‘Climber’s lifeline’: the anonymous K-To K Porter

At the foot of the sky-high mountains, an isolated convoy of Pakistani porters is heading towards the tow of the world’s second highest peak. These porters carry live chickens and lawn furniture for climbers intending to summit.

It is about 12 days journey. In which each porter takes about 270 thousand steps. They are wearing plastic shoes, while wearing colorful turbans. They are in leopard print pajamas. They are climbing a glacier. From here the most attractive view of the world is visible. It is the peak of the Karakoram mountain range, which is 8,611 meters (28,251 ft) high.

Pakistan’s declining economy compels them to take this risk, which sometimes does not cost anything. This wasteland is shrinking due to road construction, which aims for safer travel with less effort. Mountains romance their souls but mountain peaks and valleys are punishment for their bodies.

Seven decades after the first summit of Tou, the difficult life of those who climb such a high altitude is at a crossroads.

Yasin Malik, 28, who was responsible for carrying a box of 180 eggs for a tour group with journalists from the French news agency AFP, says, “I love the mountains.” My grandfather, uncle, father all used to do the same thing. Now it’s my turn.’

However, he also says in the same breath that this tradition will not be passed on to the younger generation. According to him: ‘I’m going to lift weights until I die but I’m not going to let it happen.’

Different worlds
Tour operators typically charge between $2,000 and $7,000 for this trip, which starts in Skole, a region in northeastern Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Where the jeeps end their humbling journey. Two types of travelers are seen here, one who carries things like pillows and umbrellas and the other is the hardy people who are climbers.

Porters do the hard work of carrying tents and various kinds of goods and equipment. A four-month summer hike earns 30,000 to 40,000 rupees ($105 to $140) per trip, which is less than the price of sturdy hiking trousers that a company recommends its customers wear.

The purchasing power of this modest wage has declined over the past year, and inflation was 28 percent in July as Pakistan teetered on the brink of default before the IMF intervened.

42-year-old porter Shakhawat Ali said, ‘Now this job is making it difficult for me to pay for household needs. I have no choice but to come here and work hard.’

But when they talk about the mountains, their voices grow louder. ‘Each of them has a different color, which allows me to observe different worlds,’ he says.

Porters range from youth to pensionable age. He said they carry up to 35 kilograms up to an altitude of 2,000 meters, which mostly involves blue chemical storage drums and metal boxes.

Hikers slow down to base camp. They also stop for a picnic. After spending the night under plastic tents, the porters have breakfast with bread and tea at sunrise.

Mules also carry a large part of the baggage. Their rotting bodies are found lying on the half-made paths.

Porter Khadim Hussain says that ‘sometimes it is cold, sometimes it rains, sometimes the weather is harsh.’

The 65-year-old Porter said, ‘There is no competition for youth. I was not afraid of anyone, I was not afraid of anything. I am not that age anymore. I have passed my age.’

Artificial fruit on high
According to Abu Zafar Sadiq, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, today’s two-base camp features artificial plastic fruit bowls, wine glasses and decorative lights, a sign that the ‘wild mountain’ has been taken over by commercial forces and porters. has taken control by riding on his back. These porters are the lifeline of climbers.

But these small luxuries do not reach the porters who have to lure tourists with indigenous remedies, head torches and mobile phone power banks.

New routes are being created in the valleys and through blasting in the snow, making the life of the porters easier and safer. But porters are worried about how the process will affect their employment prospects.

Ardukas is located on the Baltoro Glacier, perched high like an eagle’s nest. This place is surrounded by snow and mountains. There is a plaque with the words Tourism Service written on it. The plaque is a tribute to the porters who lost their lives in 2011.

Here the porters organize a song and dance to celebrate, to which they play a jerry can to create the sound of the drum to which the dance takes place.

“My relationship with the mountains is like that of a small child with its mother,” says 42-year-old head poacher Wali Khan.

‘It’s like an obsession. Many of our climbers have been buried under the snow here. They also knew that they would die someday, but they still had to go.’

According to Wali Khan: ‘Their hearts were connected. The way your heart gets attached to a loved one.’