Comments by "" (@tomk3732) on "Business Insider" channel.

  1. This is for Nepal government. Not for sherpa.
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  2. Commercial climber. I did my first 8000er after doing 9 smaller expeditions.
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  3.  @neoneu5702  What would Sherpa do? If everyone had such license there would be no need for them ;) Too much $$$ at stake. Heck, most of these commercial climbers avoid work like fire. China has a policy that Everest is your 2nd 8000er - that drives people away even through heavy commercial 8000ers are run like factories - they basically carry people up.
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  4.  @Renwoxing13  lol, I actually did Manaslu, an 8000er solo. No porters. No guides. People that carry your stuff, if you are commercial, are called porters. For high altitude they area HAP. Then there are guides. They guide. Guides are not carrying stuff. Porters are. Guide will carry personal stuff only.
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  5. Yes, porters carry all stuff and two guides per client is the norm. For even cheap climb. Sherpa not to happy when you don't use their services.
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  6. They are super well paid. They are richest people in their village. There is zero chance this is about to change as 95% of people cannot do it without hand holding.
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  7.  @ghaznavid  Ama Dablam is a 6000er. Its barely an expedition - mostly b/c its very nice pretty peak it gets so much traffic. Sure you used porters - you think these tents carry up themselves? Why would your pack be 20kg? What were you caring rocks? I carried up all my gear on 7000ers and 8000ers and I rarely if ever went above 20kg. Oh "it's impossible to get up without support above Basecamp." LOL, I did so on Manaslu. And apparently with lighter pack than you. Oxygen is around 3kg per bottle. If I won a lottery I would try Everest solo without any support but with oxygen - I would carry all my gear + oxygen up. As for Ama Dablam if I find agency to support alpine style for little $ I do it - plan would be to arrive day one at BC or even camp 1 and then summit from camp 1. Day 1 to camp 1, day 2 summit, day 3 out. Pre acclimatized on something else. Heck if one does some high passes in the area this should count as pre-acclimatized.
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  8. There are two Sherpa. Usually. Plus an army of porters. These two Sherpa get a lot of cash, bonuses etc. I say over 5000 usd if client goes to the top. They are not underpaid at all. And this is for cheap climb 45k. For 100k climb they maybe make 10k each.
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  9.  @irisgallati  Sure, I climb and I even pay for it.... getting someone else to pay? Wonderful. Oh, in case you are wondering, on one of my trips I had spare days after a summit. I could have do some porting - moving stuff for people. Local porters threatened me with a knife... So don't t think these guys will give up their jobs anytime soon ;)
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  10. Lol, there are plenty. First winter ascent used no sherpa, and no sherpa was in sight. Sherpa are not needed on the mountain. Problem is 95% of people are commercial. Money talks.
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  11.  @madtownangler  95%+ of the planet uses meters.
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  12. It's an old book. Nothing like it is today. Not even 1%.
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  13. Sherpa will never move a finger unless paid for it. If only experienced climbers were allowed sherpa would have no job.
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  14.  @ericg4972  Would not be shocked. Saw a girl ask a Sherpa to take off her jacket like a lady in a high class restaurant.
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  15.  @GraveyTrain-o3o  LOL, clearly you watched too many movies and are not a climber yourself. Camp 3 is at around 7200m - its where divide between Lothse and Everest is. Its still relatively safe terrain - camp 4 is at touch under 8000m.
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  16.  @TheMerryPrangster  I am one of the most experienced high altitude mountaineers in Canada. You clearly are the one without clue.
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  17. This is lower down. There is no way especially not on oxygen majority of people could eat a snickers at 8000m. I never saw one up so high.
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  18. Or you can climb solo like me and get angry looks from Sherpa as they get zero pay.
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  19. No. This year its 40k package and next year its 45k b/c of permit increase. My friend is going fully guided so I know the price.
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  20.  @ss-ds2dn  Nothing much is done as you say - in fact opposite - Nepal wants total beginners as they are likely to fail and will try again --- more $$$$ Its all about $$$$.
