SICHUAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE: MAPPING THE NORTH EASTERN HIMALAYA

TO DO WHAT WE DO TAKES A HUGE RESERVOIR OF UNIQUE KNOWLEDGE, THAT COMES FROM A CLIMBERS EYE SO IT COVERS ALL THE DETAILS. OTHER SOURCES HAVEN’T COME FROM LONG HOURS ON FOOT, MAKING SICHUAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE UNIQUE IN THE WORLD OF EXPEDITION PLANNING.

EACH OF US AT FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS RUNS OUR OWN BUSINESS, WITH WHAT YOU SEE HERE BEING THE OVERLAP. JIYUE ARRANGES ALMOST EVERY TRIP TO THE TIBETAN PLATEAU WHEN HE’S NOT BUSY DOING TRIATHLONS, IGGY IS BUSY BRINING THE METHODS OF THE ELITE JAPANESE CLIMBERS TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD, AND ALEX EXPLORES AND MAPS THE RANGES OF THE NORTH EASTERN HIMALAYA THROUGH HIS COMPANY SICHUAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE.

NO ONE ELSE HAS COLLATED AS MUCH CLIMBING-SPECIFIC INFORMATION AND PUT IT INTO A FORMAT CLIMBERS CAN USE THAN ALEX HAS, EVEN SURPASSING OUR LONG TIME ASSOCIATE TOMATSU NAKAMURA WHO IS USUALLY ACKNOWLEDGED AS THE EXPERT ON THE REGION. WHERE NAKAMURA COVERS THE LARGE AREA OF THE ENTIRE EASTERN HIMALAYA THAT INCLUDES SOUTH WEST TIBET PROVINCE AND YUNNAN TO A GENERAL DEGREE, ALEX HAS FOCUSED ON THE NORTH EASTERN RANGES AT A TRULY DEFINITIVE LEVEL.

WHERE OTHER SOURCES ARE THE COMBINATION OF LONG RANGE PHOTOGRAPHY AND SATELLITE IMAGES, ALEXS DATA IS SOURCED ON FOOT, UP CLOSE, FROM THE CLIMBERS PERSPECTIVE, AND LAYS DOWN THE SERIOUS DATA THAT INCLUDES THE APPROACH AND MULTIPLE ASPECTS. HIMSELF HAVING BEEN ON DOZENS OF FIRST ASCENTS ALONG WITH A LIFETIME UP ON THE TIBETAN PLATEAU, ALEXS CONTRIBUTION TO REAL CLIMBING IS FAR MORE THAN PROVIDING AN AESTHETIC.

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WHAT IS IMMEDIATELY APPARENT WITH ALEXS WORK IS HOW PRACTICAL THE IMAGES ARE, HAVING ALL BE TAKEN WHILST ON ACTUAL EXPEDITIONS, THIS SHOWING HOW THINGS LOOK FROM THE GROUND. IT CANNOT BE OVERSTATED THIS – THAT THE RELATIONSHIPS OF PEAKS ARE SHOWN FROM THE CLIMBERS VANTAGE POINT, FILLING THE HUGE GAP THAT SATELLITE IMAGES NOTORIOUS INFER BETWEEN WHAT THINGS LOOK LIKE FROM ABOVE AND WHAT’S ON THE GROUND.

THESE DAYS WE ALL HAVE ACCESS TO SATELLITE IMAGES, MAKING MUCH OF OLD SCHOOL MAPPING REDUNDANT, AND SHIFTING THE FOCUS TO HUMAN INTEL FROM ACTUALLY BEING AT THE FOOT OF THE RANGES. THIS CORRELATES TO THE FACT THAT ADVANCES IN INFRSTRUCTURE AND EQUIPMENT HAVE CHANGED HOW CLIMBING CAN WORK, EVOLVING FROM SIMPLY CLIMBING A PEAK TO CLIMBING A ROUTE.

