Programme 05
Guide & Porter Well-Being
Programme 05
The physical risks are documented. The mental health cost is almost entirely undiscussed.
A porter carries loads at altitude for a season’s wage, in conditions that would not be legal in most industries, and then goes home to months without income. A guide carries responsibility for clients’ lives and, often, the cost of things going wrong.
Seasonal income insecurity, isolation, high-consequence decisions, and no provision for any of it. It does not appear in trip pricing and it does not appear in industry reporting.
We work on that gap: raising it as a legitimate issue within the industry, and supporting the guides and porters we reach.
EDITOR NOTE (REMOVE BEFORE LAUNCH): your most distinctive programme and the one most likely to attract international funding, but also the one where vague language does real harm. State precisely whether this is awareness and advocacy, peer support, trained counselling, or referral to clinicians. Do not imply clinical services you do not provide.
A guide carries responsibility for clients’ lives and, often, the cost of things going wrong.