LEADING FROM THE FRONT; EXPEDITION ALPINISM

WE’VE BEEN BOUYED RECENTLY BY REPORTS OF CHRISTOPHE PROFIT, ONE OF THE FINEST GUIDES IN THE EUROPEAN ALPS, GOING VIGILANTE AND REMOVING BELAY STAKES FROM A SERIOUS ROUTE ON MONT BLANC WITH THE EXPLICIT INTENTION OF CONFRONTING AUTHORITIES OVER WHAT ALPINISM IS TURNING INTO. AS A LIVING LEGEND, PROFIT HAS FACED OFF TO BOTH THE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL AUTHORITIES AS WELL AS THE ARMCHAIR LEGIONS OF POPULAR OPINION, DEFENDING THE PRINCIPLES OF ALPINISM FROM IT’S LEADING EDGE RATHER THAN JUST WHINGE FROM THE SIDELINES. NOT SINCE KRUK & KENNEDY CHOPPED THE EXCESS BOLTS ON THE COMPRESSOR ROUTE HAS SUCH A GAUNTLET BEEN THROWN DOWN, AND THOUGH FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS DOESN’T OCCUPY THE SAME SPACE, WE SHARE THESE VALUES OF BOTH ALPINISM AND GIVING THE FINGER.

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ONCE UPON A TIME, ALPINISM AND EXPEDITION CLIMBING WAS LEAD FROM THE FRONT, WITH ITS HEROES AND PROTAGONISTS SETTING THE BARS FOR MANY THINGS HIGHER, INCLUDING STYLE, RESOURCES, LOCATION, VISION, AND SKILL. GREAT CLIMBING WAS AN EXPRESSION OF GREAT VISION AND HITTING TARGETS NO ONE ELSE HAD KNOWN WERE THERE, AND THOSE OF US WHO FOLLOWED LOOKED UPWARDS TO HOW WE COULD TAKE ON THESE THINGS OURSELVES, RATHER THAN FOR WAYS TO AVOID HAVING TO DO SO, SO THE UNKNOWING MASSES COULD BE DUPED INTO THINKING WE WERE SOMETHING WE WERE NOT.

THERE’S A REASON SOME OBJECTIVES TOOK SO LONG TO BE ACHEIVED – NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE IMPOSSIBLE, BUT BECAUSE THEY DESERVED TO BE DONE IN THE FINEST WAY POSSIBLE. THE GREAT CLIMBERS PROVED WHAT WAS IN FACT POSSIBLE, AND IN DOING SO DEMONSTRATED EPIGENETICALLY (LOOK IT UP) THAT THE REST OF US COULD RAISE OUR GAME. YES, CLIMBING IS OPEN TO ANYONE, BUT UNTIL RECENTLY THE IMPLIED IDEA WAS TO RAISE THE GAME RATHER THAN LOWER IT, SOMETHING THAT CHANGED RAPIDLY ONCE THE OVERLAP OF MEDIA, LOGISTICS, SOCIAL VALUES, AND EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY CARVED OUT A DOMINATING IDENTITY THAT WAS EXPLOITED BY AN INDUSTRY.

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THE RAW FACTS ARE THAT FOR ALL THE PEOPLE CLIMBING MOUNTAINS TODAY, NO MORE VANGUARD ASCENTS ARE BEING DONE DESPITE THE NUMBERS. UNLIKE IN BOULDERING AND ROCK WHERE THINGS ARE LESS INDUSTRIALLY RELIANT BUT HARDER AND MORE VISIONARY ROUTES ARE BEING DONE ALMOST WEEKLY, ASCENTS OF HIGH ALTITUDE PEAKS HAVE ADVANCED LITTLE. THIS APPEARS TO POINT TO THE ROLE THAT GEAR AND LOGISTICS HAS IN THE NUMBERS CLIMBING, THAT MORE PEOPLE HAVING THINGS MORE EASY FLESHES OUT THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID, AND CONTRIBUTES NOTHING AS FAR AS TRICKLING UPWARDS TO RAISE THE BAR OF THE SPORT. MORE COMFORT, LESS TIME, MORE OF A SCENE, AND MORE REPLACEMENT OF ABILITY DOES NOT ATTRACT BETTER CLIMBERS, WITH THE GOOD CLIMBERS THAT ARE ATTRACTED BEING EITHER LOST TO OR DROWNED OUT BY THE SATURATION OF THE SPACE WITH GOSSIP AND REPETITION.

