Expedition Staff on the Baltoro Glacier

Hanniah Tariq

Due to structural and historical differences, they are at a clear disadvantage when faced with better-trained and equipped Sherpas, not just materially but also in their personal level of empowerment resulting from appreciation from their nation.

Flowing over sixty kilometres through the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, the Baltoro glacier is a long river of ice that winds through some of the most storied peaks of alpine lore, including the Trango Towers and Uli Biaho on the way to some of the imposing eightthousanders in the world including the magnificent K-2. Many men who were born in this region work as expedition staff. Over decades these Khurpas (low and high-altitude porters), guides and expedition cooks, through their dedication and vigour, have become the long-established mainstay for expeditions on this rugged and unforgiving path.

Khurpas

A Khurpa (the Balti word for ‘he who carries your load’) is vital to many expeditions’ success, bearing heavy loads on long, strenuous approaches to base camps or advanced base camps. They follow an incredibly demanding daily routine aiding expeditions during the climbing season in the country’s northern regions. Government rules state that high-altitude porters can carry 20 kg at heights between 5001 to 6000 m, 17 kg between 6001 to 7000 m, 14 kg between 7001 to 8000 m and up to 12 kg beyond 8000 m. But they often transport up to 40 kg with the addition of their own gear—or for extra pay. This results in days or weeks of carrying this substantial cargo for more than ten hours a day up to 5000 m of elevation.

They also have an abridged 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 porters, 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 the basic wages of PKR 1160 per stage and the rate for crossings and passes above 4000 m were set at PKR 1526 by the Gilgit-Baltistan Secretariat in 2023. Even on an expedition, this daily rate varies on rest days at the rate of PKR 596. For many households in Balti villages, earning from portering constitutes a significant portion of their annual income, unfortunately, that is not a lot of money.

Many of the youth in Balti villages don’t have opportunities to receive any higher education and choose this dangerous occupation in the absence of other suitable prospects. They learn on the job from more experienced porters but rarely have access to formal training in glacier travel or rescue.

Obtaining suitable equipment is another challenge for porters. Local regulations dictate that low-altitude porters must be provided with a kit consisting of a stove, shoes, socks, sunglasses, and an ordinary raincoat or plastic sheets for cover against rain. Ibrahim Khalil, a Pakistani mountain guide, asserts that most tour operators do not honour this rule. “In place of this,” Khalil says, “porters are given an allowance, typically PKR 1000 (US$6), to buy necessities. With this money, the equipment they can afford is not even suitable for -10° Celsius, let alone -35° Celsius.” The Kit allowance decreed by the Gilgit-Baltistan Secretariat is PKR 596 for up to four stages and PKR 1216 for beyond four stages. Because of these modest budgets, Khurpas often buy damaged or second-hand equipment or try to improvise their own—from metal frames that support their unwieldy loads to flannel pyjamas that substitute for climbing pants. The lack of appropriate eyewear to protect from the high-altitude sun and snow blindness has led to vision problems and affected the livelihood of many of these men.

Pakistani climbing hero Ali Sadpara himself crossed the Baltoro glacier in second-hand gear during his early years as an expedition worker. Sadpara eventually rose to international fame as the first Pakistani to climb eight 8000 m peaks. He participated first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in 2016 before his disappearance on K2 in February 2021. Only a few Khurpas have managed to become highaltitude staff or even respected climbers—at significant risk.

Their future is uncertain, and most worry about retirement, as most Khurpas cannot continue this demanding line of work in their later years. A life is insured for the insignificant sum of PKR 100,000 (US$628) in case of accidental death. Many increasingly consider finding work in a city since they hear that former expedition workers are making a decent living as security guards or household help in the country’s south.

This community is also 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. Due to structural and historical differences, they are at a clear disadvantage when faced with better-trained and equipped Sherpas, not just materially but also in their personal level of empowerment resulting from appreciation from their nation. As Freddie Wilkinson said 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, and many refer to themselves as ‘mazdur’ (labourers) when they have literally climbed mountains.

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 Nanga Parbat. What’s more, in a 2016 interview with Pakistan Alpine News, Manzoor Hussain, former 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 Karakoram National Park (CKNP) indicate that 3% (out of 1536 visitors) of the tourists entering the park in 2017 were from Nepal. That may not 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 in 2017, Vanessa O’Brien, the first American woman to scale the mountain, went for foreign assistance. Seven out of the 11 people on her team were Nepali Sherpas.

