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LIKE ROCK MUSIC, EXPEDITIONS NEVER HAVE BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE MEANT FOR PEOPLE WANTING THE ORDINARY. THE POINT OF GOING FAR AWAY FOR A LONG TIME TO DO SOMETHING YOUR FRIENDS DON’T REALLY GET IS TO BE APART FROM ORDINARY VALUES AND EXPECTATIONS IN EXCHANGE FOR NEW – OFTEN HIGHER – ONES.

NOT EVERYONE HEARS THIS CALL, AND SOME TRY TO BRING HOME WITH THEM OR MINIMIZE THE TIME THEY ACTUALLY SPEND OUT THERE, NEVER LETTING GO OF NORMALITY AT ALL, NEVER LEAVING SIGHT OF THE LIGHTS OF HOME AND KNOWING THEY WILL BE HOME AGAIN IN TIME TO NOT MISS MUCH. CURRENT INDUSTRY TRENDS OVERWHELMINGLY PANDER TO THIS BECAUSE IT FITS WHAT A MASS MARKET LIKES, BUT EVERY YEAR IT FURTHER DRIVES AWAY AND ALIENATES CLIMBERS WHO WANT OTHERWISE, FOR WHOM INDUSTRIAL MOUNTAINEERING IS JUST AS MUCH PART OF THE NORMAL WORLD AS REALITY TV,  SPONSORED SPORT AND RESORT HOLIDAYS.

THESE ARE OUR PEOPLE.

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OUR TEAMS ARE OUR REAL SUCCESSES – FITTING TOGETHER MISFITS TO DO STUFF IN PLACES WHERE BEING NORMAL IS A DISADVANTAGE. NORMAL OBJECTIVES WITH NORMAL GEAR IN NORMAL WAYS FOR NORMAL REASONS DOESN’T WORK SOMEWHERE LIKE XINJIANG OR NORTH EASTERN TIBET. OUR TEAMS PULL TOGETHER UNIQUE SKILL SETS FOR THINGS THAT CAN’T BE DONE BY NORMAL THINKING, WHERE A DIVERSITY OF THINKING MATTERS JUST AS MUCH AS SHARED FOCUS.

NORMAL PEOPLE DON’T HEAR ABOUT OUR TRIPS, THEY SCROLL PAST THE WEIRD NAME AND BRIGHT GRAPHICS, DISMISS OUR CONTROVERSIAL DESTINATIONS, DON’T SEE WHAT THE GEAR DOES AND AREN’T SEARCHING THE JOURNALS OR FLYING OVER GOOGLE EARTH LOOKING IN THE FRINGES. THE CLIMBING MEDIA DON’T COVER WHAT WE DO SO IF THAT’S A SOURCE OF INFORMATION WE ARE IN THE BLINDSPOT, AND JUST LIKE THE STADIUM MUSIC FANS WHO DON’T SEE THE GIGS IN THE SMALL CLUBS, OUR TEAMSTERS ARE GLAD FOR OUR FILTERS TO KEEP THE INDUSTRY AWAY.

OUR TEAMSTERS COME FROM ALL PLACES AND BACKGROUNDS, AND REPRESENT NO DEFINABLE ECONOMIC STATUS, POLITICS, AGE OR SOCIAL GROUP. IT’S TRUE WOMEN ARE UNDERREPRESENTED, ESPECIALLY COMING ON THEIR OWN TERMS, BUT THIS IS GRADUALLY SHIFTING AS THE PLACES MANY OF OUR TEAMSTERS COME FROM CHANGE AND WOMEN THINK OUTSIDE OLD VALUES.

OUR TEAMS ARE TRUE TEAMS, THAT ARE SELF-SUFFICIENT, SELF-DIRECTING AND CLIMB AS TEAMS. WE COOK AND EAT TOGETHER, SHARE THE LOADS, SHARE THE CLIMBING AND LET PERSONAL EXPERTISE AND JUDGEMENT COME TO THE FOR, SO TEAMS ARE GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS BECAUSE THE PARTS CAN FIND WAYS TO EXTEND THEMSELVES IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT DEMANDS IT. WE RUN ON BIG IDEAS AND BRAZEN THINKING AND OPEN DISCUSSION AND RADICAL AUTHENTICITY, BECAUSE THE PLACES WE GO HAVE NO ESTABLISHED NORMS, STYLE NAZIS OR THOUGHT POLICE. 

EVERY TEAM IS ENGAGING – WE MAKE SURE OF IT, BY ALLOWING IDEAS AND IDIOSYNCHRASIES TO PLAY OUT AS ONLY EXPEDITION CLIMBING CAN. THE GREAT FAILING OF INDUSTRIAL CLIMBING IS HOW IT SHUFFLES PEOPLE INTO LINE IN WHAT SHOULD BE THE GREATEST POSSIBLE EXERCISE IN AUTONOMY, AND TO SET TEAMS IN MOTION DOING WHAT THEY WANT WITHOUT THE CONTAINMENT OF INDUSTRY IS THE REASON FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS EXISTS.

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