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  21. They are. Best paid job in Nepal.
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  22. Ladders are strong and cheap and relatively light.
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  23. He was a commercial client. You should come to my meeting where people complain I make climbing 8000ers same as hiking outside of your house, I.e. Too easy.
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  24. Usually two weeks and cost is around 1200 USD plus ticket to Kathamandu + visa $50 + insurance (around $150) + any personal expenses.
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  25. Not that there is a chance you need it - you eat very little.
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  26. It's very hard to do Everest for 20k. Permit is 11k alone. It's like solo no oxygen. Only for super experienced people.
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  27. It turns out there is a lot of know how and tech even in chocolate. Note that all stuff used to make these bars was imported from Europe. Everything. It will take very long time to catch up for parts of Africa. Also increasing price may cause competition to spring up from other parts of Africa.
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  28. Correct in 95% of cases.
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  29.  @signalfire6  No one would hire them if they charged so much. They would be out of their jobs. They already charge a LOT of $$$. Say for cleaning ropes on K2 (i.e. garbage) they get paid 9000 - 10000. That is 8x average enrings in Nepal. That is equivalent to 560k for an American. This is just one climb. So maybe they are already paid enough for a single climb to be close to retiring off it. Certainly during 1 year season they can make 20k or so - i.e. over 1 million for an American. I.e. Sherpa are paid as much as lower tire of actors in US / very best lawyers / best MDs.
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  30.  @GangKatta  First of all its not Nepal Mt. Everest as its on the border. 2nd I already seen it.
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  31.  @abilea4081  This depends on a porter - standard porter, no English, just walking around the hills is 20. Some English, acts little bit like a guide is 25. I never used HAP but I assume going to 6000m is more and to 7000m is much, much more. I knew the rate on Mustaq Ata from like 6 years ago per Kg, to camp 6200m it was like 10 USD and 15 USD to camp at 6800m. A porter could easily make base camp to 6200m in one day. Some did BC to camp 2 and BC to camp 1 in one day. So in today's money the pay was like $500 per day for very hard day of walking. That is kings ransom. If pay was crap no one would do it. People do it b/c pay is excellent. Oh, Pakistan is less. And yes, you need to pay all other fees on top of this, tips etc. In Pakistan I paid all expenses for my porter guide - like feeding him. Heck, there is even clothing fee - your porter cannot go around naked, you know.
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  32. Yeah I have sherpa friends who want piece of the pie.
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  33.  @thomas.thomas  Usually you pay about 1/3rd of "regular" pay for a given summit. So save 2/3.
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  34. LOL, I actually did not saw a single snickers bar on 8000er or eve 7000er ;)
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  35. Many areas have mandatory guides.
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  36. Correct, guides do Everest then say Manaslu and say 20x something like Mera peak per year. Huge money. These guys are rich!
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  37.  @adidoesultra9777  Been to Nepal twice. Done 10 expeditions so far. I sure would not mind going straight to Ama Dablam and just doing it alpine style - but no company wants to support me in the permit ;((((( I already asked. Not much $$$ for them I guess. I try again harder when closer to the season. I don't want to pay $3000 which includes all BC support services if I would never use them. Was your guide local Nepali or western (or non Nepali)?
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  38. They are best paid in Nepal. There is insurance requirement.
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  39.  @oneshothunter9877  I expect most Sherpa get stuff second hand or not western. Especially when starting out or just a (HA) porter level. For example "local" "down" suit costs around 250 USD. Same western equipment is 2000 USD. Many western climbers just do Everest - they use down suit for few days and may sell it for half price or even less.
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  40. Switch to what, this is the best paid job in the country. This is like 10x more than other people in the village make.
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  41. Need of an ice ax is low - once route doctors are done there is no need for it. You just clip in and go.
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  42. Yes it's a joke. People hike like Mera peak 😂
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  43.  @averagejoegrows  it is not that expensive as long as you go unguided without oxygen and target cheapest 8000ers.
