CHARLIE FOWLER IS OUR TOTEM ANIMAL

WE MET CHARLIE TWICE. BOTH TIMES IN KANGDING IN THE EARLY 2000s, A COUPLE OF MONTHS APART. THE FIRST TIME WE DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHO HE WAS, BUT THE SECOND TIME WE DID, AND THERE WAS THE SPARK OF RECOGNITION THAT USED TO ARC BETWEEN TRAVELLERS IN THAT PART OF CHINA IN THOSE DAYS, WHERE ANY OTHER FOREIGN FACE IN SOMEWHERE LIKE KANGDING WAS A THING IF YOU SAW THEM MORE THAN ONCE.

WE WOULDN’T SAY WE KNEW HIM AT ALL, BUT WE DID GET TO SEE HIM IN HIS ELEMENT, MOSTLY UNCLOUDED BY HIS ENIGMA. WE TALKED ABOUT PLACES FURTHER OUT, UP ONTO THE TIBETAN PLATEAU AND SHARED WHAT WE KNEW. HE HAD BEEN FURTHER NORTH AND WE HAD BEEN FURTHER SOUTH, BOTH POKING AT THE CLOSED BORDER. HIS COMMAND OF TIBETAN AND MANDARIN WERE IMPRESSIVE, AS WAS HIS ADAPTABILITY TO THE CULTURE.

WE KNEW NOTHING REALLY OF HIS ESCAPADES AND ROUTES IN THE US, ONLY AS ONE OF A FEW FRONTIER CLIMBERS IN THE LOOSE NETWORK OF CLIMBERS HANGING AROUND SOUTHWEST CHINA, AS ONE OF THE AMERICANS AMONGST A SCENE THAT INCLUDED A GOOD MIX OF RUSSIANS, JAPANESE, CANADIANS, IRANIANS, FRENCH, FORMER SOVIETS, SOME BRITS (INCLUDING THE OTHER FOWLER, MICK) AND OF COURSE CHINESE. THESE WERE GOOD DAYS – MAYBE THE LAST – BEFORE THINGS RETREATED INTO NORMALITY, AND FOR NOW THE LAST TIME WHEN ANY ‘SCENE’ AROUND GOOD ALPINE ETHICS EXISTED.

THE NEXT WE KNEW OF HIM WAS, OF COURSE, THAT HE WAS MISSING. AT FIRST BEFORE ANY NAMES WERE MENTIONED, BUT ANYONE HANGING AROUND THOSE PLACES COULD MAKE THE GUESS. RUMOURS SPREAD THAT IT WAS MISADVENTURE – EASTERN TIBET BACK THEN WAS STILL SOMEWHAT LAWLESS – AND IT WAS ONLY WHEN THE INVESTIGATION CONNECTED THE DOTS THAT IT WAS CLEAR IT WAS A CLIMBING ACCIDENT. OUR OWN ADMINISTRATIVE GURU, JIYUE, OVERSAW THE SEARCH IN A STORY THAT READS LIKE A DETECTIVE NOVEL, JUST AS HE HAD LEAD SEARCHES FOR ALL THE MISSING CLIMBERS THAT PUNCTUATE CLIMBING IN THAT REGION IN THOSE TIMES.

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WE ARE NOT BEING FUNNY WHEN WE CALL CHARLIE OUR ‘TOTEM ANIMAL’, BECAUSE HIS ENIGMA STILL INFORMS MOST OF WHAT WE DO AND HIS PRESENCE IS STILL OUT THERE. NOT IN SOME SUPERNATURAL WAY, BUT FOR REAL, AS THE PEOPLE HE MET STILL MENTION HIM, OCCASIONAL PITONS STILL SHOW UP AND HE STILL SETS THE STANDARDS FOR ‘PIRATE ALPINISM’. WE THINK WORLD ALPINISM HAS A LOT TO RELEARN FROM CHARLIES EXAMPLE, AS A CLIMBER, AN ADVENTURER AND AS PROTAGONIST OF STYLE.

WE KNOW WELL THE LAST PEOPLE WHO SAW HIM, AS THEY ARE STILL IN LITANG, AND THEY KEPT THE NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS AND THEIR OWN PHOTOS FROM THE TIME HE WAS THERE AND DURING THE SEARCH. WE ALSO REMEMBER HIS PLACE IN KANGDING, THOUGH IT LONG PASSED THROUGH SEVERAL HANDS AND THESE DAYS SEEMS CLOSED, JUST AS THE JIAOTONG FANDIAN IN CHENGDU IS NOT THE SAME PLACE IT WAS BACK THEN.

