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BETTER ALPINISM IS UP TO ALL OF US, AND THAT MEANS FIRST ASCENTS. IN THE ERA OF HISTORY WITH THE MOST HIGH ALTITUDE TERRAIN ACCESSIBLE, THE ONLY EXCUSE FOR GETTING OUT INTO IT IS AN ABSENCE OF VISION OR WHEREWITHAL, POSSIBLY BOTH.

FIRST ASCENTS ARE SIMPLY REAL ALPINISM, BOTH THE RETURN TO EVERYONE’S INITIAL IMPULESE TO CLIMB, AND THE OBVIOUS OMEGA POINT OF EVERYTHING CLIMBING IS ABOUT. TO CLIMB WITHOUT ANY ASPIRATIONS FOR CLIMBING SOMETHING NEW IS TO SOMEHOW MISS THE POINT, IGNORING YOUR OWN POTENTIAL AS WELL AS THE FINE HISTORY OF THE SPORT.

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FIRST ASCENTS AND FIRST ASCENTS

NOT ALL FIRST ASCENTS ARE THE SAME, WITH FIRST ASCENTS IN THEMSELVES BEING A COMPLETE GENRE OF EXPERIENCE UNTO THEMSELVES. LIKEWISE TO THINK NOT ALL FIRST ASCENTS ARE CREATED EQUAL IS ALSO FAULTY LOGIC AS THE NOTION OF EQUALITY DOESN’T FIT, DESPITE THERE BEING HUGE VARIATION IN THE MATTER, RANGING FROM NEW ROUTES TO UNDOCUMENTED PEAKS.

AT ONE END OF THE FIRST ASCENT SPECTRUM ARE NEW ROUTES ON WELL KNOW PEAKS, OR EVEN JUST VARIATIONS ON EXISTING ONES. AT THE OTHER END, IS BEING THE FIRST TO CLIMB PEAKS THAT HAVE NEVER BEFORE BEEN ATTEMPTED, WHERE THE BAR CAN BE RAISED IN SPINAL TAP FASHION, TO MEAN PEAKS UNNAMED, UNSEEN, NOT EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT, AND IN SOME CASES NOT EVEN VISITED AT THE BASE. WE OFTEN COMMENT THAT IT IS ONE THING TO BE THE FIRST TO THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN, AND SOMETHING ELSE AGAIN TO BE THE FIRST TO THE BASE. 

BETWEEN THESE TWO BOOKENDS ARE COUNTLESS INCREMENTS IN THE SPECTRUM, REPRESENTING DIFFERENT HUES OF THE CLIMBING EXPERIENCE IN DIFFICULTY, COMMITMENT AND AUDACITY. A GENERAL BUT NOT ALWAYS CORRECT PARADIGM IS THAT THE MORE KNOWN A FIRST ASCENT THE HARDER THE CLIMBING CAN BE, WHILST THE MORE REMOTE AND OBSCURE THE MORE THE ASCENT’S DIFFICULTY IS SHARED WITH THE APPROACH AND BASIC SUSTAINMENT SIMPLY OUT OF NECESSITY. 

EXTREME ASCENTS CAN BE DONE WHEN BASECAMPS ARE ESTABLISHED AND WELL STAFFED, ROUTES ARE WELL DOCUMENTED AND EVEN POSSIBLY PREVIOUSLY ATTEMPTED, AND CLIMBERS CAN FOCUS 100% OF THEIR INTENT. AS THINGS GET FURTHER OUT, LESS KNOWN, LESS CONTINGENT AND MITIGATED AND FURTHER FROM ATTENTION, THE MORE ENERGY NEEDS TO BE SPREAD ACROSS MORE FIELDS AND THE MORE UNPREDICTABILITY CREEPS IN. THE FIRSTEST FIRST ASCENTS CAN HAVE SCANT DATA ON EVERYTHING DOWN TO THE CLIMATE, ACCESSIBILITY OF WATER AND RELIABILITY OF CARTOGRAPHY, AND TO THINK THAT IN THIS DAY ALL THIS CAN BE ANSWERED VIA SATELLITE IMAGES AND METEORLOGICAL MODELS IS TO BE VERY MISLED.

