Ang Temba Sherpa recently shared a short video on his social media showing how some Nepali workers transport steel cables in rural Nepal in order to build a suspension bridge.
Many climbers and trekkers — as well as local people, of course — cross bridges like this all over Nepal. Spanning from steep slope to steep slope, they make it possible to cross the unfordable, glacier-fed rivers. But few of us imagine that men transport the heavy raw material for these vital constructions.
These cables weigh at least 2,500kg. The men walk one behind the other, securing the weight with the same sort of tump line across their heads that they’ve traditionally used as porters.
It helps us better understand how strong these men are. The trails are not flat but wander up and down the vertiginous mountainsides. Managing this burden is a tour de force of strength and cooperation.
Thanks to Canadian alpinist and photographer Pat Morrow for alerting us to Ang Temba Sherpa’s video.
