Comments by "" (@tomk3732) on "Dr. Todd Grande" channel.

I brought a climber down from 5500m and it was not bad at all. Russian guides were very strong and I had hard time going in the back directing the stricken climber due to their speed. Also on a near by mountain a Polish climber lost his legs on 7000m ridge - his partner tried to carry him but the up and down ridge was too much. A 7 man team from Iran abandomed their summit bid and got them down.
17
He got the money part way, way off. Not sure what was his source for this. Summit bonus would be for example at least $3000 USD. Sherpa are very, very well paid - much more then MD in their respective countries.
5
As author of video pointed out, this year there was a SOLO rescue on Everest from higher. The rescued climber could not walk - obviously. Why would there even be a need for rescue if you can walk. Sherpa asked client for permission to save a life and was granted one. At this point he carried victim on his back.
3
@periwinkle3448 Oh for sure - most people are disgusted at what has been happening for the past 20 years or so.
3
It was way more than $20. He got his $$$ mixed up.
2
I soloed Denali and did many other higher mountains as well as some lower etc. And what, on Denali, if one of your teammates got sick, would you just leave them and go for the summit? Really? My summit was 3 June 2014 at 11:15 pm
2
No its not. Either you help or you don't. I certainly do not want anyone to comfort me if I had an accident.
2
Every year one of my friends dies in the mountains. Or climbing related accident.
2
@GannerRhysode Well, obviously if you do more work and more dangerous one you get paid more $$$. Also your status counts. Is it a lot by western standards? Not really - enough to go onto vacations in US but not enough to be "rich". It is also not a full time job. Also what is a LOT in western word - Sherpa that guides a client over 6 weeks on say Everest gets paid (with summit bonus) roughly 7000 USD. Is it a lot? Lets say $1000 are his costs so $6000 to take home. That same Sherpa can do another 8000er guided in a year as well as maybe some 7000er or close to it. Plus a number of 6000ers guided. Lets say take home from mountaineering (not whole 12m) is 20000 USD. So if this was yearly commitment - full time - it would be say 35000 USD. 35,000 USD is roughly Italy average GDP per capita. Italy is in the west. So not a lot but certainly not peanuts.
2
Yep. I remember I just helped to carry a guy that could not walk anymore down. Helicopter was coming in the morning. Who was to stay with him? One girl said no one should stay as he can crawl out to the helicopter himself.
2
untrainedassassin807 All rescues I been at or been close to were due to altitude sickness so the thing that was gone for them were the legs. There was only minimal help they could offer, if any. You would also not trust them with anything critical as they are prone to making simple mistakes.
1
untrainedassassin807 Yes I do have actual experience personally and I do have experience from talking to people that were just doing such rescue say less than 1km away. The death zone is just something created mostly by the media before people regularly went over 8000m. Far more important is where on the mountain is the accident, how easy it is to get someone into a tent, how easy it is to then get the person from that tent to a helicopter. This implies technical aspects - say how difficult is the route relative to the team experience. How strong is the team? Is the team tired? For over 8000m next would be oxygen - how much is available? Oh, almost forgot - how big is the victim - there is a difference between 50kg woman and a large 100kg man. For example, I was shocked when a single Sherpa saved a climber on Everest this year - by caring the climber on his back - I would never think this was possible. The main part of the answer above 8000m or below 8000m does not change - only difference I can see is oxygen. I feel like if all other things equal, it would be easier to save someone from say 8000m than 7000m if there was lots of oxygen available. So, yes, one man team - its possible. I would guess with "lesser" people such us myself we would wrap the injured in a sleeping mat and maybe if available sleeping bag over his clothes and then pull them down + if needed lower them. Two people pulling one directing at the back. It would be nice to have a change, so 3 more. On steep terrain with ropes present lowering is actually not that bad at all - you clip into an anchor and you just lower the victim like a sack of potatoes down. Seen it done few meters from me. Again nice to have more people to help/ change you etc.
1
untrainedassassin807 Well, same as all old school mountaineers I am unhappy he was not helped. Mountaineering used to be like a band of brothers, or an order of knights. Now with so many tourists around it is loosing its roots. Heck, in 1996 guides were willing to go beyond what is expected from old school (I do not expect anyone to die b/c they do not want to leave a client - something that today certainly is not a problem). Since about 2000 we are hearing stories of people left to die all over the place by everyone, their friends, their husbands, their guides etc.
