I am a Kilimanjaro Mountain Guide for six years now.No research no data, and thus no explanation. The Melanie article is full of untrue stories. I suggest that she has to come for a research if not for adventure trekking.Client has to select a registered tour operator and with experience.

John Chitanda, kilimanjaro, Tanzania

First climbed to Uhuru Peak in 1963, the last time in 1995 the circus on the mountain is getting worse. In 95 we were actually passed by a Mercedes truck at Last Water (contaminated with leaking deisel drums - for the truck) it was carrying baggage for a Korean group. More Locals put out of work.

Dennis Morrod, Plymouth, Devon, England

I climbed Kilimanjaro last October. Our group consisted of 10 climbers. There were 45 porters for our group.

Given that ratio, a 2:1 ratio of fatalities from porters to climbers isn't as "shocking" as you make out.

Choose a responsible operator that supports the IPPG, then at least you're helping

Chris Cox, Brisbane, Australia

I would suggest that Ms Reid should go to Kili , climb it and then review her misguided comments . First up , the name is Apa or Appa Sherpa ! On my two Kili climbs my guides were 52 and mid forties and very well equipped and fed .... no need of leftovers . Westerners with consciences do tip well .

Ian, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

That comment from Toby of Croatia is the equivalent of Marie Antoinette's alleged pronouncement during the French Revolution of the peasants who were starving, "let them eat cake". I judge a person on how they treat the grafters of this world.

Gavin, Highnam, UK

According to The OED a Sherpa is. "a member of a Himalayan people living on the borders of Nepal & Tibet. Ergo there is no such thing as an African Sherpa.It is not a synonym for a porter or baggage bearer..

Bruce Northwood, Washington, D.C., USA

The Kilimanjaro climbing business is in serious need of better regulation. Those who wish to climb should find ways of lobbying for this--then their business will truly help the local people.

By the way, from what I've read the extreme climbers aren't all Westerners. Many are wealthy Asians.

D.L. Anderson, Crossett, AR/U.S.A.

I climbed Kili too, and I saw porters with gym socks on their feet. And that's with a company that's billed as reputable for caring for their staff. My advice for anyone that's going - plan to tip well and under the table. And leave behind extra gear you don't need. It'll go to good use!

BL, Williamsburg, VA

I climbed Kili in February 2008. I have never experienced a friendlier and more cheerful group than the support team of porters who helped us ascend. Portering jobs on Kili are much sought after by the locals as jobs for hard cash. We tipped the group over $2000 when we left.

Martyn White, London, UK

Having guided in Nepal, I agree the porter's situation depends on their employer. I worked with a highly regarded US outfitter that was meticulous in providing high-altitude gear for their Nepali staff. We treat countless staff illnesses & injuries, and organize generous tips & gifts at trip's end

Paul, Yosemite, USA

This report is totally one-sided and misinformed. I climbed Kilimanjaro last year and before we went much research was done into the company that took us and the welfare of the staff. Once again, if you research these things you can contribute to the local economy and workers well being.

Ross Stirling, London, England

I did Kili in Feb 08 with EXPLORE and the welfare of the porters was paramount. They are socially responsible as a company and treat porters and guides fairly.

Go with a reputable company and ask about how much they pay the porters, weight limits, breaks, etc. before before you book

Laura T, Manchester, UK

I think it points to an obvious inequity and arrogance about fat europeans consuming at expense of the poor, but should propose a better solution: anyone climbing these mountains needs to tip the porters more (rather than not doing the trip and depriving them of work entirely).

Mike, SAN DIEGO, USA

Typical colonial exploitation.

Thomas, Salt Lake City, USA

#2: Moreover, a single porter is obviously being allowed to carry much too much.The loads should be spread among sufficient porters,so that each one has a comparatively light load which includes his personal requirements.To allow
porters to be overloaded with heavy burdens is cruel exploitation.