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THE PIRATE ALPINIST

IN THE EARLY 2000s ALMOST ALL APINISM IN THE EASTERN HIMALAYA WAS PIRATE STYLE, BECAUSE CONNECTING TO THE AUTHORITIES WAS SO HAPHAZARD. YES, YOU COULD GO TO THE OFFICES IN CHENGDU AND GO THROUGH THE DISJOINTED STEPS OF GETTING THE PERMITS – OR YOU COULD GET ON WITH THE CLIMBING KNOWING YOU MIGHT WELL BE RUMBLED ALONG THE WAY, AND SETTLE THINGS THEN WITH SOME TOKEN FEES, A BOTTLE OF WHISKY AND A FEW PACKETS OF MARLBOROS. THIS SYSTEM IS LONG GONE, THOUGH NOT EVERY ONE GOT THE MEMO, AND WAS NEVER THE BLATANT FLOUTING OF RULES THAT IT MIGHT BE REMEBERED AS.

CHARLIE EXEMPLIFIED HOW TO DO IT RIGHT, TO KEEP MOST PEOPLE HAPPY MOST OF THE TIME. THE AUTHORITIES MAIN CONCERN WAS THE BRIGANDRY THAT PLAGUED THAT AREA THEN – THERE HAD BEEN INCIDENTS, WE EXPERIENCED THEM FIRSTHAND – AND LITANG AND KANGDING HAD REPUTATIONS LONG BEFORE ANY CLIMBERS SHOWED UP. CHARLIE KNEW ALL THIS.

WHERE HE EXCELLED WAS IN UNDERSTANDING THE PLACES HE WENT, LEARNING THE LANGUAGES, SPENDING THE TIME, AND STAYING LOW ON THE RADAR. THOUGH HE DIED IN GENYEN EVIDENCE OF HIS CLIMBING HAS TURNED UP FAR BEYOND THAT, IN PLACES THAT TO THIS DAY ARE SENSITIVE, REMOTE AND VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN TO CLIMBERS. THAT HE GETTING OUT THERE THEN, BACK WHEN ROADS WERE UNSEALED AND CHECKPOINTS WERE EVERYWHERE, WASN’T A MATTER OF LUCK, IT WAS MATTER OF INSIGHT, UNDERSTANDING AND COURAGE AT A LEVEL CLIMBING NOW BARELY KNOWS.

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OF COURSE, THESE SORT OF SHENANNIGANS IMBUE CHARLIES DEATH, NOT THAT IT KILLED HIM – HE WAS AVALANCHED ON THE EAST SIDE OF GENYEN PEAK, NO ADMINSTRATION COULD HAVE CHANGED THAT – BUT IT WAS THE FINAL STRAW IN A PLACE ALREADY DIM IN THE EYES OF THE AUTHORITIES. GENYEN WAS ALREADY TOO CLOSE TO CLOSED ‘INNER’ TIBET, THE LOCALS ALREADY TOO RESTIVE AND THE HISTORY ALREADY TOO VOLATILE – WE HAVE FOUND PILES OF SUBMACHINE GUN SHELLS FROM THE 70s – AND IN THE CHINA OF THE 2000s THIS WASN’T THE SORT OF FOREIGN ATTENTION THEY WANTED.

A SPATE OF FURTHER DEATHS INCLUDING MICAH, JOHNNY AND WADE AND THE HUNGARIANS ON RONGZHENSHAN – THE SEARCHES ALL LEAD BY JIYUE AND ALL DONE ABOVE BOARD – BOUGHT THE WHOLE THING TO A HEAD, AND THE ERA OF PIRATE ALPINISM IN EASTERN TIBET DREW TO A CLOSE. JIYUE AND HIS ILK AT THE SMA DID THE RIGHT THING AND MADE PERMITS SO EASY THAT CLIMBING UNDER THE RADAR WASN’T NECESSARY, AND CHARLIE BECAME THE EXAMPLE OF WHAT A SYSTEM SHOULD ALLOW, NOT FORCE UNDERGROUND.

