SURVIVOR: Everest! The Survivors of Himalayan Mountain Workers & Sherpa Who Die, and What's Being Done to Help

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SHERPA OR MOUNTAIN WORKER DIES ON A MOUNTAIN CLIMBING EXPEDITION? 

TODAY I HAVE DAVID MORTON HERE TO talk about The Juniper Fund, its beginnings,  and the important work they’re doing in Nepal to help the families of Sherpa who have lost their lives guiding and working in the mountains.

For Sherpa throughout the Khumbu Region of Nepal, the dangers of guiding climbers to the world’s highest peaks like Mount Everest, with the ever-present possibility of accidents, avalanches and the extremes of weather and altitude became no more evident than last month when a serac fall took the lives of three Sherpa in the Khumbu Icefall of Everest. Ab0ut one-third of the more than 300 deaths on Everest over the past hundred years  have been of Sherpa guides, according to the Himalayan Database, a mountaineering record-keeping body. 

In 2014 after the tragic avalanche there that claimed the lives of 16 sherpa and high altitude porters, massive strikes in Base Camp and beyond forced the hand of the government to increase the life insurance on a death there to $15000….however, the strength of the Nepal rupee has significantly diminished and that amount is now worth far less since it is paid in rupees. 

Many times these mostly men who die in the mountains are the sole or primary breadwinners for their families and those survivors have precious few resources to fall back on. In 2014 I visited several families while filming a documentary on Everest  that took a drastic turn after the avalanche. It was a deeply moving experience for me and my friends who were taking part in the expedition. 

A year before that two longtime friends and Himalayan guides, David Morton and Melissa Arnot Reid, started a non profit organization called The Juniper Fund, set up to help a couple families they knew who had their primary breadwinner lose his life during expeditions they were on.

For more information about The Juniper Fund visit their website:
https://www.thejuniperfund.org

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Episode Transcript

Thom Pollard (00:03):
For Sherpa throughout the Khumbu region of
Nepal, the dangers of guidingclimbers to the world's highest
peaks like Mount Everest, withthe ever present possibility of
accidents, avalanches, and theextremes of weather and altitude
became no more evident than lastmonth when a Surat fall took the
lives of three Sherpa in theKhumbu Icefall on Mount Everest,

(00:25):
about 1/3 of the more than 300deaths on Mount Everest over the
past 100 years have been ofSherpa guides greetings,
coincidentally only a couple ofdays ago and after I recorded
today's interview with DavidMorton of the Juniper Fund,
which is a nonprofit thatassists families of Sherpa who
have lost their lives in themountains. The New York Times

(00:48):
did a feature article aboutSherpas leaving the career that
made them prominent and famousaround the world. So what
happens when a Sherpa dies on amountain climbing expedition in
2014, after the tragic avalanchethere that claim the lives of 16
Sherpa and high altitudeporters, massive strikes in

(01:09):
Basecamp and beyond forced thehands of the government to
increase the life insurance onthe death there of a Sherpa to
$15,000 however, the strength ofthe Nepal rupee has
significantly diminished sincethen. So the money that $15,000
in Nepal rupees is actuallyworth a lot less than it was in

(01:31):
2014. Many times these mostlymen who die in the mountains are
the sole or primary breadwinnerfor their families, and the
survivors have precious fewresources to fall back on. In
2014, I visited several familieswhile filming a documentary on
Mount Everest. That obviouslytook a significant and drastic

(01:52):
turn after the avalanche. It wasa deeply and profoundly moving
experience for me and myfriends, who were taking part in
the expedition, who did thatultimate second trip back up
into the Khumbu valley to visitthese families. A year before
that to longtime friends andHimalayan guides David Morton,
and Melissa Arnott read starteda nonprofit organization called

(02:15):
the Juniper fund to help tofamilies of men that they knew
who lost their lives duringexpeditions that they were
taking part in then the 2014disaster happened. And in 2015,
a massive earthquake triggeredan avalanche on Mount Everest
that killed 19. More than halfof them were Sherpa and high

(02:36):
altitude porters. Suddenly, theJuniper fund was receiving large
donations from significantorganizations such as the
American Alpine Club who wantedto help today I have with me
David Morton. He's here to talkabout the Juniper fund, its
beginnings and the importantwork that they're doing in Nepal
to help the families of Sherpaand mountain porters who have