Joan Moira Peters, Whangarei UK Citizen, temp o/seas in New Zealand

If you want to take charity trip free of exploitation and even air miles, check out the sponsored hitch-hikes that lcd run to morocco and prague. I did it this year and it was much more of an adventure than a package-holiday. It costs the charity nothing to run after you pay an admin fee.

Isobel, Bristol, UK

I'm horrified that your softly spoken 24 year old sherpa was forced to eat left over food. Who forced him and how? This force feeding must be stopped. Can't we contact the United nations about it or failing that Robert Mugabe?

Marion Morrison, Cheltenham,

Ban it I say. Too much money goes to charity anyway, and these porters are fit enough, they're all bound to find work elsewhere- probably in the mines

Toby, Pula, Croatia

Yet again it is assumed that the West should take the rap, and the guilt trip, for the failings of corrupt African governance.

Let's do the maths...

25000 people, paying $600 each, comes to $15 million per year in park fees, and where does it all go I wonder? No money for defibrillators indeed...

Adam, London,

A barrister chum of mine, undertakes all sorts of group adventure trips. Foothills of the Himalaya is favourite stamping ground. I saw revealing snaps of this the other day. What stood out were the loaded porters carrying all the stuff, while the happy white chaps sported along in front. Good show.

Colin, Cambridge, U.K.

Charity sponsorships, where the fund raiser receives a free holiday, give charity fund raising a bad name. Those seeking sponsorship should be obliged to declare how much of the money they raise is spent by the charity providing the free holiday.

William, Nottingham, GB

There are some companies that exploit the porters on Kilimanjaro and some that don't. I climbed with Kiliwarriors. Their porters are well fed, well paid and had better clothing and equipment than me. They sang all the way to the summit and all the way back down again.

Steve, halifax,

There is nothing black and white about this piece.

And if the cheapskate tourists from the West weren't so cut-throat, people wouldn't be charging them with being imperialists in the first place.

edmund wee, singapore,

The porters don't tend to summit but remain below the snow line at the final camp - so I am amazed that you quote a British doctor treating them for snowblindness. They are well acclimatised to the altitude so are unlikely to suffer the effects of altitude sickness. A pointless article.

Marsh, Perth, Australia

Thank you Melanie Reid. A piece that should have been written a long time ago. It has been the publicity in the past that has resulted in the majority of Everest sherpas paid properly. High time for those in Kilimanjaro.

JA, London, UK

Ngowi I would not wish to demean the hard struggle of the Kili porter or the life they lead but the writer seems to think that trekkers turn up like colonials and are carried up the mountain. I would rather pay half the admission fees direct to the porters but would that really solve the problem?

Paul, London, UK

I climbed Kili, just, in 1999. We paid a UK tour company, who sub-contracted to a Kenyan company, who put us with a Tanzanian company.

Before the climb we were told that we had to pay extra for water, [there is none from half way up], and coming down we were asked to pay the unpaid porters. Bad!

Derrick East, Bournemouth, UK

How patronising of the majority europeans commentators that they are providing a living to the poor africans. It is an "I am alright Jack" syndrom. Even if there are inaccuracies in the report, the writer is trying to wake up your consicence and waking up our humanity. Are you up for it? Perhaps not

Naren, London , UK

Mr Paul of London you are trying to make a meal out of climbing Kilimanjaro !
Alot of other parts of our dear continent are not blessed with such a montain (it is beautiful I must say) but somehow we are suviving !
The article has some truth on it especially in Westen eyes !
Karibu tena K'Njaro

Ngowi, Kibosho-Moshi, Tanzania

I have climbed both Everest and Kilimanjaro, and in both cases I was with reputable guiding companies that pay well and provide the best equipment and food for staff. Your article should have focussed on the large permit fees that foreigners pay, and why they don't benefit the local people.

Climber, London, Uk

No one is saying that the business should be stopped, but the health and safety of the porters should not being put at risk recklessly. Despite those criticizing the article, no one seems to be able to dispute the number of fatalities. Mountain guide/portering is clearly different to a waiting job!

