SIMPLIFY

THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO REDUCE THE WEIGHT YOU CARRY IS TO SIMPLIFY THINGS, AND IF IT’S NOT YOUR FIRST LINE OF SHEDDING MASS THEN YOU HAVE BEEN FOOLED. DO NOT FALL INTO THE THINKING THAT LIGHTER STUFF MEANS YOU CAN TAKE MORE OF IT, AS THIS IS A MARKETING DEVICE CONTRIVED TO PLAY ON THE MENTALITY THAT MONEY FIXES THE PROBLEM.

WEIGHT IS AN ERRONEOUS TERM TO USE FOR EXPEDITION CLIMBING, THE TERM MASS BEING THE CORRECT ONE. THE ALGORITHYM IS TO CARRY LESS – NOT MORE STUFF THAT IS LIGHTER – WHERE LESS WEIGHT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF LESS STUFF, LESS VOLUME, LESS MOVING PARTS AND LESS COMPLEXITY.

TIME AND AGAIN WE SEE CLIMBERS WITH VERY LIGHT BITS OF GEAR, WHO HAVE STILL NOT ADDRESSED THE BASICS OF WHAT THEY NEED. WE REGULARLY SEE LIGHTWEIGHT GEAR USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR LACK OF TECHNIQUE

THIS ANTI-SIMPLICITY IS SEEN ACROSS THE SPECTRUM FROM CLOTHING TO STOVES, HARDWARE AND PACKS, AND EXAMPLES FILL THE TRAILS AND ROUTES OF THE MOUNTAINS OF THOSE WHO BOUGHT INTO IT, CARRYING ALL THE PIECES TO NO REAL ADVANTAGE.

WE OFTEN SEE OVER-COMPLEX ROPE WORK, OFTEN MIXED WITH SHINY GEAR AS SOME KIND OF PSEUDO-SOLUTION. THESE ROPE SYSTEMS VERY RARELY PASS THE TEST OF BEING USED IN THE DARK WITH BIG MITTS AND 1000kcals INTO DEFICIT, USUALLY BECOMING A CLUSTERFUCK OF FUMBLING, SEARCHING, REMEMBERING AND TWEAKING.

THE BEST METHODS ARE SIMPLE NOT BY DESIGN BUT BY DEFAULT, BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY FOR THE BRAIN TO PUT INTO ACTION. GOOD SYSTEMS HAVE A SINGLE LOGIC STREAM, AN INTUITIVENESS THAT IS VISUALLY OR TACTILY REFERENCED AND LEVELS OF FAIL SAFES, THAT INHERENTLY MEAN THE FEWEST MOVING PARTS.

ON A TEAM, THE ONE MEMBER WHO SUCCUMBS TO POINTLESS COMPLEXITY INFECTS EVERYBODY ELSE WITH THE EFFECTS OF THEIR MINDSET. AS ALPINISM IS A TEAM VENTURE, ANY ‘SYSTEM’ IS THE TEAMS SYSTEM, SO ANY ASPECT THAT IS MORE INVOLVED THAN IT SHOULD BE INCREASES THE COMPLEXITY OF THE WHOLE. THE CLASSIC EXAMPLE IS THE CLIMBER WHO THINKS THEY NEED TEN STEPS TO RIG EVERY ABSEIL, WHO SLOWS DOWN EVERYBODY ELSE AT WHAT IS OFTEN THE MOST CRITICAL TIME. BY THINKING THEY ARE MAKING THEMSELVES SAFER THEY HAVE NOW EXPONENTIALLY INCREASED THE RISK FOR ALL.

THE THINKING CLIMBER FOLLOWS BRUCE LEE’S MEME, OF BEING CONCERNED MORE WITH LEARNING ONE KICK A THOUSAND TIMES THAN A THOUSAND KICKS ONCE. BY FINDING THE SIMPLEST SYSTEM AND MAKING IT AUTOMATIC THROUGH PRACTICE, THE CLIMBER TAKES IN A SKILL RATHER THAN A BUNCH OF THINGS THEY KNOW THE NAME OF.

SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUTS WITH EXOTIC METHODS TWEAKED TO INFINITE VARIATIONS, MOSTLY FLOGGED BY PEOPLE WITH A VESTED INTEREST IN THE TRAFFIC. WHEN QUESTIONED, THINGS GO DOWN A RABBIT HOLE OF SHIFTING GOAL POSTS AND OVER-SPECIFICITY, NEVER CIRCLING BACK TO THE FUNDAMENTAL REASONING OF THE PRINCIPLES OF METHODOLOGY WHICH ARE THE FEWEST BITS, WITH THE MOST ADAPTABILITY, USED IN THE SIMPLEST OF WAYS.

WHILST WE DON’T SUGGEST GOING BACK TO THINGS LIKE THE BODY BELAY, THE SHOULDER ABSEIL, BOTHY BAG AND THE MUNTER RAPPEL FOR BIG ALPINE USE, WE DO THINK ALL CLIMBERS ARE BETTER OFF TRAINING IN THAT DIRECTION. RATHER THAN ‘UPSKILLING’ WITH MORE COMPLEXITY, MORE BLING, MORE MOVING PARTS AND MORE STEPS TO THE PROCESS, WE ARGUE MORE IS TO BE USEFULLY LEARNED BY TRAINING TOWARDS MORE SPARTAN AND ‘PRIMITIVE’ MEANS.

UPDATE THE BRAIN AND EYE TO HAVE MORE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE, AND TO PERCEIVE THINGS MORE THEIR PARSIMONY RATHER THAN THE APPEARENCE OF SOPHISTICATION THAT LEAVES THINGS OPEN-ENDED AND UNRESOLVED. A SECRET OF ALPINISM IS THAT WHEN ALL SHIT HITS ALL FANS, IT WILL BE THE MOST ‘PRIMITIVE’ OF METHODS THAT SAVE THE DAY, THIS IS GUARANTEED.

INTERESTINGLY, IN SOME CIRCLES, SIMPLICITY OF METHOD IS COMPETITIVE, THINKING HERE OF CANYONING AND GUIDING WHERE THE CONDITIONS ENFORCE IT. CANYONING ESPECIALLY REQUIRES VERY SOPHISTICATED SYSTEM – ALL RELEASABLE AND RETRIEVABLE – AND ALL OF WHICH ARE ACHEIVED WITH A FEW BINERS, A FEW TWISTS OF THE HAND, AND ONLY TWO OR THREE KNOTS. TRAINED CANYONERS REGULARLY DESCEND ROUTES FAR MORE COMPLEX THAN ANYTHING ALPINISM CAN THROW UP, MOVING FASTER AND SMOOTHER AND TRULY MASTERING THE 50% OF MOUNTAINEERING THAT IS THE DESCENT.

‘SIMPLE’ NEED NOT MEAN A ZEN-LIKE FIXATION ON DOING WITHOUT – BUT THAT DOESN’T HURT EITHER IF THE CLIMBER IS UP TO IT. THE CLIMBER WHO IS THE MOST ABLE TO DO MORE WITH LESS ADDS DISPROPORTIONATELY MORE TO THE TEAM THAN THEIR PART IMPLIES, BY CONTRIBUTING THE TIME AND EFFICACY THAT HELPS FREE UP THE WHOLE. VERY OFTEN THE ‘BEST’ ON A TEAM IS THE ONE WITH THE LEAST COMPLEXITY, AS IT TRANSFERS TO ALL ASPECTS BE IT CLIMBING, PLANNING OR LOGISTICS.

EXTRAPOLATED TO A TEAM, AS A GROUP ALL HELL-BENT ON SIMPLICITY, AND YOU ARE CRACKING THE CODE OF THE GREATEST CLIMBING TEAMS OVER TIME. ALMOST NO GREAT ASCENTS ARE THE RESULT OF COMPLEXITY WHEN IT BOILS DOWN TO THE ACTUAL CLIMBING, BUT INSTEAD ARE THE RESULT OF BEING LIGHT AND FAST WHICH ARE THE PRODUCTS OF SIMPLICITY.

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.