A young Nepali porter employed by a trekking company became severely ill with altitude illness. He was paid off and sent down alone. It took just 30 hours for him to die….He was 20 years old and left behind a young family. It was the locals response to this tragedy, “don’t worry, it happens every season,” that spurred Dr Jim Duff and Rejane Belanger to set up the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) in 1997. IPPG aims to improve the welfare of mountain porters worldwide, and to educate the public about altitude illness.