FEW NEW ROUTES ARE GOING UP IN THE GREAT RANGES, EITHER HARD ONES OR OTHERWISE, AND THOSE WHO ARE DOING THEM ARE ALMOST ALL THE SAME OLD NAMES THAT HAVE BEEN DOING SO FOR YEARS. HIRAIDE IN PAKISTAN, HALEY IN PATAGONIA, BARGIEL IN THE HIMALAYS, TOMASZEWSKI EVERYWHERE, THESE ARE THE SAME CLIMBERS PUSHING THE LEADING EDGE OF ACTUAL CLIMBING SINCE THE EARLY 2000s, WHILST MUCH OF WHAT GENERATES NOISE ARE ONE-SHOT-WONDERS PUSHING ONLY LOGISTICS OR STATISTICS THAT HAVE LITTLE TO NO TRICKLE DOWN ON ACTUAL NEW ROUTES BEING DONE.

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WITHOUT NEW ROUTES, ALPINISM HAS NO GUIDING LIGHT, AND WITHOUT ENOUGH NEW ROUTES BEING DONE TO KEEP THE TERM ‘ALPINISM’ RELEVANT, MOUNTAINEERING AS A WHOLE BECOMES ONLY ABOUT VOLUME, NUMBERS, STATISTICS, AND PEDANTIC DETAILS. WE WORRY MORE ABOUT INDUSTRIAL CLIMBERS STANDING ON ‘TRUE’ SUMMITS AND WHETHER THEY LIED TO THEIR FANS, WHEN WITHIN THE SPHERE OF INDUSTRIAL CLIMBING THIS IS AS MEANINGFUL AS WINNING A HOTDOG EATING COMPETITION. IT MAY MATTER AS FAR AS INDUSTRY DATA COLLECTION GOES, BUT IT HAS ZERO IMPACT ON ALPINISM ITSELF AS THAT DATA ITSELF SHOWS.

NO INDUSTRIAL CLIMBERS GO ON TO SHED THEIR OLD WAYS AND STEP UP TO BECOME GREAT ALPINISTS, BECAUSE MOST IT SEEMS WERE NEVER ATTRACTED BY WHAT ALPINISM IS ABOUT. NIMS PURDAL HAS DONE NOTHING INTERESTING SINCE HIS LOGISTICAL MASTERPIECE OF CLIMBING ALL +8000m PEAKS IN A SINGLE YEAR, NOR FOR THAT MATTER HAS GERLINDE KALTENBRUNNER WHO SO MADE A REAL POINT OF KEEPING ALPINE ETHICS FOR ALL HER ASCENTS (RALF HER LONG TIME PARTNER ON THE OTHER HAND HAS BEEN A REAL EXCEPTION TO BE ADMIRED).

PUT ANOTHER WAY; ALPINISM AT AN EXPEDITION LEVEL DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY COEXIST WITH MOUNTAINEERING IN GENERAL, EVEN – OR PERHAPS SPECIFICALLY – WITH CLIMBING AT HIGH ALTITUDE. INDUSTRIAL CLIMBING CLEARLY DOES NOT SUPPORT REAL ALPINISM, AND WHETHER IT ACTUALLY KILLS IT WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF THE PROCESS OF FINDING OUT.

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THE ETHICS OF ALPINISM ARE IN NEW ROUTES, SIMPLY BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE VISION FINDS EQUILIBRIUM WITH ABILITY. A WELL ESTABLISHED ROUTE CLIMBED IN BETTER STYLE BARELY RAISES ANY STANDARD OF ALPINISM, BECAUSE ONCE A ROUTE IS KNOWN IT DOWNGRADES THE PRIMARY FACTORS OF VISION AND JUDGEMENT. OBVIOUSLY ENTIRELY NEW PEAKS IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF ALPINISM, WITH A SIMILAR PERSPECTIVE AS ONSIGHTING A ROCK ROUTE, BUT NEW ROUTES ON ESTABLISHED PEAKS ALSO FULFILLS THE CRITERIA, JUST AS IT ALWAYS HAS WHEN PEAKS ARE VIEWED FOR THEIR POSSIBILITIES NOT THEIR EXPECTATIONS.