THIS DEMANDS A CLIMBERS EYE, NOT JUST FOR THE PEAK AND ROUTE BUT FOR THE ACCESS AND LOCATION OF CAMPS. ISOLATED IMAGES TAKEN FROM MILES AWAY WITH HUGE CAMERA LENSES HAVE THEIR PLACE, BUT FILL NONE OF THE MISSING INFORMATION NEEDED WHEN PLANNING HOW TO GET THERE AND WHAT IS NEEDED. IN MAPPING THE PEAKS, ALEX HAS ALSO CONNECTED THEM TO SHOW FROM THE CLIMBERS PERSPECTIVE AS THEY APPROACH, WHICH INCLUDES THE VARIOUS ASPECTS, CONDITIONS OF THE GLACIERS AND TRAILS, AND OF UTMOST IMPERATIVE – THE BOTTOM OF THE ROUTES.

DISTANT IMAGES ARE NOTIORIOUS FOR LEAVING OUT THE BASE OF FACES AND MASSIFS, WHERE THE APPROACHES STEPS OFF TO BECOME CLIMBING AND WHAT IS OFTEN THE DETERMINING ELEMENT OF A ROUTES CHOICE. HIDDEN BEHIND RIDGES AND MORAINE, OR TRAPPED IN SHADOWS OR OVER-EXPOSED GLARE, ANY OTHER SOURCE OF INFORMATION IS INCOMPLETE UNLESS TAKEN FROM WHERE THE CLIMBER WILL STAND.

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PEROUSING SICHUAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE IT DOESN’T TAKE LONG TO NOTICE JUST HOW MANY UNNAMED AND UNCLIMBED PEAKS ARE SHOWN. OF COURSE ALEX HAD TO REIGN IN THE SCOPE OF HIS ARCHIVES FOR THE SAKE OF THE WEBSITE. BUT EVEN AT THIS LEVEL HE SHOWS THE SCALE OF WHAT’S OUT THERE.

AT THE MOST SCANT OF GLANCES THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF HIMALAYAN PEAKS THAT IF NOT FOR ALEXS EFFORTS WOULD BE WITHOUT ANY ACTUAL DOCUMENTATION, BEING NOTHING MORE THAN A SHADOW ON GOOGLE EARTH. INSTEAD, AS SICHUAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE SETS OUT SHOWN, THESE PEAKS ARE SHOWN AS PARTS OF MASSIFS AND RANGES IN WAYS THAT SHOULD EXCITE ANY ALPINIST, MORE SO THAT INDEED A PERSON CAN GET TO THEM.

SICHUAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE DOCUMENTS ENTIRE RANGES, SUBRANGES AND SIDES OF RANGES THAT HAVE SEEN FEW OR NO ASCENTS – AND WHERE THEY HAVE ALEX HAS BEEN THERE. WHAT IS SHOWCASED IS PART OF THE SCOPE OF THE VAST AMOUNT OF CLIMBING POSSIBLE, WITH THOUSANDS OF ROUTES BETWEEN 5000m AND 7000m. ALEX BEING ALEX KEEPS THE FINEST STUFF TO THOSE WHO HAVE INVESTED THE MOST LOOKING FOR THEM, BUT FOR ANYONE AT ANY STAGE IN THEIR CLIMBING THERE ARE ROUTES RANGING FROM ACCLIMATION PEAKS TO SERIOUS HIMALAYAN OBJECTIVES.

BEYOND ALL THIS THOUGH, SICHUAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE IS A RECORD OF WHAT RIGHT NOW EXISTS, AND IS A BODY OF INFORMATION PERHAPS UNEQUALLED IN THE CLIMBING LEXICON. THIS IS ARGUABLY THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE RECORD OF OTHERWISE BARELY RECORDED PEAKS, EXPLICITLY FOR THE CLIMBER. UNLIKE THE EXCELLENT IMAGES TAKEN FROM SUMMITS THAT SHOW OTHER SUMMITS RISING ABOVE CLOUDS, ALEX SHOWS US WHAT LIES BELOW THE CLOUDS SO WE CAN PLAN HOW TO GET THERE.

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