A History of Porters on Everest: Part 1
Updated: Feb 16, 2022
Sherpa, the name itself conjures images of strength and stoicism; an almost superhuman ability to endure. To those outside of the climbing community, any person carrying supplies or guiding an expedition can be referred to as a Sherpa, whether or not they are ethnically part of the Sherpa people seems to be irrelevant. When talking about workers who are responsible for carrying supplies, a more apt terminology is "porter", as this does not carry any implications regarding ethnicity. In fact, porters can be found working all across the globe, from the slopes of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to the dusty trails of Aconcagua in Argentina. It is not an understatement to say that without them most expeditions would never succeed.
The aim of this series is to focus on the history of porters on Mt Everest, from the first expeditions in the early 1920s through to the current era.
Whilst porters have existed for almost all of human history, the British were amongst the first to use porters for mountaineering, starting with the "1921 British Everest Reconnaissance Expedition" which was the first expedition to Everest. As the Kingdom of Nepal was closed to foreigners, the expedition set off from Darjeeling, British India and travelled over 480km through Tibet to the north side of Everest, or "Chomolungma" (Goddess Mother of the world), in Tibetan. Whilst the expedition did not summit, it did set a precedent for using local porters on Everest.
The following year, the British once again utilised approximately 150 Tibetan and Nepalese porters as part of the "1922 British Mount Everest Expedition". Once again the porters made the arduous journey from Darjeeling to the north face of Everest and some provided high altitude support on the mountain. This was the first expedition to make use of bottled oxygen, which the porters call "English air", as although the 1921 expedition had taken bottled oxygen it was never used. During the expedition there were three summit attempts, the first of which was undertaken without bottled oxygen and led to a new world altitude record of 8,225m. Unfortunately, it was during the third attempt that an avalanche, triggered by those climbing above, buried nine porters. Whilst eight were recovered from the snow, only two of these survived the accident and the final porter was never found.
These seven deaths represent the first recorded on Everest.
Coming in part two, we discuss how the lessons learned from the 1922 expedition not only led to changing roles for porters but also to increased risks.
Photo: A porter carries supplies on the Everest Base Camp trek.
Location: Namche Bazar, Nepal.
Photo Credit: Sharp Adventures.
