Machhermo Porter Rescue Shelter – 2016 News Update
CAN is very grateful to the Scottish Mountaineering Trust [SMT] for its generous support helping to contribute to the costs of repair and rebuild at the Machhermo Porter Rescue Shelter in the Solu Khumbu which was badly damaged by the earthquake in 2015.
CAN has many supporters but it is good to remind ourselves that the charity was set up by mountaineers across the UK and beyond and continues to receive tremendous support from mountaineers, trekkers and visitors who want to give something back to the country which has so enriched lives. Mountaineers and trekkers from Scotland have been great supporters of CAN over the years and we are very grateful to have the support of the Trust in helping to rebuild this rescue shelter which is seen as a great expression of solidarity with the mountain people of Nepal.
CAN originally built the shelter at Machhermo [4,410m] in 2006 at the instigation of Dr Jim Duff, the founder of the International Porter Protection Group [IPPG UK], accommodating 300 porters with rooms for visiting doctors. As well as providing dormitory space and use of a kitchen for porters it has offered medical help for numerous porters and foreign trekkers suffering from acute mountain sickness [AMS] and has played a key role supporting porters plying the upper reaches of the Gokyo valley and the passes leading into it [Renzo La [5,600 m] and Cho La [5,420 m]. It also offers a rescue service to trekkers.
The Machhermo valley used to be known locally as death valley where porters from the middle hills, unprepared for the extreme weather conditions, would often risk death from hypothermia. Since the building of the rescue shelter the number of deaths has been reduced to nil. Under the direction of Doctors Louise Cook, Nick and Emma Mason and Matt Morgan at IPPG a rota of western doctors and nurses provide medical cover during the two annual trekking seasons.
Following the earthquake major rebuilding work was required which has incorporated earthquake resistant features in line with the philosophy “Build Back Better” – for example by incorporating through stones, wall plates and ring beams – and CAN is very grateful to the SMT for its grant of £6,000 which helped prepare the shelter and ensure it was fully operational in time for the 2016/17 trekking seasons.
CAN has also undertaken post earthquake repairs at the shelters at Gokyo and Gorak Shep.
If you would like to contribute to the full costs of rebuilding Machhermo Porter Rescue Shelter, [£15,000 to date] please contact the CAN office.
For more information about the work of IPPG in the Solu Khumbu clink on the link Machhermo porter rescue post.
For more information about the Scottish Mountaineering Trust click the link: smc.org.uk