For local high-altitude staff, the general opinion is that there should be a ban implemented immediately by relevant authorities against foreign support staff. 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— Hasan Sadpara, the first Pakistani to climb six 8000 m peaks; Ali Raza with 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 maintained that this is not a proper solution as “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 the situation, however, stating that “it is not yet being implemented by the tour operators and the mountaineer clients”. Christian Trommsdorff, former 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. Sherpas, who are, of course, more highly trained, will, through proximity, be able to teach many of our high-altitude staff on the job, ultimately raising the local standard too. Putting up a quota or a ratio is a better solution. While watching some of the guides from the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association in Nepal in 2017, I was floored by the level of training they received. And in addition to their incredible skill, they are also the warmest, kindest people who would be happy to share what they know.

There is a pressing need for more concrete mechanisms with proper governance structures to voice rights collectively and to create a stable platform for this community. Indeed, all relevant stakeholders must be able to jointly address issues and develop better guidelines to 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 Hussain, one of Pakistan’s oldest working porter sardars (leaders), once told me that the Sherpas are now a ‘brand’ and we need to do that for Pakistan.

However, the perception of our support staff remains bleak among foreign climbers due to the problems mentioned earlier. I once enthusiastically asked a veteran British mountaineer, author and international mountain guide, in my once-in-a-lifetime chance for a conversation with him 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 most extended 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 was spent here in 1993, on the Gondoro la). He firmly told me he had never even considered 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 had a long way to go as I watched him hurriedly escape from the questioning into the conference as soon as we arrived.

The fact is that flying in foreign support staff is expensive compared to employing local staff. But to increase work for the latter, we must enhance our service standard. If suitable measures are not taken, we will lose our storytellers up on the mountains and miss out on all the memorable stories created by other nations in our backyard.

Kitchen staff

In a disturbing advertisement, a boutique mountain guide service based in Seattle, Washington, for expeditions to K-2 stated: “Unfortunately the food available in Pakistan is not the best for foreigners, so we have developed a meal plan that encompasses the entire trek and climb. Most of this food is brought from the USA, and we have a Nepalese cook who we have worked with for many years who (with his staff) meticulously prepares each meal for our team. On the mountain, our guides and Sherpas help prepare the meals. We find that climbers perform much better, and are often in better spirits, when the food is appetizing and nutritious”. Our expedition cooks, unfortunately, took a real beating by this rather demoralizing advertisement. However, there have been plenty of stories circulating of more ‘ghee than daal’, tough chicken, ladles of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) and improper washing of vegetables by local expedition cooks.

The fact is that when focused on a trek or climb, we sometimes might not have the presence of mind or the time to contemplate the day-today realities of the staff. We are often too absorbed with our goals, and we only see them when they affect our comfort with a burnt paratha or under-cooked egg. But one must acknowledge that out of all the categories of high-altitude staff, cooks and assistant cooks have it the worst in many senses. Getting up before everyone in the biting cold, they light a gas cylinder which can take up to ten minutes by operating what curiously looks like a bicycle pump. On this rudimentary and very dangerous-looking device, they will, as the first client wakes up and begins to stretch, have a pot of tea going and then, depending on the group’s needs, make anything from local bread to oatmeal using the barest minimum of utensils. Sometimes your hands are freezing when you get up in a tent, and even brushing your teeth seems like an issue. Still, your camp cook will be singing a Balti (or sometimes a cheeky Indian) song while cutting tomatoes, onions and chili for a classic Pakistani omelette. He will also often be required to pack onthe-go lunches if it is a long walk that day. After the assistant cook is done with his onerous duty of cleaning all the dishes in freezing water, the kitchen team will then load all this equipment on their backs and make a break for it. They must get to the end well ahead of everyone to ensure the kitchen tents and other logistics are in working order by the time the team wanders into camp.

On one expedition to the Concordia area, our cook used a bright rainbow-coloured umbrella for the sun while walking. I tried scuttling next to him once to see how his speed was possible—only to observe the flamboyant umbrella steadily disappear up the rocky moraine in minutes. No wonder when you get to camp, the kitchen tent will already have dinner cooking and steaming cups of tea or soup readily available. Nothing beats that feeling of staggering into camp and immediately receiving some hot soup—heaven. Our regular cook for many summers would then say his prayers (he promised his wife never to miss one on a trek) and settle in for a quick nap. After dinner, more cleaning is left to the kitchen team, and people begin to retire for the night according to their specific duties. At this point, however, the kitchen teams may have it better than most (discounting, of course, the prolonged exposure to fumes) as one of the warmest and most comfortable places to lay your head down is the kitchen tent. Most of the porters, by contrast, build small shelters from stone and cover them with tarpaulin. It’s not as bleak as it sounds, though. Songs and laughter permeate the night long after all lights go out.

Expedition cooks and assistants also don’t fare very well on the economic scale. A survey of 21 expedition cooks and seven assistant cooks carried out by High Altitude Sustainability Pakistan (HASP) and Khurpa Care Pakistan (KCP) found the cooks earning an average of PKR 59762 and the assistant cooks making PKR 32500 a year from expeditions. If their reputation is gradually improved, more foreign teams will opt for local cooks, increasing this very basic income.