ALPINISM DEFINED IS THE OVERLAP OF THE CLIMBERS SKILLS EXECUTED UNDER THE GREATEST EXPRESSION, WHICH MEANS THEIR CAPACITY TO ENVISION, RESEARCH, PLAN AND NAVIGATE JUST AS MUCH AS THEIR CAPACITY TO CRANK MOVES, EAT FROM A CUP, HANDLE FEAR, AND CLIMB FAST. THESE ARE GOOD STANDARDS, THAT ENCOMPASS THE GOOD TRAITS IN HUMANS, THAT ARE FAIR AND ACCOUNTABLE, AND IMMUNE TO MOST BULLSHIT BECAUSE THEY ARE BASED ON OBSERVED PERFORMANCE.

THESE IDEALS ARE WORTH KEEPING, NOT INSOMUCH FOR THEIR OWN RIGHT, BUT BECAUSE WITHOUT DEFENDING WITH DEMONSTRATION THEY WILL BE HIJACKED. ALREADY WE SEE THE TERM ‘ALPINE’ STRETCHED TO STUPID LIMITS THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT THE REAL THING, HELD ONLY ALOFT BECAUSE THEY ARE REPEATED ENOUGH UNTIL THE NEXT WAVE JUST ACCEPTS THEM. THAT WE NEED TO AFFIX THE TERM ‘STYLE’, TO MAKE ALPINE STYLE, WHEN THE WORD ‘ALPINE’ SHOULD SUFFICE, IS ONLY THE LATEST CORRUPTION THAT SAW THE WORD ‘EXPEDITION’ TO SOMEHOW MEAN WHAT GOES ON AT EVEREST WHERE THE SITUATION IS CLOSER TO A SUMMER CAMP.

THE VALUES OF ALPINISM ARE NOT SOME RETROSPECTIVE NOSTALGIA EITHER, IF ANYTHING THEY ARE THE EMBODIMENT OF THE FUTURE. THE IDEA THAT MORE BOTTLED OXYGEN, MORE FIXED LINES, MORE PORTERS, AND MORE VEHICLES, THAT IS THE RETROGRADE VERSION, WHILST SMALLER, LIGHTER, MORE SELF-SUSTAINED HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE FUTURE RIGHT BACK TO THE FIRST CLIMBERS TO SET FOOT OUT HERE. YOUNG CLIMBERS NOW CAN ABSOLUTELY LEAD THIS BEHEMOUTH, AND PUSH THINGS IN WAYS THAT MESSNER ET AL ONLY DREAMED OF AND HAVE OPENLY STATED. ONCE, THE OPENING UP OF MAJOR HIGH ALTITUDE RANGES WOULD SEEN A SCRAMBLE OF THE WORLDS ELITE CLIMBERS ON THE BUDGETS OF NATIONAL TEAMS, NOW THEY ARE OPEN TO ALL AND IT TAKES NO PRIVELIDGE OR SPONSORSHIP.

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SO WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT, DURING THE DECADE-LONG STINTS WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE REMAINING BIG NAMES TO HACK HARDWARE OUT OF SOMEWHERE THAT TO BE HONEST HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN OVER TO INDUSTRIES THAT DON’T CARE AND HENCE PICKED UP BY MEDIA THAT IS HALF OF THE PROBLEM?

WE DO WHAT WE ALWAYS HAVE, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IT WORKS, AND WE QUIETLY GO UNDERGROUND AND SHED THE VERY ATTENTION THAT CAUSES THE ISSUES. RANTING AT THE MASSES HAPPY TO ACCEPT THE MEDIOCRE STANDARDS DOESN’T WORK, BUT ASYMETRICAL CAMPAIGNS DO THAT CONFRONT QUANTITY WITH QUALITY. LIKE ANY PIRATE OR GUERRILA KNOWS, BEING SMARTER, BETTER INFORMED, AND MORE AUDACIOUS IS WHAT PREVAILS, AND MAKING YOUR TARGETS THINGS THAT THE ADVERSARY DOESN’T EVEN RECOGNIZE.

