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njmenninger42 karma

Most people only know about those who attempt Everest's peak, but there's almost a hundred thousand more that climb to its base camp, its neighboring mountains, and its general area every year. Do I think anyone can do this, yes? But you've gotta know yourself and train accordingly. No doubt, there are many who haven't trained sufficiently for their own bodies. Sometimes, Porters have to physically carry their clients.

njmenninger24 karma

Very surpised to encounter a foreign Porter (I was actually working with Tamang and not Sherpa, another ethnic group in the mountains). But as time passed, word spread. Foreigners started asking for pics, then locals and soon enough everyone kind of knew about me. We even had a whole group of locals and foreigners cheering at the end when I tried to carry 100 kilos - I think most thought I was just that nuts dude. As for the latter questions, it's quite a lot to explain, but I think the film does a good job of showing how I was treated. I was definitely treated differently, and at different times. But I should've been. Afterall, I was only doing their job for a month as opposed to a full year like many other porters.

njmenninger23 karma

1) Socially, I came from a pretty wealthy neighborhood up in Boston, Mass. Then a spur of colleges and Universities, afterwhich I left and for 5 years hence, sought the opposite. I became pretty poor, slept on people's floors, in closets, in hostels in exchange for food and a bed, lived out of a bag and ate white rice with salt for food. I raised money for this film from a gift, a former doctor, a teammate and a highshool classmate.
2) It didn't hit me until after I came back, until after I burned out in Hollywood - to which I flew directly from Nepal - but when it did, it really messed me up. And quite clearly, showed me just how little adversity I've had and how privelaged I've been.
Thank you Jess!

njmenninger15 karma

Everything. You carry their everything. Most trekkers will have a small backpack with a backup shirt and a waterbottle/snacks, and climbers might have more, like their crampons and a jacket or what not. But all nightly items, the Porter usually carries. Unfortunately, we don't get too look inside the bags, so I don't know. But you can imagine, people bring some weird stuff up to that altitude. Weird electronics, face oils, things like that.

njmenninger13 karma

I climbed a neighboring mountain where I had to cross this ice-crevass on three ladders tied together and where if I fell, I could've died. Even tripped on it too. Got really shook for a second, but then focused in. Guess the threat of death is always there, but most of its out of your control - an avalanche, a storm, etc. So it's smartest not to waste any energy thinking about it. Cuz you'll probably need it. But after this project, I'll probably stray away from mountain climbing for a bit. It's the kind of thing that can scare ya before hand, but once you're in it, it might not as much. At least for me.