Month: July 2024

ELITE ALPINISM WITHOUT KAZUYA AND KENRO BECOMES A DIFFERENT THING NOW, AS THEY REPRESENTED AN EXTREME LEADING EDGE OF STYLE AND COMMITMENT THAT HAS FEW OTHERS IN ITS COHORT. AT A TIME WHERE HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING HAS DEVOLVED INTO MOSTLY COMMERCIALISM AND A GAME OF STATISTICS, THEIR TYPE OF CLIMBING KEPT THE CURVE SET BY KURTYKA, MACINTYRE AND FOWLER ALOFT.

THIS PROFILE IS BASICALLY THE DESCRIPTION OF A FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS CLIMBER; ONE WHO HAS DARED TO CLICK ON THE SILLY NAME, HAS MADE IT PAST THE INKY & GLITCHY GRAPHICS AND SPELLING, HAS SEEN PAST THE STUFF ABOUT CROWLEY, XINJIANG AND THE POOR STATE OF 8000m CLIMBING, HAS SALIVATED OVER THE EXOTIC AND QUEERLY COLOURED GEAR, AND WITH EACH TURN TAKING THEM FURTHER FROM MAINSTREAM CLIMBING HAS FELT MORE AND MORE THIS IS THE PLACE FOR THEM

THESE DAYS THINGS CAN BE SO LIGHT AND EFFICIENT IT IS AMAZING HOW FAR UP THINGS CAN BE LIVABLE, BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN THE SORT OF CAMPS BIG ALPINISM WAS ONCE DEPENDANT ON. NOW, WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF SUPPLIES – WHAT WILL FIT IN A SMALL STUFF SACK – HIGH CAMPS CAN BE PERFECTLY HABITABLE IN PLACES ONCE RESERVED FOR SPARTAN BIVYS, PUSHING THE OLD MEME TO NEW POSSIBILITIES THAT ‘WHAT YOU CAN CLIMB DEPENDS ON HOW LONG YOU CAN STAY UP THERE’

OUR DIALOGUE WITH THE AUTHORITIES HAS BEEN AN EXPEDITION IN ITSELF, AS WE SINGLE-HANDEDLY REOPENED THE CHINA SIDE OF THE KARAKORAM TO CLIMBERS. THERE WERE TIMES WHEN IT APPEARED THINGS WERE GOOD TO GO ONLY TO BE CLOSED AGAIN, OR FOR THE CLIMBING COMMUNITY TO HAVE NO UPTAKE AS THINGS HAVE STALLED OR BEEN DISTRACTED THERE. THROUGHOUT ALL THIS, IN CONCERT WITH OTHER EXPERTS IN THE FIELD, WE KEPT INNOVATING AND REFINING AND TESTING, FOR THE TIME WHEN ALL THE PIECES CONVERGED TO OCCUR

ON ALL OUR TRIPS WE ADVOCATE LAYING OUT THE STUFF TO BE USED, THEN BITS REMOVED TO SCRAPE DOWN TO THE MINIMUM THAT CAN BE GOT AWAY WITH. AS THE PEOPLE ARE WHAT SETS THE EXPEDITION – NOT THE GEAR – EXTRA STUFF WON’T MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE, WITH SIMPLICITY TELLING US MORE ABOUT A CLIMBER THAN HIDING ISSUES BEHIND A VEIL OF COMPLEXITY.

THE ACID TEST OF ANY CLIMBER IS HOW THEY RESPOND TO THE SUBJECT OF PISS BOTTLES. ONLY THOSE* WHO HAVE SPENT BAD NIGHTS IN OPEN BIVYS, SWAYING PORTALEDGES, TIED IN TO CRAMPED LEDGES AND STUFFED INTO TINY TENTS KNOW THE CRITERIA TO WHICH A GOOD PISS BOTTLE MUST BE HELD, AND HOW EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULT IT IS TO FIND ONE THAT MEETS EXPECTATIONS. LIKE A GOOD CUP, THERE IS NOT SUBSTITUTE FOR THE RIGHT ONE, AND THE IDEA OF JUST GRABBING A GATORADE BOTTLE AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT ON THE WAY OUT OF TOWN IS THE CLEAREST SIGN OF AMATEURISM THAT EXISTS IN THE SPORT

WHAT APPEARS CRAZY TO THE PASSING OBSERVER CAN ACTUALLY BE CAREFULLY AND LOGICALLY PLANNED WITH A GREAT DEAL OF CONTINGENCY, EVEN TAKING WHAT APPEAR AS RISKS AND RETOOLING THINGS TO MAKE THEM SAFE. WE ALLOW THE ARMCHAIR GALLERY TO THINK ALL THIS IS MENTAL, THAT WE ARE COURTING DANGER OR INVITING CATASTROPHY, WHILST WE GET ON WITH THE VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS OF EXECUTING TRIPS TO PLACES WITH AN EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH LEVEL OF MITIGATION

IN A BIG WAY, ALPINISM IS VERY EXPERIMENTAL, WITH EVERY NEW ROUTE OR FIRST ATTEMPT AND EXPERIMENT IN TAKING ALREADY KNOWN FACTORS A BIT FURTHER. ALPINISM IS INHERENTLY EQUATION-BASED WHETHER IT BE STOVE FUEL, ALTITUDE GAIN, INSULATION OR COUNTLESS OTHER THINGS, SO GETTING SMARTER IS TO MAKE THIS EXPERIMENT OPEN ENDED RATHER THAN CONVERGENT ON A LIMIT

WE NOW HAVE THE LIGHTEST AND MOST FUNCTIONAL HIGH ALTITUDE EQUIPMENT EVER ASSEMBLED, TO GO AND CLIMB WHEN AND WHERE THE RULES FROM ELSEWHERE DON’T APPLY. ALL THAT STUFF YOU SEE USED ON EVEREST etc IS FINE, BUT IT DOESN’T DO WHAT WE NEED IN THE NORTHERN KARAKORAM IN LATE AUTUMN. THE STUFF WE HAVE SPEAKS HUGELY OF THE COMPANIES THAT MAKE IT, AS THE DYNAMIC WAYS FORWARD IN AN INDUSTRY OTHERWISE GRINDING AWAY MOSTLY ON FUMES.