WE DON’T LIKE TO WEAPONIZE THINGS, BECAUSE THAT’S USUALLY THE LOWEST FORM OF APPROACH ONLY RELIANT ON THE LOWEST COMMON ELEMENTS, BUT WE DO LIKE TO INSTILL THE NOTION THAT IN THIS CASE WE ARE DEFENDING SOMETHING THAT IS WITHERING AS WE WATCH. WE KNOW FIRST HAND THAT THE PLACES WE GO ARE ONLY SEVERAL STEPS AWAY FROM GOING THE SAME WAY AS THE ALPS AND NEPAL, SO WHILE THINGS ARE STILL GOOD IT IS UP TO US TO SET THE STANDARDS.

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NOW WE DON’T CLAIM TO BE THE PROFITS, HALEYS, OR HIRAIDES OF THE WORLD, BUT WE DO CLAIM TO HAVE THE ACCESS AND LOGISTICS TO THE SORT OF PLACES WHERE THAT LEVEL OF CLIMBING PLAYS OUT. WHERE WE GO THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION THAN THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF ALPINISM, AND IT ALL REQUIRES A LEVEL OF EXPEDITION PLANNING THAT THESE DAYS VERY FEW CLIMBERS KNOW. BY DEFAULT, EVEN OUR MOST ESTABLISHED TRIPS ARE STILL FINE EXAMPLES OF ALPINE STYLE, WITH IT TAKING ONLY A VERY SMALL TWEAK TO BECOME FULL-BLOWN ALPINISM AT A WORLD CLASS STANDARD.

WE DON’T NEED TO CONTRIVE STANDARDS AND DREAM UP WAYS TO SQUEEZE THINGS LIKE FIRST ASCENTS, NEW ROUTES, AND ASCENTS OUT OF SEASON, IN TIBETAN AND XINJIANG THAT IS THE NORM AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID. LIKEWISE THERE IS NO NEED TO ADAPT LOGISTICS AND PLANNING TO BREAK OUT FROM ANY FORMAT, BECAUSE WE HAVE NO OFF-THE-SHELF FORMAT TO BEGIN WITH AS EVERY TRIP IS UNIQUE.

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WHAT THE REGAINING OF ALPINISM STANDARDS LACKS IS CLIMBERS, THOSE WITH THE WHEREWITHALL TO EMBODY WHAT THE SPORT OF ALPINISM CLAIMS TO BE ABOUT. WHO RATHER THAN SIGN UP FOR SOMEONE ELSES VISION, LIVE A VISION OF THEIR OWN, AND WANT TO BE PART OF SOMETHING WITH GRAVITY. ONCE THERE WAS A WHOLE COMMUNITY OF THIS, LONG BEFORE SOCIAL MEDIA AND EVER-PRESENT CONNECTIVITY ARRIVED, OF INDEPENDENT CLIMBERS DISPERSED ALL ACROSS THE RANGES NORTH OF THE HIMALAYA, HACKING TOGETHER TRIPS WITH WHAT WAS AVAILABLE IN THE DAY.

NOW, 25 YEARS LATER, WE HAVE THE FULL SPECTRUM OF ADVANTAGES – TO THE POINT THAT WE GET TO CHOOSE, AND IN THIS CASE WE CHOOSE QUALITY, AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY. CHINA BEING CHINA WE COULD EASILY CHOOSE TO BRING IN BOTTLED OXYGEN, FIXING CREWS, ARMIES OF PORTERS, AND HELICOPTER LOADS OF BIG TENTS, DIESEL GENERATORS, AND SPOOLS OF ROPE, ALL THINGS THAT THE CHINESE SYSTEM COULD DO AT A LEVEL FAR MORE EFFICIENT AND ROBUST THAT EITHER PAKISTA, INDIA OR NEPAL. AND TRUST US WHEN WE SAY WE HAVE BEEN ASKED TO DO SO.

BUT WE ARE NOT DOING THAT, BECAUSE THAT INDUSTRY ALREADY HAS ITS PLAYGROUND, AND BECAUSE CHINA HAS OTHER CONCERNS MEANING THE MOTIVATION ON ALL PARTIES INVOLVED JUST ISN’T THERE. INSTEAD THE BACKEND THAT MAKES THE WHEELS OF HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING HAPPEN IS PERFECTLY GEARED FOR SMALL, SELF-DIRECTED, AND MULTI-SKILLED TEAMS, SO WE ARE PLAYING TO OUR STRENGTHS TO PUT CAPABLE CLIMBERS OUT THERE.

