There is a group of people packed with weight, making the difficult journey along the dangerous trails in the mountains. They are the driving force behind many mountaineering dreams fulfilled, and the anonymous heroes assisting academic research and renovations and repairs in the mountains. They have an official title the Mountain Worker, but the public generally call them the Porter.
Xinyi Township in Nantou has the highest density of mountain workers in Taiwan. The Bunun people living on the two sides of the Central Mountain Range are familiar with the mountains because they live in such proximity, and such advantage makes them a perfect candidate for such work. Chuan Jiang-Ching from Kalibuan Community is 53 this year. He began working as a mountain worker at the age of 35, and has been a guide for the TV program Made In Taiwan for 15 years.
Chuan began hunting with his father in the mountains as a 6th grader, and is no stranger to the mountains. He stayed in the village for farming after his discharge from the military service. “I’ve never left home before, I don’t know what the world is like out there,” he shares amidst laughter. He began looking for other jobs because the price for agricultural produce was dropping, “I didn’t have money to buy pesticides and could barely make ends meet, someone referred me to the porter work, and later on I started the Bunun Mountaineering Team.”
Mountain workers live and work alongside mountains over the years, cultivating extraordinary stamina and knowledge of the mountains.
Even Physical Labor can Increase Value
by Providing Quality Service
“In the old days we were treated simply as laborers, people would leave the equipment on the ground and expect you to carry all of them up the mountains, no limits to the weight.” Chuan recalls vividly how it was normal to be packing 40 to 50 kilos at once, without a set rate to the wage, “roughly around $2,500 per day, at best $3,000 - $3,500, but the company took a $500 cut.” A mountain worker not only carries the weight, but is also in charge of finding water source, set camp, cook, and occasionally serve as a guide. The work is heavy and tedious without insurance, if you get hurt, you’re on your own. Chuan says reluctantly, “jobs are hard to come by, so you stick with what you have.”
After a few years, Chuan wanted to change the working environment of porters. He established the Bunun Mountaineering Team in 2012, and became the first to set rules up front, among many precedence, in the industry. For example, he is the first to set the maximum luggage weight at 25 kilos, surcharge at $200 per kilo; wage per day increased to $4,000, the company takes no cuts and assists mountain workers to take up accident insurance policy, labor and health insurances.
“When I first increased the price, everyone said that I would not last long, but we proved to others with our service that we are worth the price.” Chuan says that for incidence, when passing by places with dangerous terrain, they tend to the safety of their clients, and they have team porters keeping clients company at all times, “the clients don’t mind the difference in price, our service trumps everything.” Last year, Chuan further raised the wage to $5,000 per day, setting the highest standard in the industry.
Chang Chin-Hao (left) and Ku Feng-Nien may be young, they are extremely experienced as mountain workers.
Stay Healthy and Slowly
Work Up Your Strength
In addition to commercial mountaineering, in the event of mountain engineering, trail maintenance, mountain hut refurbishment, academic research, and photography, mountain workers are also required to assist carrying construction materials, equipment, and instruments up the altitude. They are the true heroes behind the mountain engineering works and accessing knowledge of the mountains in Taiwan.
The Bunun Mountaineering Team currently has 41 members, 60% Bunun people and 30% Atayal people, including female members, and some non-indigenous members. Chuan explains that there is no academic threshold to this line of work, if you are mentally and physically well, strong built, join the team and you’re good to go, “the first time will be led by someone experienced to show them the routes and the know-how, then it’s up to them to work with colleagues to lead their own teams.”
The threshold may be low, the challenges are plenty, and the first obstacle is weight-carrying. Age 24 with 5 years of experience, mountain worker Chang Chin-Hao recalls, “the first time I packed that weight up the mountains, the more experienced colleague made it look so easy while I could barely keep up!” A new recruit from last year, Ku Feng-Nien follows by saying, “the first time I went on a mission, Chang was walking behind me and singing, I was exhausted and didn’t understand how he still had the energy to sing!” Sharing the trick with us, they say that the weight must be concentrated up and center on the back, with the headband sharing 70% of the weight and the shoulder straps 30%. Despite the trick, the physical strength required is built up from the missions.
The peak mountaineering season is from March to November, when a mountain worker spends an average of 25 days per month in the mountains, physically-demanding to say the least. Chuan smiles, “going home is like a dream, you barely make it down the mountains and the next day you’re making your way up there again at dawn.” Working in the mountains require top shape physically and strength-wise. Chuan recalls that he once had mild flu symptoms before setting off on a mission, and when he arrived up in the mountains, mountain sickness kicked in and triggered pulmonary edema and hydrocephalus. A helicopter was called in for emergency rescue and he ended up in the ICU for 5 day, “when you’re physically unwell, going up the mountains could be life-threatening.”
Gaui-Guai is a cheerful dog, always active in making his rounds.
Danger Lurks Everywhere and
Mountaineering is All About Willpower
Other than physically and strength-demanding, dangerous and inaccessible routes also pose challenges. TV program Made In Taiwan once shot the hiking of the Central Mountain Range trail, in which the entire route was hacked open by mountain workers, and they had to overcome issues of getting lost and not finding water source. It took the team 28 days to complete the shoot. Chuan shares that on this specific mission, only one supply run was planned, and everything had to be carried on their backs with every mountain worker packing at least 50 kilos, “we were young back then and had plenty of strength, we were invincible!”
The first mission Ku went on was also a real shock to him. They were taking the Northern Section 2 O-shaped trail, and passed by a steep cliff with no path at all, the only way through was to swing over, “I was out of my wits on the first mission! I finally understood how dangerous this line of work is. On my return trip, I kept debating whether to keep doing this or not.” But nothing beats the boss battle, the ever-changing weather. Chuan says, “if mountain accidents occur, it must be because of the weather. We’re all fragile at times like that, taking three steps forward but one step back. The ones in the front would pull while those ones in the back would push, all relying on willpower to pull through.” Rain and wind at 3,000 meters above sea level is nothing like on the ground, sometimes ice falls with rain during autumn and winter, and it hurts so much more when hit. “At times like that, I really wonder why on earth I’m here, and what I’m doing to myself,” Chang says.
Chang recalls once during a bad weather, they were on a steep slope almost perpendicular to the Southern Section 3 trail, and a member of the team slipped and fell down by 200 meters. He tried his best to carry that person up the ridge, where they could wait for the helicopter to hoist the wounded away, “I thought he was going to die, it’s a good thing we managed to save him.” Before that, Chuan also witnessed a team leader falling to his death at the same spot.
Working in the mountains is difficult and dangerous, and they need to take up part-time jobs to ride out the low season. Chuan admits that most indigenous persons have lower academic achievements and mostly took on labor works, “mountain workers pay at least twice the wage of general jobs, so we bet our lives on it.” Packed heavy, the anonymous heroes carry with them food and equipment people depend on once in the mountains, and the mountain culture of Taiwan, all on their shoulders.
There is great diversity in mountain terrains in Taiwan, if the road is steep coupled with bad weather, life can become very difficult for mountain workers.
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