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EACH CLIMBER WILL HAVE THEIR OWN PARADIGM THAT SUITS THEM, AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN IDEA OF WHICH IT IS, WHILST IT’S THE MOST FUN THING WE KNOW OF TO WORK OUT BY DOING, IT HELPS TO NARROW THE FIELD A BIT WITH SOMETHING THAT TAKES YEARLY CYCLES, IS RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE, AND THAT BY IT’S NATURE DEMANDS SPECIALIZED SKILL SETS.

SOME CLIMBERS WILL FIND THE IDEA OF EVER-ASCENDING OBSCURITY TO BE FANTASTIC, THE STUFF OF LIFE AND SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE ‘TRUE SPIRIT OF ALPINISM’. LIKE PUNK KIDS THAT GET OFF ON BEING INTO THE MOST OBSCURE BANDS WITH THE MOST BIZARRE NAMES, IT IS THE DISTANCE FROM THE NORM THAT ATTRACTS THEM – WHILST TO OTHERS IT IS SIMPLU ABHORRENT. 

SO SOME ‘LAST GREAT PROBLEMS’ ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF MOUNTAINEERING LAW, PART OF THE FABRIC THAT HOLDS THE SPORT TOGETHER AS A SHARED CONCEPT AND IDENTITY. THESE FIRSTS ARE OFTEN INITIALLY MANIFEST BY LEGENDS IN THE SCENE, AND IT IS TO BE PART OF AN OPEN ENDED TRADITION TO BE CONCERNED WITH SEEING GREAT IDEAS BROUGHT TO FRUITION. THE COLLECTIVE VISIONS, REALIZATIONS AND NOT UNCOMMONLY, SACRIFICES, THAT GO WITH FIRST ASCENTS OF WELL KNOW OBJECTIVES IS WHAT GIVES MOUNTAINEERING ITS GRAVITY, AND IN SOMES CASES ITS MOMENTUM TO SEE IT EVOLVE ACROSS GENERATIONS OF CLIMBERS AS EACH BRINGS TO IT SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

WE THINK THIS SPECTRUM IS CLIMBING AT IT’S BEST, DESPITE ATTEMPTS TO WATER IT DOWN BY THE INCURSIONS OF ‘TROPHY’ FIRST ASCENTS CO-OPTING STYLES UNRELATED TO ALPINISM. A MATTER TO BE DISCUSSED ANOTHER TIME, ALL WE WILL SAY ABOUT IT HERE IS THAT IN OUR WORLD FIRST ASCENTS PERTAIN TO TERRAIN AND NO STYLE CAN CHANGE THAT, AND THAT ONE STYLE CAN BE BETTER THAN ANOTHER, DICTATED BY HOW ADAPTED TO THAT TERRAIN A CLIMBER IS.

ALL THIS SOUNDS EMBARRASSINGLY ESOTERIC, BUT IT GRAPHICALLY MANIFESTS COMPLETELY IN THE COLD, HARD WORLD OF HIGH MOUNTAINS – THE COLDER AND HARDER THE BETTER. FIRST ASCENTS ARE TOTALLY SELF-DETERMINED, SELF-SELECTED AND SELF-DIRECTED, AND OPEN TO ALL CLIMBERS, DESPITE VARIOUS INDUSTRIES MAKING IT APPEAR OTHERWISE. FIRST ASCENTS ARE A ‘BIRTHRIGHT’ OF ALL WHO DECIDE TO CLIMB, THE NATURAL DIRECTION FOR CLIMBING TO GO IN. FIRST ASCENTS ARE NOT REALLY A GOAL, THEY ARE WHERE CLIMBING REALLY BEGINS, AND WE ARE HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT.

