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A DEFINING FEATURE OF ASCENTS IN THE NORTHERN KARAKORAM IS THE SHAKSGAM RIVER, WITH CROSSING AND RECROSSING IT TO ACCESS THE 8000m PEAKS OF K2, BROAD PEAK AND THE GASHERBRUMS BEING A MAJOR LOGISTICAL ELEMENT. THE VERY FIRST CLIMBING EXPEDITIONS IN THERE BY SHIPTON AND TILMAN USED LOCAL ZAQS – INFLATED GOAT SKINS – TO CROSS THE RIVER THAT COULD BE HUNDREDS OF METERS WIDE, AND LATER EXPEDITIONS USED BACTRIAN CAMELS, AVOIDING THE HIGH WATER TIMES.

BEING RELATIVELY LOW ALTITUDE AND HAVING A HUGE CATCHMENT, THE SHAKSGAM FLOWS WELL INTO AUTUMN, UNLIKE RIVERS SUCH AS THE YARKHAND AND KARAKASH WHERE THE UPPER SECTIONS ARE MUCH HIGHER AND SO FREEZE EARLY. THIS LEAVES THE PROBLEM OF CROSSING AND NAVIGATING WHAT THERE IS EFFECTIVELY NO DATA ON, FINDING WAYS THAT WORK IN PARALLEL WITH THE CAMELS FOR FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENT ASCENTS. RAFTS HAVE BEEN AN OBVIOUS IDEA FOR A LONG TIME – OURSELVES LOOKING INTO IT FOR 15 YEARS BEFORE THE REGION WAS CLOSED – REGULAR RAFTS HAVE PROBLEMS BEING HEAVY AND DIFFICULT TO MANAGE FOR WHAT MAY ONLY BE CROSSINGS, NOT ENTIRE DESCENTS, WITH THE RISE OF THE PACKRAFT SEEING A SOLUTION. 

PACKRAFTS HAVE EVOLVED A LOT IN THE LAST DECADE, EXPLODING FROM A NICHE SCENE TO A WORLDWIDE INDUSTRY. THEY NOW COME IN COUNTLESS STYLES AND SIZES FOR EVERY SORT OF WATER POSSIBLE, EXCEPT – UNTIL NOW – HIGH ALTITUDE EXPEDITIONS. ADEQUATE BOATS COULD BE PIECED TOGETHER, AND WE DEALT DIRECTLY WITH SEVERAL COMPANIES TO TRY AND GET WHAT WE WANT. WE GOT THINGS PRETTY GOOD, BUT HAD TO ACCEPT VARIOUS COMPROMISES, AS ALWAYS WISHING WE COULD GO STRONGER, LIGHTER AND MORE SPECIALIZED IN THE SAME WAYS WE DO WITH THINGS LIKE OUR TENTS, PACKS, DOWN SUITS, SLEEPING BAGS AND HARDWARE.

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THROUGH THE POLISH CONNECTION WE CAME ACROSS MROZY, ANOTHER ONE OF THESE SMALL COMPANIES PUTTING OUT OUTRAGEOUSLY HIGH END GEAR IN POLAND. LIKE THE OTHER COMPANIES WE COLLABORATE WITH FROM THERE, MROZY REPRESENT THE LEADING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR FIELD, AND ARE FAR MORE THAN JUST MANUFACTURERS. A COMMON ELEMENT AMONGST ALL POLISH COMPANIES WE COLLABORATE WITH IS THEIR MOTIVATION TO INNOVATE AND DEVELOP NEW IDEAS, WITH A TRADITION GOING BACK TO THE EARLY DAYS OF EXPEDITION MOUNTAINEERING AS PEDIGREE. MROZY, LIKE ELITECLIMB AND MALACHOWSKI, NEVER STAND STILL, PROTOTYPING AND TESTING AT A RATE THAT MEETS OUR IDEAS LIKE FEW OTHERS. 

IT WAS A NO QUESTION THAT MROZY WAS THE COMPANY TO DO THE BOATS WE NEED, WITH DESIGN SPECS SO HIGH AND WEIGHTS SO LOW WE KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT HERE. THE NOMAD AND SPITFIRE BOATS WEIGHT ABOUT HALF WHAT OTHER BOATS OF THE SAME DESIGN SPECS WEIGH, BEING FULL SPEC BIG RIVER BOATS. COMPARABLE WEIGHT BOATS FROM ELSEWHERE ARE CLOSER TO POOL TOYS, MADE FOR FLAT WATER, SHORT DISTANCES, AND CERTAINLY NOT TO HAVE EXPEDITION LOADS STRAPPED TO THEM AND TAKEN DAYS DOWN FAST RIVERS. MROZY SOLVE ALL THIS BY RETHINKING HOW PACKRAFTS FUNCTION IN THE LIGHT OF THE LATEST INFLATABLE TECHNOLOGIES, AND MAKE IT REALITY WITH CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND MATERIALS THEY HAVE MASTERED.

