So the two other climbers found her incapacitated, possibly unconscious, paid the Sherpa $10,000 to rescue her without her input, asked her for the money back, and were told “I don’t have $10,000, I have $4000.” Assuming she’s telling the truth, what do they expect her to do, conjure $6000 from thin air? Maybe she’ll be open to eventually paying them the rest once she has it and once she recovers from her brush with death? The article doesn’t really say, just that she’s reluctant to talk with the media while she recovers from the trauma of almost dying. Seems like a bit of a leap to immediately demonize her without more to the story.
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I imagine the others had cash apps, if they have the money to climb Mt. Everest and kept their phones at base camp? Maybe even the sherpa, because it’s 2023 and they make anywhere from 2k to 5k and up depending on the job per climb? 
I mean, it would be hella irresponsible to go climbing Mt. Everest with cash on you, IMHO.
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Could have crowdfunded the rescue
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“That unconscious woman will die soon without help! Quick, let’s start a Gofundme!”
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I might be missing your point, but I don’t see what cash has to do with it. If you have only $4000 you have $4000, whether that’s cash or in a bank account. $6000 extra might require either time or selling off something it’s not reasonable to ask someone to sell (like their home or transportation). I realize it’s insanely expensive to climb Mount Everest but that just makes it more plausible she’d be extremely low on funds right after making the attempt. For all we know she saved up her whole life for that one shot. Or maybe she’s an entitled millionaire dickweed who really isn’t grateful. I’m just saying the article doesn’t provide enough information to tell.
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My read was that they agreed to pay the Sherpa $10K, not that they laid down the cash or Venmo’d him on the spot. Then the rescued hiker told them she could/would only pay them back $4K because that’s how much she could “afford,” not how much she had on her at the time.
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Typical tourist mistake. You really need to haggle in these situations. /s
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… the way the word “Sherpa” is used in English seems kinda problematic—it’s both an ethnic group and also a profession, as if an entire population exists only to serve Western tourists 
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Looking more closely, you’re right, it looks like the Sherpa didn’t get paid until later (but did get paid in the end, with the two climbers paying at least $6000 of that). I still don’t see why any of that matters to the point I was trying to make. Either she could really only afford $4000 or she was lying, and there’s not enough information to determine which, or if she intends on making up the difference later, or even if the two hikers are telling the truth about the amount they paid (was she a part of this discussion at all or was she an unconscious body at the time?) Too many questions.
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Steep fees 
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It’s a slippery slope.
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Entitled people with affluence go to a country to exploit a natural resource, then shit on the locals? Not possible.
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The story is weird, but I agree we shouldn’t vilify the woman.
I hadn’t noticed this part on the first reading
Despite the customary mountaineering practice of “no rescue above 8,000 meters” and the Sherpa guide’s disapproval, Fan Jiangtao, one of the two climbers from Central China’s Hunan Province, still decided to give up the attempt on the summit at 8,450 meters on May 18 in order to save the woman…
Then Fan convinced another climber from his team, Xie, but now Fan is the one who’s angry and Xie is not.
Kind of sounds like of anyone in the story, Fan has some issues. Yes, you can expect gratitude, but I don’t think it’s fair to give someone something they didn’t ask for (even if it is saving their life) then demand payment for it.
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I understand being a little peeved about the whole thing, but if the only reason someone put up the money to help save another person’s life was because the first person expected to be reimbursed then it wasn’t really an act of generosity.
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Yeah. I mean, they also gave up their opportunity to summit, which they’d paid a bunch for, but still, no one asked Fan to do that so… 
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