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THE 12 STEP PROCESS TO OVERCOMING NOT DOING FIRST ASCENTS

FIRST ASCENTS DON’T HAPPEN BY CHANCE, THEY HAPPEN BY ADDRESSING A SERIES OF FACTORS THAT CONVERGE. WE HAVE LAID OUT A FORM OF THIS THAT WE SEE WORK, A STRING OF THINGS THAT PUT IT ALL INTO ORDER, TO MAKE WHAT AT FIRST MAY APPEAR TO BE UNDOABLE, DOABLE ONCE YOU GET THERE.

BE WARY OF JUMPING AHEAD, BECAUSE YOU NEED TO KNOW CERTAIN THINGS TO KNOW OTHERS, THE CLASSIC EXAMPLE BEING JUMPING STRAIGHT TO THE GEAR AND MONEY WITHOUT HAVING THEM IN PERSPECTIVE. WE KNOW TILMAN SAID THAT EXPEDITIONS SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE PLANNED ON THE BACK OF A BEER COASTER, AND FOR DECORATED NATIONAL HEROES IN THE HEIGHT OF EMPIRE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN THE CASE, BUT IN THE COMPLEX WORLD OF TODAY THAT ISN’T THE CASE.

OUR MEME HERE, AS FOR EVERYTHING, IS SIMPLE AND PRAGMATIC; THINK WHAT YOU’RE DOING. THINK WHERE YOU ARE. THINK FOR YOURSELF. ANYTHING ELSE MEANS YOU’LL BE BACK ON THE FIXED LINES BEFORE YOU EVEN STARTED.

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1. DECIDE, ACCEPT AND TAKE ON THE MINDSET THAT PULLING FIRST ASCENTS OVER YOUR HORIZON REORIENTS YOUR CLIMBING. THE GOAL POSTS WILL SHIFT, THERE WILL BE FAILURES, ERRORS, RESTLESSNESS AND PATIENCE REQUIRED, BUT THERE WILL ALSO BE BIGGER REWARDS, BIGGER IDEAS AND NEW PEOPLE. DO YOU HAVE THE SOCIAL SETTING TO ALLOW THIS? BECOMING A FIRST ASCENTIONIST IS A PROCESS AS MUCH OF TAKING AWAY AS OF ADDING, AND YOU HAVE TO THINK IF THIS IS YOU. THE DINNER PARTY THAT OOHS AND AAHS OVER EVEREST WON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR OBSCURE PEAK, SO DECIDE IF YOU HAVE THE SETTING AROUND YOU FOR THE COMMITMENT YOU WILL NEED.

2. HOW FIRST DO YOU WANT TO GO? SCOPE & SCALE – WHAT ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF FIRST ATTRACTS YOU AND HOW STRONG IS THE PULL? FOR SOME IT IS THE LURE OF ADVENTURE, TO OTHERS IT IS PART OF SELF-INDENTIFICATION IN A WORLD THAT THEY QUESTION. THE PUNKISH URGE TO WREST AWAY FROM STAGNANCY RUNS STRONG IN SOME, WHILST OTHERS FIND IN FIRSTNESS THE SUBLIME, AND THESE THINGS DETERMINE THE DEGREE OF FIRSTNESS. WHATEVER YOU THINK THERE WILL BE SOMETHING BIGGER AND BETTER BEYOND IT, AND IT’S EASY TO SET YOURSELF DEAD ENDS. FIRST ASCENTS AS GREAT AS ANY THAT HAVE COME BEFORE LAY IN THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT, BUT THEY ARE PARTS OF A BODY OF CLIMBING, NOT ONE OFFS, AND REFLECT DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF ALPINISM.

