2025 EXPEDITIONS BOOKING NOW

OUR EXPEDITIONS CANNOT BE BOUGHT OFF A RACK, CLICKED TO BUY OR JOINED ON A WHIM, AS EACH IS UNIQUE TO THE CLIMBERS AND OBJECTIVES INVOLVED. EACH EXPEDITION IS A BLOCK OF TIME AND SPACE THAT WILL NOT COME AGAIN, AND NEEDS TIME TO WHITTLE INTO SHAPE THE MANY OVERLAPPING PARTS. THIS MEANS WE SCHEDULE THINGS YEARS IN ADVANCE, SOME TRIPS OVER FIVE OR SIX, SO WE HAVE LOTS OF TRIPS IN THE PROCESS, BUT A FINITE TIMELINE TO WORK WITH, SO ENCOURAGE CLIMBERS TO GET IN TOUCH TO SET THE WHEELS THEY WANT IN MOTION.

IN 2025 WE HAVE LARGE BLOCKS DEVOTED TO VARIOUS REGIONS AND OBJECTIVES, CAPITALIZING ON CONDITIONS ACROSS AN AREA THE SIZE OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE. WITHIN THIS REGION ARE THOUSANDS OF OBJECTIVES INCLUDING THE WORLDS HIGHEST, REMOTEST, MOST OBSCURE AND LEAST ATTEMPTED MOUNTAINS, THAT AWAIT THE RIGHT CLIMBERS WITH THE RIGHT STUFF TO CLIMB THEM.

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THE NORTH KARAKORUM

IN SOME PLACES, THE IDENTIFYING AND LOCATING OF A NEW PEAK ABOVE 6500m IS A BIG DEAL, ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORUM WE WALK PAST DOZENS ON THE WAY TO SOMETHING ELSE. UNCLIMBED OBJECTIVES WELL INTO THE 7000m RANGE STILL DOT THE TRANS-KARAKORUM AS DO SIGNIFICANT PEAKS WITHIN THE 8000m MASSIFS.

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NORTH KARAKORUM 8000m

THE CHINA SIDES OF K2, THE GASHERBRUMS & BROAD PEAK HAVE HAD EFFECTIVELY NO INTERACTION FROM CLIMBERS FOR A DECADE AND A HALF (ASIDE FROM US IN 2024), WITH EVERYTHING ASIDE FROM K2 COMBINED BEING COUNTABLE ON ONE HAND. WHERE THE FUTURE FOR OTHER 8000m ASCENTS IS THAT OF MINOR INCREMENTS AND CROWDING, THESE ASPECTS HAVE HUGE SCOPE FOR ENTIRE NEW FORMS OF 8000m CLIMBING TO BE DEVELOPED.

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TIBET

25 YEARS OF TRIPS TO TIBET AND WE HAVE NEVER REPEATED AN OBJECTIVE, AND STILL WE HAVEN’T SCRATCHED THE SURFACE OF 1% OF WHAT IS OUT THERE. TIBET STILL HAS HUGE AREAS OFF LIMITS, AND NEW AREAS QUIETLY OPENING UP ALL THE TIME, IN A PLACE UNTOUCHED BY ANY CLIMBING INDUSTRY DESPITE A VAST MOUNTAIN CULTURE. TIBET BASICALLY HAS THE OBJECTIVE TO MATCH ANY CLIMBERS IDEAS, FROM HIMALAYAN BIG WALLS, TO EASY FIRST ASCENTS, AND OF COURSE THE GRANDEST OBJECTIVES CLIMBING CAN COME UP WITH.

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THE GOBI

WE GO TO THE GOBI TO CLIMB ICE, IN WHAT IS POSSIBLY THE MOST INCREDIBLE PLACE TO FIND IT, DEEP IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN DESERT AT AN EXTREME TIME OF YEAR. THESE ARE PLACES FAR OUTSIDE THE NORMAL ICE CLIMBING SCENE, ACCESSED VIA FROZEN RIVERS DOWN HIDDEN CANYONS INTO BIZARRE DR SEUSS LANDSCAPES POPULATED BY HERDERS, TO CLIMB ENORMOUS PRISTINE ICE FALLS FED BY CRYSTAL SPRINGS IN AN OTHERWISE ARID LANDSCAPE.

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XINJIANG

TIME SPENT ON GOOGLE EARTH SHOWS ANYONE THAT THE AREA AROUND K2 IS ONLY A SMALL PART OF XINJIANG, AND THAT THE PROVINCE IS CRISS-CROSSED WITH OTHER +6000m RANGES AND ISOLATED MASSIFS. THE TIEN SHAN, PAMIR, KUNLUN AND INDEPENDENT RANGES OFFER CLIMBING IN WAYS UNLIKE ANYTHING COMMERCIAL INDUSTRY KNOWS, WITH A DEGREE OF EXPLORATION BARELY SEEN SINCE HALF A CENTURY AGO.

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ALPINISM X

BETWEEN THESE DOTS IS WHERE THINGS REALLY GET INTERESTING, MEANING THE POTENTIAL FOR ASCENTS IN PLACES AND STYLES THAT AS YET HAVE NO LABEL. ALL OF THE AFOREMENTIONED OBJECTIVES STARTED AS ‘X’ CONCEPTS THAT NEEDED TO BE INVENTED AND PIECED TOGETHER, AND THE LIMITS FOR MORE OF THIS ARE LIMITS OF MIND AND WHEREWITHAL RATHER THAN LIMITS OF TOPOGRAPHY. THESE ARE TRIPS WE DON’T EXPOSE OPENLY, TO THINGS THAT THE CLIMBING WORLD DOESN’T HAVE ITS COLLECTIVE HEAD AROUND, AND THAT NEEDS UNIQUE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT.

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JAPAN

JAPAN IS THE PLACE FOR 3000m CLIMBING, EITHER AS PREPARATION FOR BIGGER THINGS OR AS OBJECTIVES OF ITS OWN. THIS IS A LOGICAL STEP FOR ANY CLIMBER WHO HAS NEVER STEPPED OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY, AS A PLACE TO TRY WILD AND SERIOUS ASCENTS WITHOUT THE LARGE MECHENATIONS OF A FULL EXPEDITION. DECADES OF ELITE JAPANESE CLIMBERS HAVE WORKED ON THEIR STUFF IN JAPANS VARIOUS RANGES, WITH A PROVEN TRACK RECORD TO THIS DAY IN THE REST OF THE WORLD. FOR US JAPAN IS A FUN PLACE FOR SERIOUS CLIMBING BECAUSE TRIPS CAN BE ULTRA EFFICIENT, NEEDING NO CONCERNS AROUND ALTITUDE, HUGE DISTANCES AND COMPLEX LOGISTICS.

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FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS ARE THE ONLY ONES RUNNING TRIPS TO THESE PLACES, OPERATING WITH A TINY FOOTPRINT AND IN COMPLETE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOCAL PEOPLE. WE LIMIT TEAMS TO SMALL NUMBERS THAT HAVE NO INDUSTRIAL IMPACT, AND KEEP A HIGH DEGREE OF ADAPTABILITY AND AGILITY TO EXPLORE AND OPTIMIZE ON CONDITIONS.

NUMBERS ARE LIMITED, LIFE IS SHORT, THE BEST STUFF WE DON’T TALK ABOUT PUBLICLY.