(02:59):
lost their lives guiding andworking in the mountains. David
Morton is a freelance climbingand Expedition guide,
photographer, cameramanfilmmaker, public speaker, a man
of many hats nonprofit founderand an executive. He's been
guiding professionally for over20 years throughout the world
with a focus on the Himalaya,and he successfully guided

(03:22):
clients to all of the world'sseven summits on multiple
occasions. He's filmed,photographed and worked on
commercial marketing videos toHollywood productions to many
8000 meter peak expeditions. Thelast time I caught up with David
in person was in Tibet and 2019,where we were both there on
separate expeditions to look forthe body of Andrew Ervin, the

(03:46):
Everest pioneer who disappearedwith George Mallory in 1924.
David was with discovery. I wasworking for National Geographic,
but it was all one big family.
We just had some secrets betweenus but it was really awesome
having him there on the mountainat the same time that we were so
the Juniper fund, equallyenraptured by the people of the
world as by the mountains of theworld that he has worked and

(04:09):
guided in the Juniper Fund is anonprofit 501 C three
organization supports localexpedition workers in Nepal he
acts as the executive directorand as he has said personally he
spends many early morningsworking on its programs and
fundraising David is also ahusband and the father of a son.

(04:30):
Longtime no see always goodseeing you. Uh, hopefully not
putting you on the spot wasthere an event or an accident or
a tragedy that might havehappened that made you go gosh,
I we need to do something herethese because you know a lot of
the people the Sherpa are thehigh altitude porters and now

(04:53):
hopefully this The tide ischanging a little bit but when a
when a young man and dies. Thatyoung man is very often the main
breadwinner for a wife and maybea child and a parents in who had
for generations leading up tothat maybe made their income by
farming. And that's not an easyway to make a living up there.

(05:16):
So was there something thathappened? Or was it a long trek
in and having a conversationwith someone saying, hey, let's
get together and pool resourcesor

David Morton (05:28):
it was, you know, so it was really the
combination. It was thecombination of experiences
between Melissa Arnott Reid andI, who's the co founder, you
know, she and I both had workedthrough Eddie Bauer and we were
on the same good athletes team,we ended up doing a lot of
climbing together. I hadexperienced in 2006, that were a

(05:48):
woman who I'd spent a bunch oftracks and expeditions with,
with her working as one of thewomen in the kitchen. She was
pregnant in the 2006 seasonwhile I was getting on Ave
Everest, and while she waspregnant, her husband died in
the ice voluntee 1006. And blockRita and I were the were in the
icebox time and responded andwent to see if there was

(06:12):
anything could be done. And hewas he was buried and he was
killed. And so she was pregnantwith that child. And so that was
that was the first sort ofprofound impact. And that that
really rang close to home. Andso my wife and I talked about
trying to support that child.
And then Melissa had a similarexperience in 2010, with Chuang

(06:33):
Nima, and Varun, say, Who Chuangand I had worked together a
number of years on Everesttogether. And then Melissa, also
had been with him previous andthen they were on that
expedition together, he passedaway on that trip. And so
through those, both of thoseexperiences came the idea that
well, and Melissa and Melissaspecifically had said that she

(06:55):
was going to help support thatfamily if she was able to. And
the thought was, well, if wecould register as a 501, c three
and help this great networknetwork of clients that we both
have helped to support thoseparticular families than then we
should try to do that. And sothat's how it kind of started.
But it was, it changedprofoundly, we thought it was

(07:17):
just going to be a kind of avery small org, that we could
run on our own and just be ableto raise some extra money to be
able to help those families. Butright at the time that we
became, finally, we were giventax exempt status, right at the
end of 2013, through the IRS,and then the 2014 accident
happened on Everest. And due tothat, and the subsequent

(07:39):
earthquake, following year, allof a sudden, the organization
had a huge influx of money, andwe realized we had to get, you
know, serious about it. And sothat's taken a long time. And
I'm you know, super proud to saythat we are an incredibly good
spot and have very long termrelationships with all these