3. THE OBJECTIVE. MOST PROBLEMS IN LIFE CAN BE SOLVED WITH A TRIPLE ESPRESSO AND GOOGLE EARTH. FIRST ASCENTS ARE STILL UNCLIMBED FOR A REASON AND RARELY HAVE DATA READY AND WAITING, MAKING THEM THE MANIFESTATION OF NEW PERSPECTIVES AND LOOKING WHERE OTHERS DON’T THINK TO. THE MOST AMAZING THING WE’VE EVER HEARD IN CLIMBING WAS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE POLISH ROUTE ON K2, WHERE SOMEONE WHO KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT SIMPLY SAID IT EXISTED ONLY IN THE MINDS OF KUKUCZKA AND PIOTROWSKI FOR THE TIME IT TOOK TO CLIMB IT. CHOOSING OBJECTIVES IS A PROCESS THAT NEEDS TO BE SET WITHIN PARAMETERS THAT ALLOW THE OVERLAP OF VISION, ABILITY, AUDACITY AND RESOURCES, AND WE THINK IS BEST DONE BY STARTING BIG AND REFINING. START WITH WHERE AND WHY, REFINE MORE WITH WHEN, WHO AND HOW, THEN LINE UP THE PARTS YOU CAN CONTROL LIKE THE CASH, TIME AND PEOPLE YOU CAN BRING TO IT.

4. THE TEAM. DON’T EXPECT YOUR FRIENDS FROM THE CRAG TO FOLLOW YOU, BECAUSE BY DOING THIS STUFF YOU FIND OUT JUST HOW FAR OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM CLIMBING CAN BE. FIRST ASCENT TEAMS ARE AMONG THE FINEST TEAMS THERE ARE, BUT MANY EXIST NOWHERE OTHER THAN ON THE TRIP. THE SORT OF PEOPLE THAT DO THIS WILL NOT BE FOUND RANDOMLY, AND BECAUSE IT’S NOT THE 1920s WILL NOT ADVERTISE IN RESPECTED JOURNALS, SO THE ONLY WAY TO GET IN A TEAM IS TO GO WHERE THE OTHER MISFITS DO. 

5. STUDIES & OBSERVATIONS. OPEN A NEW FOLDER, CALLED IT XYZ FIRST ASCENT, AND START DUMPING ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING INTO IT THAT COULD BE RELEVANT. MOST ‘CLIMBING DATA’ DOESN’T COME FROM CLIMBING SO START LOOKING INTO WEATHER, MINING, LINGUISTIC, HISTORY, ANTHROPOLOGICAL, GEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL STUFF THAT OVERLAPS, AND BUILD UP A WORKING MODEL OF WHAT THE EXPEDITION WOULD BE LIKE. WE CONSTANTLY ADVOCATE ONE THING – READ THE CLASSICS – AND EVEN COMPILED OUR FAVOURITES TO GET YOU STARTED AND SUSTAINED. A HUGE BODY OF WORK EXISTS ACROSS SEVERAL LANGUAGES, THAT BOTH FILLS IN THE GAPS AND FINDS NEW GAPS TO DIRECT THE FIRST ASCENT PROCESS.

6. THE PLAN. FROM YOUR LIVING ROOM TO THE SUMMIT, HOW WILL IT WORK, HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE, WHAT IS EVEN POSSIBLE? THE MORE FIRSTS THERE ARE, THE MORE YOU NEED TO PLAN, UNDERSTANDING FULL WELL WHAT THE ARMY HAS KNOWN SINCE SUN ZI – THAT NO PLAN SURVIVES CONTACT. YOU CANNOT STUMBLE AROUND IN STRANGE LANDS ‘WORKING IT OUT’, AND IF ANYTHING THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES WON’T LET YOU IF WHAT YOU WANT IS NEAR BORDERS. VISAS, PERMITS, FUEL, HOTELS etc ALL NEED TO BE ORCHESTRATED, OTHERWISE TIME GETS WASTED, ACCLIMATION LOSES MOMENTUM, PEOPLE GET PISSED OFF AND UNCERTAINTY CREEPS IN.