MROZY PACKRAFTS COME IN TWO VERSIONS – THE FASTER WATER NOMAD AND THE WHITEWATER SPITFIRE, BOTH OF WHICH WEIGH WELL UNDER 2kg AT 1.4kg AND 1.7kG. BOTH HAVE TESTED LOAD CAPACITIES WELL BEYOND WHAT WE WILL EVER PUT IN THEM, AND THE PROPERTIES OF THE MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION MEAN THEY TOLERATE SERIOUS PRESSURE THAT LETS THEM COPE WITH EXPEDITION USE.

AS PROBLEM-SOLVING MACHINES, MROZY ALSO CAME UP WITH INFLATABLE FLOORS TO ADD RIGIDITY AND SOME PROTECTION FROM VERY COLD WATER, AND AN ULTRALIGHT FLOTATION VEST THAT WEIGHS AROUND 200g. DRAWING FROM THEIR EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND IN MOUNTAIN, INDUSTRIAL AND MILITARY INFLATABLE TECHNOLOGY, THESE SKEW THE FUNCTION-FOR-WEIGHT EQUATION IN A WAY THAT NO OTHER PACKRAFTS COME CLOSE TO. THESE BOATS ARE LIGHT ENOUGH TO CARRY JUST FOR CROSSING RIVERS BUT ARE ALSO UP TO RUNNING RIVER SECTIONS WHERE FEASIBLE – SOMETHING WHICH IN XINJIANG OR TIBET OPENS UP LOGISTICS TO PLACES OTHERWISE BEYOND REASONABLE PLANNING. NOW THE 60kms BETWEEN THE GASHERBRUMS AND K2 CAN BE DONE IN HALF THE TIME, AND IN SOME AREAS THE MOUNTAINS CAN BE EXITED IN HOURS WHAT WOULD NORMALLY TAKE DAYS.

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WE MADE VARIOUS ADAPTATIONS TO THE BOATS WE WILL USE, SPECIFIC TO OUR NEEDS, AND BEFORE HEADING TO THE KARAKORAM WE HAVE TRIED THE BOATS ON RIVERS WITH SIMILAR GRADIENTS AND FLOW RATE, OVER DAYS OF USE, AND FOUND THEM FINE, AND HAVE ADDITIONAL THINGS ADDED AND CHANGED TO FIT OUR NEEDS WHICH INCLUDES USING THE BOATS AS PULKS ACROSS FROZEN SECTIONS. MROZY TREATED EACH IDEA WITH CONTAGIOUS ENTHUSIASM AND TIRELESS WORK, AND THREW DOZENS MORE IDEAS INTO THE MIX, OFTEN COLLABORATING IN REAL TIME. WE ENDED WORKING SO WELL WITH MROZY WE COLLABORATED ON FUTHER STUFF, INCLUDING THE WORLDS LIGHTEST HYPERBARIC CHAMBER FOR ALTI EQUIPMENT, MADE FOR HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING AND SOMETHING WE WILL ALSO HAVE WITH US.

THIS LEVEL OF INNOVATION AND THIS RATE OF PROTOTYPING IS WHAT’S NEEDED TO CHASE THE EMERGING POSSIBILITIES OF MODERN EXPEDITION ALPINISM, WHERE THE PROBLEMS ARE NOT SIMPLY CLIMBING BUT THE PLACES IT HAPPENS IN. ONLY NEW AREAS – FREE FROM THE CONSTRAINTS THAT THE MODERN CLIMBING INDUSTRY IMPOSES – CAN ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW HIGH ALTITUDE STYLES, AND IT’S INDUSTRIES LIKE WHAT WE SEE IN POLAND, WITH THE EXAMPLES OF MROZY, ELITECLIMB AND MALACHOWSKI THAT ARE LEADING IT. THESE ARE TOOLS THAT LET CLIMBERS GO FURTHER INTO HIGHER AND MORE REMOTE TERRAIN WITH A HIGHER DEGREE OF SELF-RELIANCE, WHICH IS THE BASIC EQUATION ALL GOOD CLIMBING COMES FROM.

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