The use of Sherpas, is it ethical or exploiting?
A few years ago, in the morning of April 18th, 2014, a 14,000-ton block of ice fell off the side of Mount Everest, destroying the main route through Hillary Step and killed 16 people with it (K. S. C 2015). All of those who were killed in this great catastrophe were Sherpas hired from Nepal to make plausible routes up Mount Everest and later to guide teams up the mountain. Mount Everest has taken many lives each year, yet many aspiring mountaineers will continue pay up to $90,000 for the assistance of Sherpas to conquer the famous mountain (Largent 2017). But is this exploiting their situation or just a means to an end?
It is true that significantly less climbers would be able to summit without the assistance of Sherpas. Jayme Moye did an interview with Conrad Anker, a three-time summating mountaineer, and Anker encourages others to also take a trip up Mount Everest. Climbing is much different from other activities. “You and your fellow humans are striving together to get to the same place at the same time. And I think that’s a really good way for humans to interact” (Moye 2015). Everyone goes up in a team, all striving to achieve one simple goal, to climb to the peak. The whole trip is very dangerous with the extreme winds, falling rocks, deep crevices and more. This is where Sherpas are of immense help to a climbing team. They create passages through nearly un-crossable terrain and carry some gear for the climbers along with extra oxygen tanks (Sherpas and Supplemental Oxygen: Cheating 2013). These Sherpas get to provide many climbers with the experience of climbing Mount Everest, and make it more likely to summit along with lowering the chance of fatality. Anker also includes that the Sherpas really enjoy doing this work. “Sherpa enjoy it. They enjoy climbing, they enjoy the camaraderie, the scene at Base Camp. We all do” (Moye 2015).
In Emily A. Largent’s 2014 article, Is it ethical to hire Sherpas when climbing Mount Everest, she reveals that working as a Sherpa really benefits the community and their families. As mentioned before, climbers will pay around $90,000 to take a trip up Mount Everest with the assistance of Sherpas. This is a very high fee, but from this the Sherpas will come out with a very high salary. Most Sherpas will be getting paid between $3,000 to $5,000 per season with an extra bonus for summiting (Largent 2014). While this might seem like not much in our terms, the average annual income for Nepal is just $700 and Sherpas are making eight times as much in just one season (Largent 2014). This makes the job of working at Everest much more appealing, even with the danger factor. It isn’t the only dangerous job either. Largent explains that if those who don’t work as Sherpas could end up in other dangerous jobs that don’t get as good of a pay or excitement such as working on the World Cup stadiums in Qatar where 400 Nepalese died (Doward, Jamie 2014). Working as a Sherpa is still very dangerous, but so are a lot of other jobs the Nepalese can get.
Tam McTavish agrees that it is ethical to a point to support the Sherpas and their community. Lots of money comes in from mountaineers hiring these Sherpas and really helps to develop the relatively poor community. But the point McTavish makes is that it is not okay to exploit their desperate situation. There is a section on Mount Everest called the Khumbu icefall. This section is seen as the most dangerous portion of the climb. McTavish describes it as, “It shifts, collapses, and crushes people almost randomly.” This highly dangerous area is constantly being maintained by the local Sherpas who are risking their very lives. Most climbers only cross this section only have to cross this section a couple times while the Sherpas they are paying are “expected to make daily trips through this incredibly dangerous section” (Largent 2014). They are taking a bigger risk than any of the climbers coming out every single day to make it possible to summit the mountain. Not every person’s dream is to become a Sherpa or Porter on Mount Everest, but because of the Nepalese poverty, they are pushed to this extreme (Mctavish 2014). McTavish is not fully against hiring Sherpas to help, but believes some things do need to change to at least make the job a little less dangerous and save more people. A couple of ways were to provide programs to teach the new Sherpas mountaineering skills for both high altitude and low altitude training.
However, do Sherpas take away the true experience of the climb? Mark Twight, a serious mountaineer, believes that using extra aids such as extra oxygen and Sherpas qualifies as cheating. He believes that if someone was to summit Mount Everest with the assistance of Sherpas, extra oxygen and other aids doesn’t qualify as actually doing the challenge and “he did not climb the mountain” (Twight 2012). Twight does not care too much about the outcome but cares more for what the process is. Climbers should be relying on their own strength and not the strength of others to carry gear for them or supplemental oxygen to give them an extra boost at the top. The accomplishment of summiting the top is far greater if done with just the climbers own strength instead of the strength of Sherpas.
Emily A. Largent gives a very strong argument in support of using Sherpas. If most of the jobs are always dangerous, why shouldn’t they do the one that pays $3000 — $5000 a season? Along with this pay, the Sherpas get to climb with foreign climbers who all share the same interest and the same goal. It is very dangerous, but the profit they make is taken back to families and eventually contributed back into the community. This helps quell the poverty that exist in Nepal. Jayme Moye even includes that they enjoy the climbing and the friendships. I would much rather be supporting the people of Nepal than let them go to other dangerous jobs that won’t be as rewarding as being a Sherpa on Mount Everest.
Tam McTavish does bring up a good point of how dangerous their situation actually is, but he claims that they don’t have a choice and poverty pushes them to this extreme (McTavish 2014). It is true that poverty Nepal is pushing the people towards this job, but there also isn’t a very good alternative if they didn’t work as a Sherpa. The good paying and safe jobs just don’t exist around Nepal to turn to.
Mount Everest is an amazing experience to climb and takes a lot of recourses to complete. Sherpas serve a vital role for most climbers who are looking to summit this beast. Given the Nepalese situation, this job provides a way for the people to put their amazing climbing skills to work and make a good profit with it. This can help bring more foreigners, which brings more money and altogether can help develop Nepal a little more. It is unfortunate that, because of their situation, many sign up for this very dangerous job, but it may help provide a future for them, their families, and their community