7. THE STRATEGY. NO PLAN CAN BE SEPARATED FROM TIME, AND TIME TAKES ON NEW MEANING WHEN YOU ADD THE DIMENSION OF ALTITUDE, BECAUSE NO HIGH ALTITUDE ASCENT LETS YOU JUST WALK UP AND DO IT. TO CLIMB 2000m OF MOUNTAIN FOR A WEEK MAY NEED THREE WEEKS OF APPROACH AND ACCLIMATION, GOING UP AND DOWN, EXPLOITING TOPOGRAPHY, ALL THE WHILE NEEDING TO BE ADAPTED TO. MUNDANE STRATEGIES PRODUCE MUNDANE RESULTS, AND THE FIRSTER YOU GET THE LESS THE STRATEGIES OF THE PAST APPLY. THE EXAMPLE HERE IS THE NIGHT NAKED ASCENTS OF THE 1980s WHERE 8000m PEAKS WERE CLIMBED IN WAYS RADICALLY DEPARTED FROM ANYTHING BEFORE, REAPPRAISING EVERYTHING IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CLIMBERS THERE TO DO IT.

8. THE LOGISTICAL EQUATIONS. FOOD, LOADS, ACCESS, GAS, WATER, TRANSPORT, ROADS, SECURITY, TRANSLATORS – FIRST ASCENT EXPEDITIONS HAVE AN ASPECT THAT IS BEST MODELLED IN NUMBERS. IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU GET THINGS A BIT WRONG SOMEWHERE WELL SUPPLIED, BUT 12 DAYS OUT INTO THE CHANGTANG AT THE BASE OF A PEAK WITH NO NAME, YOU NEED YOUR LOGISTICS TIGHT. THIS IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF BEING SUPPLIED, BUT OF HAVING QUANTIFIABLE ASSETS WITH WHICH TO PLAN THE NEXT MOVE IN A SPACE YOU ARE THE FIRST INTO. 

9. THE GEAR. THE MORE OBSCURE THE OBJECTIVE THE LESS COMMERCIAL COMPANIES PROVIDE TO IT, AND AT SOME POINT, SOME OBJECTIVES, SIMPLY CANNOT BE DONE WITH OFF THE SHELF STUFF. THIS IS WHY WE USE $3000 TENTS, 1000FP SLEEPING BAGS AND PACKRAFTS MADE EXACTLY TO ORDER, BECAUSE OUR TRIPS DEMAND IT, BUT OTHER TRIPS WITH A DIFFERENT SCOPE AND SCALE MAY NOT. IF YOUR ATTRACTION TO ALPINISM IS COOL GEAR THEN YOU ARE IN FOR CONFRONTATION, ESPECIALLY AS THINGS GET HIGHER, COLDER, WEIRDER AND MORE REMOTE. LIFE BECOMES LESS ABOUT THE FANCY BIG BOOTS AND JACKETS, AND MORE ABOUT THE PREVIOUSLY PERIPHERAL THINGS, WHERE GRAMS TAKE ON DIFFERENT VALUES AND FUNCTION DISSOLVES INTO WHAT’S POSSIBLE.

10. THE MONEY. WITH FIRST ASCENTS, THE MONEY REPRESENTS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THINGS, BUYING YOU FREEDOM AND DISTANCE FROM THE HERD. SOMETHINGS COST MORE, BUT MANY THINGS COST LESS, AND IT SHINES A REAL LIGHT BACK ON COMMERCIAL CLIMBING AND JUST HOW SKEWED THE COSTS WITHIN IT ARE. SOME OBJECTIVES WILL BE SIMPLE COSTS AND YOU PAY FOR THE ABSENCE OF COMPLEXITY, OTHERS, BY THEIR OBSCURITY, PUT COSTS IN ODD PLACES. FIRST ASCENTS DON’T USUALLY EQUATE TO COSTING MORE WHEN THEY ARE DONE INDEPENDENTLY, 