As it stands though, more and more international teams are bringing their own cooks and sometimes even assistants for their trips. Indeed, nutrition is of utmost importance, and I, too, have had many an experience of not being able to eat enough wholesome and healthy food to be able to perform adequately. Formal vocational training is one of the only things that will bridge the gap. After asking around about solutions, Sarwat Majeed, Resident Manager at Serena Shigar Fort, offered to train one of our cooks as a pilot project. The first training for ‘High Altitude Cook training in Health and Hygiene’ in collaboration with the Serena Shigar Fort was completed in October 2015. The training was provided free of charge to the cook involved (Fida Ali, who takes care of us on the ‘Sustain Baltoro’ clean-up expeditions). However, as with all things development related, this endeavour was a complicated affair. Even though Fida completed the course successfully, we were unable to train more people. During the training, it became evident that the timings would not work out. The better establishments able to equip our cooks with the level of cooking and hygiene training are typically closed for the winter seasons. The nominated cooks from tour operators and independent guides were unavailable for the one-month intensive course during the summer A Khurpa with Fair and Lovely cream instead of expensive sunblock when they earned most of their wages (it took a fair level of convincing the initial participant of the future value of the course compared to missed wages). Due to this hurdle, subsidizing lost wages or formal on-the-job training seems to be the only solution.

Guides

“Mountain tourism might be the last bastion of old-school colonialism”, professed a TimeOut review of the 2015 documentary Sherpa. Indeed, their treatment as ‘human packhorses’ is well documented by the film. Sadly, it is no different in Pakistan, with mountain guides and other high-altitude staff often treated as second-class citizens by many groups. Clients, conversely, often complain about the level of education, training and professionalism displayed. This mutual distrust and disrespect can be disastrous for expeditions and perceptions of the profession in general.

Christian Trommsdorff, speaking about his profession’s history, once told me that it was amazing how far guiding has come in Europe. Initially, it was just some locals acting as guides, part-time, to help aristocrats and the wealthy climb mountains and passes. Due to their socio-economic disparity, the guides were often treated with less respect than is needed for a successful expedition. Van Loocke corroborated his view in the 2015 Alpine Journal article The Shaping of Nineteenth-Century Mountain Guiding, which stated that till the mid-19th century, “most tourists saw their guides more like servants than independent and socially equal mountain guides”. The problem with this attitude is not only the apparent classism but also the client’s own safety. While speaking to guides in Pakistan, I am often told that clients regularly push for camps or summits when the former, as locals, can clearly see that the conditions are unfavourable. This causes guides and support staff to put their lives at risk even when they are better advised than the client on the situation. In fact, the world’s first mountain guide association was established in Chamonix, France, in response to the ‘Hamel accident’ in 1820 on Mont Blanc, when three guides died. Common opinion on the cause of the tragedy is that Dr. Joseph Hamel pressed his guides to continue, contrary to their counsel on unfavourable conditions. The profession has evolved considerably since then, according to Trommsdorff. These days, mountain guides in Europe are well-respected professionals, where the guide can take care of the client’s every need—garnering some much required mutual respect. Various alpine clubs and guide associations also began to grow following the establishment of the British Alpine Club in 1857. The formation of these associations supported the vocational development of mountain guides and the professionalization of mountain guiding in Europe. The advent of British mountaineers to the Alps in the second half of the 19th century also helped speed up the process.

Taking all this in, I was sad to convey to him that Pakistan may still be in the early 19th-century European climbing world. A guide from Skardu once laughingly informed me that obtaining a guiding license only requires a trip to the Department of Tourist Services (DTS) in Islamabad, your National Identification Card (NIC), PKR 2000 and an F.A. (Higher Secondary School Certificate) exam certificate. “Or at least so it was in 2011”, he sheepishly added. He hadn’t renewed his license in years because it needs to be renewed for PKR 1000 each year in Islamabad, a prohibitively expensive journey (Higher Secondary School Certificate) especially for someone from a remote village like Hushe or Shimshal, for example.