SH, London, UK

Well off, over imbibed, fat, fed up chaps, find excitements and new purpose in life away from their wives by trekking in the Himalaya. Unfortunately, largely due to unfamiliar altitudes and climate, this involves overburdened low paid thin porters to carry all of their stuff. I have seen the snaps.

Colin, Cambridge, U.K.

We paid double the daily rate as its a scandal to pay such low wages + a bonus. We paid for their meals and at the end gave the clothes to them as well.Why leave people in poverty when you can make a real difference. $6 is nothing, its a pint in the local pub. Blame the cheap tourists/companies

KC, london, uk

Ive climbed Kilimanjaro and first hand experience dictates that some of the facts stated are wrong, others merely misleading. For example we had porters over the age of 32. Secondly what is the difference between small wages relying on tips for porters in Africa or waiting staff in the UK?

Daniel, Cambridge,

in 1970 I climbed Kibo peak and paid what was then a commercial rate of several hundred shillings. The porters and guides were a lot fitter than us and suffered no ill effects. Also they got ALL the monies.

Seems another example of BIG business and BIG government being BAD for the people!

tim, bournemouth,

In Nepal there is a UK based charity Community Action Nepal who ensure porters have the right equipment for treks and there is also a Nepalese based charity providing boots/clothing for porters. NB leave your boots & clothes & a big tip for porters/sherpas - and make sure they get it!

Andy, London,

Sherpas are an ethnic group. It is not a job. There are about 100,000 of them living, the majority in Eastern Nepal and Darjeeling, India. Sherpa s are ethnically Tibetian and they speak their own language, Sherpa which is related to Tibetian. The author here is obviously refering to porters!

Catherine Sherpa-Blaiklock, Norwich, UK

Being a Tanzania myself and a chagga in tribe (coming just under the nose of K'njaro I am proud of this article for two major reasons
1 Every publicity is a good publicity
2 At least for once the mountain is not being reported as if it is in Kenya (no part of it is in our dear neighbours)

Ngowi, Kibosho-Moshi, Tanzania

This is a badly written, emotive article. The writer should try climbing the mountain and talking to the porters. They are a proud people struggling to survive in a desperately poor country. HIV deaths are rampant and income from the mountain provides the main hope in the region.

David , Hong Kong,

Having climbed Kilimanjaro in January I cannot begin to point out the number of inaccuracies in this piece of journalistic hand wringing. Melanie - have you attempted a climb of Kili? Ever been to Moshi in Tanzania? Ask yourself what would happen to the economy if you stopped trekkers going there?

Paul, London, UK

I hav'n't had mountain climbing experience yet from what one sees on TV, I guessed porters are very underpaid & suggested online some time ago, eg Nepalese shd charge tourists a lot more.It wd be easy to leave it to the firms but tourists shd voluntarily tip each porter the huge amount they deserve.

Joan Moira Peters, Whangarei UK Citizen, temp o/seas in New Zealand

Perhaps you should be asking the Tanzanian Government what it does with the USD 600 it receives for every person climbing Kili in park fees. Hard as the life of a porter is you are directing your ire at the wrong people. Those funds could do much to support the porters but little is reinvested.

Paul, London, UK

This traffic has been growing for years and should have been addressed long ago. I carried my own gear up Mount Kenya thirty years ago having seen the poor condition and equipment of the porters. Kenya is only 17,000 ft but only two of our party of six made it. For the porters it can mean death.

Mike, NYC, USA

In Nepal travel companies/agencies are well known to maximise profits by underbooking porters necessitating those on the trek to carry excessive loads of three sometimes four tourist backpacks.

Steve Edwards, Bali, Indonesia

This is a classic piece of black-and-white journalism.

Henry , Hong Kong,

So what is an unemployed sherpa going to do these days?

Tom, Perth, Oz