(07:59):
families that are part of ourprograms, and, you know, keep up
with them. And I can give you alot of that info. But it's we
you know, we're really, we'vereally got a good
infrastructure, you know, areeffective at doing what we're
doing. And that that's proven bya lot of people looking to us to
help responsibly distributefunds, and try to understand the

(08:20):
whole environment and situationand everything that we've
learned over the years tosupport effective and best
practices way,

Thom Pollard (08:30):
tell me how it works with you, because you just
said you started. You have longterm relationships with these
families. And so you're takingcare of them and getting them
what they need to kind of maketheir way through a year. Is
that correct? And could you kindof explain that a little bit,

David Morton (08:49):
I'll try to encapsulate when we do is big
picture really quickly. The sowe the the primary, the
foundational program that westarted was to be able to
provide what essentially was anability to pay the bills for
five years after an accidenthappens. And so we call that our
cost of living grants. And soevery person that is killed,

(09:09):
working on an expedition has ahousehold worker receives that
grant period. And those arediscretionary funds. And, you
know, there's a lot of there's alot of research in terms of the
charity and nonprofit worldabout, you know, how you best
help folks. And part of what wedo and is that these are
totally, you know, discretionaryfunds. So they receive $15,000

(09:35):
over those five years. Andactually, that's it's more now,
I can't remember the exactnumber, but we are adjusting
that in terms of inflation as itgoes along. But it was found was
founded with those numbers. Andso they receive, which was
equivalent at the time to theaccidental death insurance that
they would receive from thegovernment as part of the
insurance so essentially 15 Solet's say 2017, you'd get 15

(10:00):
$1,000 from the government, wellfrom the insurance policy, and
then you would get 15,000 fromus. And that would be paid out
$3,000 A year for each fiveyears. So that's the that was
the foundational program thatstill occurs that still goes on.
And then we do all sorts ofother things. Now, as well, we,
during those five years, we havea program where we have one

(10:21):
woman who runs our programs inNepal. And we also have an
executive director here in theUS woman named Christine Voss.
And so she really and then she,Melissa and I have weekly
leadership meetings where wediscuss everything. So the three
of us sort of run a lot ofwhat's happening, Christine
really is, is the one that getsit all done day to day. So we

(10:42):
also during those five years,Christine and searing the woman
in Nepal, they work with thefamilies over those five years
and say, you know, prepare themfor that fifth year where you
know, you're no longer going tohave this grant that we're
giving you, we do a lot ofvocational training with them.
We do business grants, to helpwidows start businesses, we've
got a bunch of super successfulbusinesses, from chicken farms,

(11:05):
to restaurants, in Kathmandu, toliquor shops, a variety of
things, so that they are able tomake you know, their own income
after those five years and havesomething to do and feel certain
power to that. We also provide alot of that also towards
offspring, or other immediaterelatives. And so at the moment,

(11:27):
After this accident this season,we have 61 families and through
those 61 families, it's hundredsof people that are benefiting
from those programs. And sothere's a lot of, you know, one
off grants as well, we have afew mothers who had no other
children and their son who wassupporting them died in an
accident. And so some of thosewomen who are well beyond any

(11:48):
years to earn income, wecontinue to provide support for
paying the bills and so but thereal big I think that the the
thing that's been profound forme to understand is that when we
visit these families each year,you know, we it's become such a
sort of long term connection toknow what's going on and know
who needs what, and they come tous with their inability for you

(12:11):
know, my son's wanting to gostudies overseas, Can you
provide any help with that, andso it's sort of a five year
thing and but then there's along term connection with trying
to support them in ways that aregoing to help their family help
the woman produce more income.

Thom Pollard (12:29):
I want to thank you David for being a part of
this video. It means a lot thatyou would take time out of your
day to be here with me to speakabout the Juniper fund. If you
the viewer or listener wouldlike to find out more about
them. You can find their websiteat the Juniper fund.org. I will
also put links to theirInstagram and social media pages

(12:50):
in the show notes to this videoor into the podcast if you're
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(13:12):
that you are going to want towatch and to you the viewer and
listener I am deeply honoredthat you would take time out of
your day to listen and to watch.
Thanks so much. I appreciate youhave a blessed day. Peace out my
friends