There are also currently no official trainings or tests to be cleared to be qualified to guide in Pakistan. So, all you need to validate claims of having the vast skill-set needed—including technical proficiency, first aid, rescue, geography, weather patterns and people/leadership skills —is a recommendation letter from a tour operator on their official letterhead and a certain education level. According to an Executive Council Member of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), the education level of an F.A. pass set at the beginning was not broadly available in the sample applying—so it was lowered to Matriculation (Matric pass) a few years ago. This fact remains unclear, however, as an official from the DTS confirmed that they were still capping at F.A., with some exceptions made for experienced guides being vouched for by their tour operator. Looking to break the tie, I consulted a recently licensed guide from Islamabad who was simply amused by my question about whether he was asked to furnish an F.A (or Matric) certificate. He claimed all he was asked for was the fee and his NIC card. The rest was history. Whatever the case, a survey conducted by High Altitude Sustainability Pakistan (HASP) and Khurpa Care Pakistan (KCP) on 88 working guides found that only 43% were F.A pass, 63% were educated at or above Matric level, and 16% even claimed that they had no formal education whatsoever. Formal education is, of course, not the only hallmark of a competent guide, and indigenous knowledge of weather patterns and geography cannot be discounted. However, competencies like language skills (as they often interact with foreigners), filling out various forms, permits and correspondence for logistics and planning are all affected without some basic formal education and practical communication skills. This leads to further group frustration and deepens the client and support staff gap.

Another problem is that there is no distinction between a mountain guide and a trekking guide, with both receiving the same license for very different skill sets. Additionally, no medical evaluation is needed, even though regular medical examination should be a significant consideration for this profession. According to Mountain Planet, “certified mountain guides are required to go through examination and evaluation of their skills and physical condition once in 3-5 years”. How far we are from this in our country is illustrated by the fact that only 28 out of the 88 guides surveyed even knew their own blood type!

Hence as the standard of guiding remains regulated, even the most proficient guides, with decades of experience, may find their respect drastically diluted in the mountaineering world. However, guiding as a profession in Pakistan is a precious source of extra income for those living in the northernmost areas, where other industry is minimal. A guide can get about PKR 1500 to 2500 a day because, unlike porter wages (fixed at various amounts per stage by the Gilgit-Baltistan Council Secretariat), this is not predetermined. Up until 2005, this was fixed at PKR 1500 but has yet to be officially set since, making earning a fair wage a matter of negotiation. The sample of 88 guides displayed an average yearly income of PKR 105,739 from guiding. Pakistan’s per capita income was recorded at PKR 171,656 in the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2016-17—a difference of PKR 65,917 per year. Still, you will primarily see mountain guides (and other highaltitude support staff) in the business despite the risks involved: not for the adventure or glory but because it is one of the only sources of income in their remote villages.

It is hard to estimate how many mountain guides currently work in the north. According to Zahid Rajput, President of KCP, this is because many either don’t acquire their licenses, to begin with, or don’t get them renewed yearly. If he had to hazard a guess, it might be between 350 and 400 in 2017. These individuals are more than just guides: they are often the sole ambassadors of our country and culture for groups that only fly in and out to climb. Mountain guides must be experts in every way—climbing, rescue, logistics and cultural/historical/geographical knowledge. But due to their low income, they are often unable to avail themselves of formal training opportunities, so they must learn on the job. They will need subsidized opportunities to attend trainings and discussions in more developed countries regarding mountain tourism. Nepal or Iran, for example, two of our neighbours, are miles ahead in mountain guide training, and their national guide associations are affiliated with the IFMGA, hence maintaining further international standards. The longer guiding as a profession remains unregulated in Pakistan, the more it risks becoming a joke. This fact was never clearer than while hiking with a friend in Hopper valley, where a group of giggling kids followed us around for the entire day. When we finally reached our camp, each demanded a fee for the services rendered—because they were our ‘guides’!

Mountain Planet’s ‘10 vital truths to upgrade skills and avoid deadly risks’ for guides sheds some interesting light on what it takes to be in this tough profession. One of the most crucial points is that “arrogance is the worst policy… clients won’t like it and will treat you accordingly.

Do not pretend to know everything. On the contrary, ask for clients’ opinion”. This must be applied both ways for Pakistan to reach the expected standards in a country with so many climbing opportunities and unnamed peaks. Professional guides, as well as respectful clients, help create an atmosphere of both safety and camaraderie—two things essential to a fulfilling and safe trip to the mountains.

High Altitude expedition staff in Pakistan suffers from numerous 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, members of this remarkable community are strong, resilient and honest in their service to our national geographical treasures. But within the underregulated tourism industry, many remain exploited. Without a stable platform to voice their rights, this community will continue to struggle to make a better livelihood, improve their working conditions and have some control over how the industry develops. We, sadly, are not even close to that moment, given the mountain tourism situation currently prevalent in the country. More and more may have to leave their ancestral homes for better jobs in cities in the south like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Clearly, a crucial issue for the future of mountaineering in northern Pakistan is the need for proper support for the people carrying the load.

Summary

Hanniah Tariq writes about the Baltoro glacier in Pakistan, a challenging and storied route for high-altitude expeditions and the local Khurpas, including low and high-altitude porters, guides, and cooks, who play a vital role in supporting these expeditions. However, they face numerous challenges, including low wages, lack of formal training, and equipment. She highlights the need for proper governance structures, collective rights, and awareness among stakeholders to address the issues faced by the community.

Author: See page 76

 

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