1
@PuddingXXL I did not say easy. Many times these who die, die right away - avalanche is an example - so there is no one to save.
1
@hitzoneproductions7858 This is different for everyone. For me, I want to see whatever I can do this - a challenge for myself. Its a competition between me and me. I am also natural born explorer and want to see what is out there - this is why I also go to strange places almost no one goes to.
1
What, I was in Pakistan few years ago and given proximity to China I had to have a local with me. No, they do not get paid $3 per day ;))) In Rupees it was (back when exchange was different) around $10 USD per day. Plus "meat" - a bonus plus a one time gear fee - once per expedition. This is also for going between base camps - even going over a pass would be like $15 extra, and doing even easy 6000m stuff would be around $50. And these guys were much cheaper then the Pakistani guys near K2 - which I assume are around double. Caring gear up in China across Pakistani border on Mustaq Ata to say highest camp was like $10 per kg. Caring to say camp 2 was at least $6 USD per Kg. A strong porter could easily carry 25kg per day from BC to 6200m - thus making 6x25 = $150. I would not be shocked if some did it twice a day. To camp 1 it was like $4. Prices probably went up no - this was before Covid.
1
Need to move on to Annapurna.
1
The main problem with calling the guy "porter" is that the bottleneck is at 8200m. Camp 4 is at 7700m. Bottleneck is in the middle of the summit bid. So what he is caring - on summit bid? Was he part of rope fixing team? He was using oxygen as he broke his oxygen mask - makes sense - if he was caring a rope he needed the energy to go with load up. Also he had a two piece down suit - standard stuff. It was not exactly new stuff but they get a lot of 2nd hand things - he could easily borrow jacket and pants if needed. He was certainly paid a lot more than $20 - I would assume at least few hundred $ - maybe up to $1000. He could have been rescued - the main problem is $$$. A lot of $$$ would be lost. Sherpa cannot rescue people that they are not told to rescue - i.e. they need permission (!) Please do not call tourists "mountaineers" .
1
@missJolie85 Sherpa is a race of people that frequently gets the credit for being only mountaineer guides out there - which is 100% false. One has to remember that Pakistani people are great in the mountains as well - as good as Nepali Sherpa people. Reason is, they live on the other side of the same mountain range. In fact, Karakorum is harder and more technical then Nepal Himalayan range. Porters of course go above base camps - they have to go over passes and frequently do little mountains such as 6000m peaks that are "non-technical in nature". Main problem is that Karakorum is quite technical so this may not be common. Pakistani guides are fully capable of fixing the ropes and I think in this case many rope fixing teams were in fact Pakistani - on a mountain you don't exactly ask someone for their ethnic background. A village in Pakistan, Shimshal claims to have the most mountaineers of any village in the world. I also been to India, Pakistan and Nepal and thus I roughly know the pay structure b/c I actually paid these people. So, no, a Pakistani guide will not get a summit bonus that is less then Napali Sherpa - the bonus will be more based on service provided and possibly on fame of the guide, much less so on exact ethnic background. It is claimed he was a high altitude porter and thus he has been caring loads up to 8000m - either that or someone is lying. People from these villages climb a lot and know the business very, very well. Many have whole families in guiding. Thus it is a totally wrong to say that he was clueless about being out there. Also, regarding equipment, his may be old etc. but it has to be up to spec needed as he simply would not get as far as he did. I know locals can go in flip flops up to around 5500m but no matter how strong your legs are you need proper gear on your feet to be at over 8000m. Also rope setting team would not be cool with someone whom had really crap gear as it would effect their safety. He simply had a large jacket and pants which is totally acceptable gear.
1
@Tenebarum Yes, they have excellent pay but no matter how 1000 times I say it, it seems people don't get it.
1
@Johnson-ji6bg When I was in Pakistan few years ago, your average porter (not high altitude) made 2x as much as construction worker. This is for just trekking.
1
@inquisitivenessandcontempl9918 this sort of depends how much space you have and what exactly are you doing and how many changes you need, how big a person is etc. We have a sherpa that carried injured western climber in his back to camp 4 on Everest. So the 4 people is not exactly a rule. Usually more people is better up to a point.
1