistan is still a great deal for us.” agencies knew that travelers cared, they might terrain, and to check that porters aren’t sent To protect porters’ jobs, government regu- realize that providing porters with better food, back alone across crevasse-ridden glaciers. lations forbid outfitters from relying on pack medical care, shelter and gear could enhance In these mountains, however, progress can animals. But the military is allowed to use their companies’ reputation and attract more seem geologically slow, each small gain depos- them to ferry loads to remote outposts, and business. Hunter agrees, “Asking questions, ited on top of what came before. A year after some companies resort to them during the peak that changes things.” The Mountain Company the deaths at Urdukas, most companies began season when there are porter shortages. Heavily considers the cost of loaning boots and jackets issuing tarps to porters for shelter, rather than laden and less sure-footed than humans, to porters (in addition to paying the allowance) mere plastic sheets. animals are more likely to get injured. Already, as partly a marketing expense. Several other the Baltoro Glacier is littered with the corpses companies have likewise started lending equip- At fifty, Mohammad Hussein is old for a of dozens of horses, donkeys and mules. ment at the start of treks, thus ensuring that porter. He sits above Urdukas with his back their porters have what they need on the glacier. against a sun-warmed slab and traces his age in During the same year as the Urdukas inci- A few organizations like Khurpa Care now the dust. In a few years, he will be passed over dent, Khurpa Care conducted a survey of train Balti porters in safer glacier travel, cre- for younger, fitter men. Decades in the moun- seventy porters on the Baltoro Glacier. Seventy- vasse rescue, risk assessment and first aid. In tains have wrinkled and burnished his face. A five percent listed inadequate shelter as the addition, they teach climbing to both men and bump on his forehead attests to a lifetime of most serious grievance. The thin plastic sheets women so they can get better-paying jobs as habitual prayer: five times a day he touches his given by the companies, the porters reported, guides. This January, two members of Khurpa head to the ground. A reedy laugh punctuates can break after only one night. They asked for Care attended the Khumbu Climbing School his speech, as does a persistent, ragged cough. thicker tarps to use as ground cloths and roofs. in Nepal. To help make portering more profes- Hussein has two sons and seven daughters, They also wanted life insurance that covered sionalized and less anonymous, Khurpa Care only one of whom is married. Portering is the deaths from illnesses sustained during a trek. is also creating a registry of porters throughout sole way he can support them. When he was Most low-altitude porters speak little Baltistan, assembling representatives from each younger, he hoped to become a guide, or at English. They seldom complain to foreigners, village who can communicate local issues and least a sirdar. Then he injured his knee and had particularly while working, for fear of jeop- concerns to government and tourism officials. to hobble three days to the nearest village for ardizing their employment. Some companies Many porters hope eventually to use the cash surgery. After a long absence, he returned to do a good job of following the regulations; they earn to escape a long history of difficult work, but he was never promoted. He shrugs others fail to abide by them. Clients may not physical labor and poverty. “They want to save when asked about the dangers. As the shadows be aware of problems, Rajput says, especially up money,” Rajput explains, “and before they rise from the valley, he points out the peaks if they are “just thinking of their expedition.” become old, they want to leave this hard job.” that draw men and women from far away. The Kamal Hussain, owner of Snowland Treks and He’d like to offer small loans to enable older alpenglow turns a deep orange just before it Tours, explains that the intense competition workers to enter less-arduous careers. Currently, fades. He’s silent for a while. Then he says, “The between outfitters has been mostly based on however, Khurpa Care has an all-volunteer staff mountains are our mother.” z

96