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  44.  @averagejoegrows  I did it... like 6 months ago and plan on doing it again... Oh, and I was solo as well.
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  45. Relax, Sherpa are like super materialistic. They only care about $$$. Given how much money is on Everest I doubt any Sherpa will give this cash cow up. They make more $$$ than local doctors. Without need for any expensive education.
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  46. I used to eat Subway every day. But that was like 6 or 7 years ago. Now even before covid it may have been few times a year. They are kind of expensive junk food that pretends to be healthy - you may as well go to MacD.
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  47.  @Bob31415  peak over 8000 meters.
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  48.  @IWannaGoMissing  you are talking to a guy that solos 8000ers. It's not prohibited by difficulty to summit, mostly now it's prohibited by expense. I know it because I did it myself. Also totally not true about weight carrying capability. When I was young I could carry more than 99% of Sherpa. And some of my friends from US could carry much more. Again, based on personal experience. Sherpa are simply employed massively by commercial guys whom are not climbers. Heck in many areas having a sherpa is a legal requirement. You cannot go solo.
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  49.  @democracysdoomsday7905  What exactly gives the right to the sherpa to somehow be better than anyone else. They are human as every other climber. Experience counts. I have enough to go solo and be safe. No one has to carry my body down, same with any other climber. No one is pressuring sherpa to do anything - they only do things if they are paid for them - and the amount they get is what they say they want.
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  50. Ummm, everyone climbs every mountain in one season ;)
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  51.  @PhilAndersonOutside  They did that in China - but they want 8000m mountain. And they saw decrease in traffic as it is hard to do in single season. Pretty much impossible. As to your 7000er - yeah its sort of possible - I assume many people doing Everest do say Mera peak or Island or Lobuche as acclimatization step. It gives them zero extra experience or next to zero. Chinese idea is what is needed. But all 8000ers are cheaper than Everest - idea is if you fail you try expensive Everest again. So more $$$$ for Nepal.
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  52.  @GangKatta  Sherpa - as in the people working on the mountain, not ethnic Sherpa - as there are all sort of people there, will not lift a finger, will pretend they do not speak English, will treat you as air. This is not only unpolite it shows that they are fully sick with money. All they care about is money. They lost their way, the way of a mountaineer. They are corrupt. It is their choice. So what they have families - do these families prevent them from giving a hand or a swing of water??? Really? I would love if they stopped their job - all of them - went on a strike. This would be the best thing that happened to Himalayas since humanity arrived there. This would not prevent me from climbing at all - I would do it more like people in Pakistan - I would set 100m of the rope like other western climbers do. Do my share. People that climb with Sherpa do so b/c they are not really mountaineers - they are just clients, that is all. Many just climb Everest, nothing more. They don't even hike around where they live.
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  53.  @GangKatta  Who are you to tell me what to do?
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  54. ​ @pedrorvd1 there is not a big effect over 5000m. The effect heavy above around 6500m.
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  55.  @PhilAndersonOutside  That is totally NOT correct. Sherpa do a lot of guiding not just one mountain ;))))) They have Everest in April, they do say Manaslu in September and they do say 20x or maybe even 30x (can you believe they do summits back to back? Like today they do Lobuche and next day Island peak? I spoken to an actual Sherpa whom was doing this... with hike in between at night!). Many Sherpa also may do other guiding / trip organization. Also Sherpa own the guide businesses. Don't worry - an Everest guide makes more $$$$ than local MD.
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  56.  @StephenWong14  Correct. 100%.
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  57.  @PhilAndersonOutside  Video is by some non mountaineering outlet. If you are vastly wealthy would you not retire as well ;) Believe me - I seen this for more than a decade now - there is zero danger of best paid job in Nepal to disappear.
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  58. Cylinders are 450 USD - I actually asked. And if you buy many like a company it would be 400. NOT 600. Also we are talking about full ones not empty ones.
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