AT OUR DISPOSAL WE HAVE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF HIGH LEVEL EXPEDITION ALPINE OBJECTIVES, WITH NO NEED TO CHOP BOLTS OR AVOID CROWDS IN ORDER TO MAKE THE POINT. FROM EASY NEW ROUTES DONE ON TWO WEEK TIMELINES TO NEW ROUTES ON 8000m NORTHSIDES AND FIRST ASCENTS ON 7000m PEAKS, THIS SPECTRUM OF POSSIBILITIES PUTS THE ALPINISTS CAPACITY FOR VISION BACK AT THE CENTER OF THE MATTER. THIS PARADIGM TOTALLY NEGATES ALL THE PEDANTIC QUIBBLES AND DATA MINUTEA THAT PLAGUES ALMOST THE ENTIRE HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING SPACE, IN MOST CASES SIMPLE ARRIVING AT THE BASE OF THESE PEAKS BEING NEWSWORTHY, TO THE SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THIS STUFF IS WORTH.

CLIMBERS NOW CAN UNDERTAKE THEIR ENTIRE ‘APPRENTICESHIP’ PROGRESSION IN REAL EXPEDITIONARY PEAKS, SOMETHING THAT IN 20 YEARS TIME WILL OPEN UP POSSIBILITIES THAT ALPINISM CURRENTLY HASN’T EVEN DREAMT OF. THIS WAY THE CORE CAPABILITIES OF ALPINISM INCLUDING THE PART OF THE ICEBERG BELOW THE WATER THAT INCLUDES AMBITION, EXPERIENCE, DEPTH OF PERSPECTIVE, AND RISK ASSESSMENT, CAN BE DEVELOPED AND FOSTERED IN WAYS NOT SEEN SINCE THE ERA OF KUKUCZKA.

THIS DOESN’T JUST RESUSCITATE EXPEDITION ALPINISM FOR THE MOMENT, AS BADLY AS THAT IS NEEDED, BUT IT SEEDS THE FUTURE OF A SPORT LITERALLY DYING AS WE WATCH. THE EMERGING GENERATIONS ARE BEING SUFFOCATED UNDER THE BULLSHIT OF STUFF LIKE THE INVASIVE 8000m INDUSTRY THAT IS CHOKING OFF AND RAIL ROADING OPTIONS ELSEWHERE, WHILST AN ENTIRE WELLSPRING OF OPPORTUNITIES SITS JUST OVER THE HILL WHERE THEY COULD BE DEVELOPING SOMETHING NEW.

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME CLIMBERS HAVE SEEN THIS, BUT IT COULD BE THE LAST, BECAUSE THE GENERATION THAT ONCE POUNCED ON THE OPENING UP OF CHINA AND CENTRAL ASIA HAVE DRIFTED AWAY OR BEEN KILLED BEFORE THEY REALLY GOT TO HAND OVER THE BATON. ACROSS ALL THE MISHAPS AND DYSFUNCTIONALITIES OF THE LAST 25 YEARS, SUCH AS ECONOMIC CRIES, THE AFGHAN WAR, FUCKERY BETWEEN CHINA AND INDIA, COVID, AND POLITICAL SCAREMONGERING, THE CLIMBING HAS MANAGED TO GO ON WITH THE HIGHEST OF STANDARDS, SO IT WOULD BE PATHETIC TO SEE THE BALL DROPPED OUT OF DISTRACTION, PEDANTICNESS, MEDIOCRITY, AND APATHY.

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NOW WE KNOW PEOPLE WILL REACT TO ALL THIS – OUR OPERATORS ARE WAITING – AS WE KNOW RIGHT NOW WITH THE NEPAL SPRING SEASON IN SWING THESE WORDS WILL BE READ ON LAPTOPS ACROSS THE BASECAMPS OF THE HIMALAYA, AND TO THOSE WHO ARE AFRONTED OR CURIOUS WE HAVE ONLY ONE THING TO SAY; SHOW US DIFFERENTLY.

CLICK HERE AND THE CONVERSATION ABOUT REAL, MODERN, EXPEDITION ALPINISM BEGINS, AND THE PERTURBATION FROM INDUSTRIALIZED SAFARI MOUNTAINEERING STARTS.