Meet Nepal’s Mountain Porters | Atlas Obscura 

So many porters die hauling loads for tourists up mountains. Everest is _literally_ scattered with dozens of the frozen corpses of dead porters. They don't tell you that in the guidebooks. This is an awful, unforgiving occupation. Thank you very much for this excellent video, the editing is really good.

Great video! I am from Nepal, and I know the struggle these people have to go through on a daily basis just to provide a day's worth of food for themselves and their family. Being a Sherpa is not an occupation. Sherpa is just one of hundreds of ethnic groups of Nepal. They live mostly in the Himalayas, where the terrain is absolutely unforgiving. The land is not suitable for agriculture and the only crop that grows in that altitude, are potatoes. There is no Infrastructure, no roads, no railway, and as a result, it is severely under developed. With that said, it is absolutely breathtaking, and I don't mean just because of the altitude. It feels like heaven on earth, and people from all around the world come to see that, or to reach the literal top of the world. So, the best job opportunity for people living in the Himalayas, (mostly Sherpas), is to carry loads of other people. They have been doing it for so long, that the word Sherpa has been synonymous with porter, or guide of the Himalayas. Because of recent Corona pandemic, there has been a total cut off of tourists coming to the area, and because of that, many people are jobless. The already lagging behind economy of Nepal is now nearly non-existent. The government cannot help these people, and they have no where to go. I am not a big believer in god, but if there ever was good time for praying, I believe this would be it. So let's just pray that these people, their hardwork and sacrifice, and hope it pays off.

I wish I could show this to some Americans that think they live a hard and difficult life.

Wish there were more ways for them to earn an honest living rather than risking their lives carrying heavy objects for rich tourists

Years ago, I hiked from Lukla to Namche Bazaar, en route to Everest. My friends and I struggled over whether or not to hire porters. It's a job for them, but it seemed exploitative. In the end, we didn't... and all along the trail, Sherpas would cruise past us carrying _far_ more weight (even stacked cases of bottled water and beer)... in FLIP FLOPS! A few years after that, we hiked to Machu Picchu, where the situation with porters (Chuskies) is MUCH more regulated (required hiring, load limits, travel speeds, etc.). We were more comfortable with the regulated system, but we never really settled on a clear sense of how the grey area darkens from touristic employment into exploitation.

Showing the food at the end was such a brilliantly touchy move ❤

Much respect to these porters! Hope anyone doing this work, and the society , soon sees the full economic value of the skills they bring to the table. Would love to see a longer piece - found myself curious whether longtime porters suffer from spinal issues, and what health care options these workers have in Nepal. Cheers to Woodruff Laputka for this empathetic and poetic portrait.

Brings back a lot of fond memories for these Unsung Heroes of the Everest Trail ! . . . Yaks carried my stuff back in 2009, but our porter-guides kept us in hospitality & out of trouble.

The people hiring them should be more respect and pay them better or carry their stuff alone - this so not okay. So many of those insanely rich people are not nice.

Amazing Human beings!

Perfect video, thank you

Better come to Kedarnath for porter work...Here they earn Rs 5000 to 10000 for carrying 1 person 22 km ...Best part is it is not risky like mt Everest...

Looks like a real nice lifestyle :)

video needs to be longer... very well made tho. best wishes.

Does anyone know about their diet?

What's different between porter and sherpa?

I know Nepal. There are 104 ethnicities, officially recorded by the government and Sherpas are one of them. I think they should integrate with other ethnical groups , more likely Brahmans (also called Bahun) who have control over most government positions. Since 2000 Almost all the current political leaders are Bahuns and some Nepalese also say it s Nepal's bad luck.

This is so sad.....and cruelty at the same time..when people give over loaded heavy backpack..😡 I would never give any more weight to carry.. if he cant I'm would never kill them they have long journey up hills down.. it's not easy.. and the the pay they get is shit. .. cruel ....at least have a manner and respect ..

I tip my Porter's $5 for there week climb carrying my equipment. Most important, my heroin. I get fucked up on Everest. I think I'm the only person to do heroin on Everest

I have so much to say! Watching this brought back so many memories of these incredible people! When I lived in India it was the Nepalese you called on to get things done. It was an all day affair to shop so when we went, I bought EVERYTHING. One day I had gotten a queen mattress, food, and everything you could possibly need in a kitchen, including a very heavy counter top oven. It was late night when we got back. The village I lived in was so high up in the mountain, you had to eventually park and walk a good ways to reach my house. Maybe 3 streetlights if they were running. When we arrived we started unloading the truck and I was grabbing the bags to help carry. My friend (Indian) yelled no no... he will carry. A Nepali came and I watched in amazement how they bundled this entire mattress stuffed with all my purchases onto this 5ft man's back. Of course I insisted I carry something .....so a few of the Indians guys also carried a bag each. 😊 Let me tell you the path to my house was no joke. I gasped for air just walking and no package. This is just one instance, of many, I will never forget. I love India and I love Nepal...great countries...great people. I want tobreturn so badly. Missing you both with all my heart. 🔱🕉