Supporting local tourism is one of the only livelihood options available to the economically marginalised residents of several areas in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. Over decades Pakistani high-altitude porters (HAPs), guides and support staff, through their dedication and vigour, have become the long-established mainstay for expeditions in the area. However, many are recently beginning to feel their livelihoods come under threat with foreign labour (particularly Nepali Sherpas) increasingly being brought in to help with expeditions and climbing logistics.
Khurpas (‘he who carries your load’ in the Balti-language) follow an incredibly demanding daily routine when they aid expeditions during the climbing season in the northern regions of the country. Government rules state that high-altitude porters can carry 20 kg at heights between 5,001 to 6,000 meters, 17 kg between 6,001 to 7,000 meters, 14 kg between 7,001 to 8,000 meters and up to 12kg beyond 8,000 meters. However, this in addition to their own kit and rations can often result in days or weeks of carrying weight in excess of 40 kg for more than 10 hours. They also have a very short earning season. According to USA Today, Sherpas can “earn more than 10 times their country’s annual salary in a three-month climbing season”. Our HAPs by contrast earn an average yearly income of PKR 124,048 – according to a survey carried out by Khurpa Care Pakistan (KCP) and High Altitude Sustainability Pakistan (HASP) on 21 working HAPs – when Pakistan’s per capita income stood at PKR 171,656 during 2016-17. Such dismal figures are not surprising, as in addition to the basic wages of PKR 680, the rate for crossings and passes above 4,000 meters was set at PKR 890 in 2016 by the G-B Council Secretariat. Even on expedition this daily rate varies on rest days (PKR 340). That is not a lot of money.
Sherpas from Nepal in Pakistan - the mountaineering communities of the two countries enjoy old ties
Khurpas also suffer from numerous other problems like increasing accidents due to climate change and frequent avalanches, the need for better formal training and equipment, the lack of collective bargaining mechanisms, insufficient insurance cover in case of accidental death and the unavailability of cover in case of injury or illness while working during season. Despite all these unfavourable circumstances our local high-attitude staff have been described as strong, resilient and honest in their service on our national treasures. But, due to structural and historical differences, they are at a clear disadvantage when faced with the better trained and equipped Sherpas, not just materially but also in their personal level of empowerment resulting from appreciation from their nation. As put by Freddie Wilkinson in his book One Mountain Thousand Summits, Sherpas are “seen as sort of rock stars of their community and their whole society.” In Pakistan sadly, their indigenous counterparts remain largely anonymous. Many of them sadly refer to themselves as “mazdur” (day laborers) when they have literally climbed mountains.
How big is the problem?
In 2012 it was reported that out of the 23 summiteers for K2, Broad Peak and G-2 that year, 10 were Nepali Sherpas. In the same year Korean mountaineer Kim Hong Bin with his partner Lakpa Sherpa were the first to reach the summit of Nagna Parbat. What’s more, in a 2016 interview with Pakistan Alpine News, Manzoor Hussain, President of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ALP), shared that in 2016 as many as 11 out of 24 expeditions “brought Nepali Sherpas as their climbing members. This includes a ten-member strong Nepali Sherpa expedition on K-2.” And numbers acquired from Central Karakorum National Park (CKNP) indicate that 3% (out of a total of 1,536 visitors) of the tourists entering the park in 2017 were from Nepal. That might not seem be a substantial number, but it may translate to the high-skilled job loss of nearly 46 local people. Even the biggest success story on K-2 this year, Vanessa O’Brien, the first American woman to scale the mountain, also went for foreign assistance – 7 out of the 11 people on her team were Nepali Sherpas.
The Khurpa community in Pakistan finds itself losing out to high-altitude staff from other countries
What do stakeholders suggest?
For local high-altitude staff the general attitude is that there should be a ban implemented immediately by relevant authorities against foreign support staff being brought by some expeditions. In two “Porter Stakeholder Meetings” co-facilitated by KCP and HASP in 2015 and 2016, more than 30 participants (including some of the most experienced high-altitude porters, guides and cooks in Baltistan like Hasan Sadpara, first Pakistani to climb 6 over-8,000 m peaks; Ali Raza, 30 years of experience on Broad Peak, G1 and G2; Ali Durrani, youngest Pakistani on K-2; and Mohammad Hasan, member of the first all-Pakistani team to attempt K-2 among other notable members of the local climbing community) expressed their growing concern over local job loss.
However, Mr. Hussain (president ACP) maintains that this is not a proper solution and “Mountaineering communities of Nepal and Pakistan enjoy a close, friendly and historical relationship...In view of these historical and friendly ties ACP has never recommended prohibiting Nepali Sherpas from climbing in Pakistan”. He suggests that the ratio should be 1 : 2.25 (Sherpas and local HAPs respectively, if foreign staff is present). He lamented current situation, however, stating that “it is not yet being implemented by the tour operators and the mountaineer clients”.
Christian Tromsdorff, President of IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations) speaking on the problem also asserted that a complete ban on Sherpas coming as expedition staff might not be the most elegant solution to the problem. In his opinion Sherpas, who are, of course, more highly trained, will through proximity be able to teach a lot of our high-altitude staff on-the-job, ultimately raising the local standard too. So putting up a quota or a ratio would be a better solution. While watching some of the guides from Nepal National Mountain Guide Association in Nepal this year, I was floored with the amount of training they receive. And in addition to their incredible skill they are also the warmest, kindest people who would be happy to share what they know.
While speaking at one of the Porter Stakeholder meetings, Mr. Rahat Ali, Manager Institutional Development for the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) also stressed the need for more concrete mechanisms with proper governance structures to collectively voice rights and to create a stable platform for this community. Indeed, all relevant stakeholders must be able to jointly address issues and develop better guidelines that can help this unique community.
The media can also play a key role in creating awareness among people on the needs of local high-altitude staff in the face of increasing competition. Altaf Hussian, one of Pakistan’s oldest working porter sardars once said to me that the Sherpas are now a ‘brand’ and we need to do that same for Pakistan.
The perception of our support staff, however, remains bleak among foreign climbers due to the problems mentioned earlier. One veteran British mountaineer, author and international mountain guide, in my once-in-a-lifetime chance for a conversation with him was asked enthusiastically about his experience with climbing in Pakistan. Late to the pickup point for a guiding conference, he had been unlucky enough to have gotten stuck in a mini-van with me for the longest half hour of his life. I quizzed the poor jetlagged man incessantly. Why hadn’t he been back in so long? (his last recorded climb among almost a dozen seasons spent here seemed to be in 1993, on the Gondoro La Pass). He very firmly told me that he has never even thought about climbing there in years because of his constant experience with “porter strikes”. Porter strikes were indeed a significant problem in the past but as wages were gradually regulated and NGOs (like KCP) popped up, porter strikes have been a rare phenomenon on the Baltoro for years. Reputations, however, take a long time to change and I could clearly see that we have a long way to go as I watched him hurriedly escape from the questioning and the van, into the conference, as soon as we arrived at the venue.
The fact is that flying in foreign support staff is expensive, compared to employing local staff. But for this to work for the latter, it is necessary that we enhance our service standard. If the right measures are not taken soon, we will not just lose our story tellers up on the mountains, but also miss out on all the exceptional stories being created by other nations in our backyard.