11. THE REALITY. THERE WILL BE FAILURES. THE INHERENT NATURE OF FIRST ASCENTS IS THAT THINGS ARE UNKNOWN, AND WITH THAT COMES THE REALITY THAT YOU MAY HAVE VERY LARGE PARTS OF THE EQUATIONS WRONG. THE MEASURE OF THE ALPINIST IS HOW THEY ADAPT TO CHANGE, WHICH CAN MEAN ANYTHING FROM A BROKEN TO CRAMPON TO CIVIL UNREST BREAKING OUT, POTENTIALLY ON THE SAME DAY. IT IS IMPORTANT TO GO INTO FIRST ASCENTS WITH A MATURE ATTITUDE, UNDERSTANDING THAT THE GOAL IS TO GET HOME

12. THE RESULT. THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A FIRST ASCENT TRIP THAT’S NOT WORTH IT, AND A WEEK ATTEMPTING NEW TERRAIN IS WORTH MORE THAN A LIFETIME IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OTHERS. THE MOTTO SUCCESS FAVOURS THE BOLD IS THE MOTTO OF FIRST ASCENTS, BUT HERE SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY CRITERIA THE TABLOIDS AND SOCIAL MEDIA DO NOT SEE. THE MUNDANE ADDAGE IS TO RETURN WITH YOUR FINGERS, YOUR FRIENDS, AND MAYBE A SUMMIT – IN THAT ORDER HOLDS, BUT BELIES THE REAL REWARDS OF FIRST ASCENTS WHICH IS TO HAVE BEEN WHERE NO HUMAN HAS BEFORE. THERE IS THE JUVENILE EGO TRIP SIDE OF THIS – WHICH DOESN’T LAST LONG – AND IS REPLACED BY THE ATTRIBUTES OF CHARACTER THAT HAVE SOMETHING ALMOST NO ONE ELSE TODAY HAS.

13. THE NEXT ONE. FIRST ASCENTS ARE A CULT AND ONCE YOU’RE INITIATED YOU CAN’T LEAVE, AND EVEN IF YOU NEVER SET FOOT ON A MOUNTAIN AGAIN – IT HAPPENS – YOU WILL LOOK AT EVERY MOUNTAIN IN THE WAY MOUNTAINS SHOULD BE LOOKED AT. FEW CLIMBERS LIVE SOLELY DOING FIRST ASCENTS – THOUGH THIS IS FEASIBLE FOR SURPRISINGLY LONG PERIODS IF YOU WANT IT – BY EVERY ASCENT AFTER YOUR FIRST FIRST ASCENT WILL BE IN A NEW CONTEXT. FOR SOME THIS BECOMES AN INSATIABLE ITCH TO SCRATCH – FEEDING THE RAT – AND FOR OTHERS IT BRINGS A GLOW TO LIFE THAT GIVES EVERYTHING ELSE MEANING. THE NEXT ONE CAN LAY DORMANT FOR YEARS OR COME IN A CONSTANT STREAM OF OVERLOAD, WHATEVER, ONCE THE DOOR IS OPEN THINGS KEEP COMING THROUGH, AND THE CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN, UP-TOOLED AND TWEAKED, 

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TO US, FIRST ASCENTS ARE OUR BUSINESS, HENCE WE INHABIT A NICHE WHERE WE ARE INUNDATED WITH THEM. THAT THIS ‘NICHE’ IS ACTUALLY THE MAJORITY OF ALL HIGH ALTITUDE TERRAIN ON EARTH IS A TWIST IN THE PLOT, AND IT SHOWS EXPLICITLY WHERE MODERN CLIMBING HAS BROUGHT ITSELF. IN PLACES LIKE THE TRANS-KARAKORAM, CHANGTANG AND KUNLUN FIRST ASCENTS ARE THE NORM, WHERE TO DO ANYTHING OTHER SEEMS TO LACK REASON. WITH SUCH AN ARRAY, WE GET TO PICK WHAT ‘FIRST ASCENT’ MEANS TO US, AND BECAUSE WE CAN, WE SET OUR STANDARDS AS OUT THERE AS IT ALLOWS, AND BECAUSE WE CAN PACK AS MANY FIRSTS INTO AN ASCENT AS WE WANT WE CHOOSE TO, FOR THE FIRSTIEST FIRST ASCENTS GOING.  

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