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WE THINK CHARLIE EXEMPLIFIED GOOD ALPINISM, BECAUSE HE DIDN’T DODGE THE RULES, HE WENT BEYOND THEM. UNLIKE SOME WHO USED THE PIRATE METHOD TO COVER FOR THEIR IGNORANCE OF LOCAL CUSTOMS, LANGAGE AND ECONOMY, CHARLIE WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND AND ENGAGED DEEPLY AT A LEVEL WITH THE PEOPLE AND PLACES HE WAS IN. HE DIDN’T AVOID THINGS LIKE PERMITS, HE AVOIDED THE BUREAUCRACY, AND WHEN THINGS CAUGHT UP AS THEY OFTEN DID, PLAYED THE GAME FAIRLY AND PAYED FOR FORGIVENESS AND WAS THOUGHT HIGHLY FOR IT.

CHARLIE ALSO BOUGHT BIG ALPINISM TO THE TABLE, FORTIFYING ALL THIS PIRATE STUFF WITH AN EXTENSIVE HISTORY OF 8000m ASCENTS AND HARD WALLS. AGAIN, HIS ASCENTS IN EASTERN TIBET WERE NOT THE DABBLINGS OF A DELINQUENT, BUT THE NATURAL EXTENSION OF THE METHODS OF FIRST CLASS ALPINISM, WHERE THE EXECUTION OF SKILL NEEDS NEW SETTINGS.

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WE THINK CHARLIE MARKED A HIGHPOINT OF SORTS, WHERE THE SPIRIT OF ALPINISM WAS EXPRESSED IN A WAY THAT HAS FALLEN OUT OF FASHION. THOSE WHO KNOW US WELL KNOW WE DON’T OFTEN USE TERMS LIKE ‘SPIRIT’ BUT IN THIS CASE IT FITS A SORT OF CLIMBING THAT THE LABELS OF ABILITY, VISION, EXPERIENCE AND PRAGMATISM DON’T FULLY COVER.

CHARLIE WAS THE TYPE THAT SHOWS UP AND GETS ON WITH IT, NOT WAITING FOR SPONSORS, GOVERNMENTS, GRANTS AND FILM COMPANIES TO PAY THE WAY AND PACKAGE THE RESULT. CHARLIE PUT STYLE ABOVE NUMBERS, WHETHER THOSE NUMBERS BE TICKLISTS, INCREMENTS OF ALTITUDE, DOLLARS OR MILES, AND STILL DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH HE CLIMBED OUT THERE AND MAYBE NEVER WILL. HE CLIMBED WITH THE EYE OF THE EXPLORER, WORKING OUT THE WHOLE BACKEND OF THE APPROACH, AND CLIMBING WHAT LOOKED GOOD RATHER THAN SOME EXCLUSIVE OBJECTIVE. CHARLIES SORT OF ALPINISM WAS A LONG WAY FROM THE COOKIE-CUTTER STUFF OFTEN SEEN, HE WAS PATCHING TOGETHER A MIX OF FOREIGN, LOCAL AND INVENTED STUFF RATHER THAN BRINGING THE WHOLE CIRCUS OVER WITH HIM.

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THOSE TIMES WON’T COME AGAIN, BUT SIMILAR POTENTIAL STILL EXISTS; TO GO INTO BARELY KNOWN RANGES AND CLIMB NEW STUFF IN NEW WAYS. CHARLIE ONTO SCRAPED THE EDGES OF WHAT THE EASTERN HIMALAYA HAS, LET ALONE WHAT’S OUT IN XINJIANG, THE NORTH KARAKORAM AND THE NORTH WEST.

WHAT HAS CHANGED IS WHAT CLIMBERS HAVE BECOME, SUFFERING ALMOST TWO DECADES OF REIGNING IT IN SINCE CHARLIE AND CHRISTINE DIED. THE NUMBER OF NEW ROUTES AND PEAKS THAT THEY WOULD DO IN A SINGLE TRIP IS ABOUT WHAT NOW GETS DONE A YEAR, AND THE CULTURE OF EXPLORATORY ALPINISM IS NOW REPLACED WITH SOMETHING THAT SEEMS TO NOT SEE BEYOND SOCIAL MEDIA.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THESE PEAKS AND RANGES WILL SIT QUIETLY WAITING, FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF CLIMBERS TO FIND NEW FRONTIERS.