2024 / 25 EXPEDITION SEASON OVERVIEW. KARAKORUM NORTH FIRST ASCENTS & 8000m, NORTH EASTERN TIBET, GOBI ICE CLIMBING & JAPAN

OUR SEASON STARTS ON OCTOBER 1st, WHEN ALL SYSTEMS CONVERGE AND IT IS NON-STOP TILL APRIL. IT HAS BEEN A HUGE ‘OFF SEASON’ OF DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING AND TRAINING, THAT PUTS US INTO FULL TILT DOING WHAT WE DO BEST – EXPEDITIONS NO ONE ELSE DOES.

IT SEEMS THE WORLD OF ALPINISM HAS GOT ITS JUICE BACK, AS A YEAR OF PROFOUND ASCENTS – AND THE TOLL IT INSTILLS – DEMONSTRATES. A RETURN TO FORM INCLUDES PEOPLE FINALLY COTTONING ON THAT THE OLD SEASONS DON’T MATCH UP ANYMORE, AND THAT THE FUTURE WILL BE WITH THOSE WHO ADAPT WHILST THOSE WHO CAN’T WILL BE LEFT BEHIND AS RELICS.

WE HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH HOW THINGS GRIND ON SOUTH OF THE HIMALAYAN DIVIDE, INSTEAD HAVING THE FREEDOM TO CLIMB UNBOUND BY ANY INDUSTRY IN A VAST REGION THAT IS VERY DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICALLY AND CLIMACTICALLY. THE FACTORS THAT DETERMINE HOW AND WHAT IS CLIMBED IN PLACES LIKE THE KHUMBU AND BALTORO DON’T AFFECT US, SO WE CAN INVENT, FUSE AND SYNCRETIZE EVERY DETAIL SO EVERY EXPEDITION IS UNIQUE.

THE TRIPS OUTLINED HERE ARE NOT ONLY ALL HAPPENING – THEY ARE CONFIRMED, SCHEDULED AND BOOKED – BUT ARE ALL UNIQUE, TRUE EXPEDITIONS, INTO PLACES RARELY IF EVER VISITED. SOME OF THESE TRIPS ARE CLOSED, TEAMS FINALIZED MONTHS AGO, BUT OTHERS STILL HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO JOIN OR TO ADAPT INTO THEIR OWN OBJECTIVES.

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THE NORTH KARAKORUM

LATE AUTUMN WE HEAD TO THE CHINA SIDE OF THE KARAKORUM, WITH THE FIRST CLIMBING PERMITS ISSUED IN 8 YEARS, AND THE FIRST TO THE ‘FORBIDDEN’ SIDE OF ANY KARAKORUM 8000m PEAK ISSUED SINCE 2011. THESE PERMITS INCLUDE FIRST ASCENTS, AS WELL AS THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE, THAT INCLUDES THE CAPACITY WE HAVE BUILT IN TO DOCUMENT THE MASSIVE CHANGES TO RIVER COURSES AND GLACIERS.

THIS EXPEDITION IS BASED ON A WHOLE NEW REORGANIZATION OF LOGISTICS, THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT CHANGES IN CHINA, EQUIPMENT, THE ETHNIC PEOPLE WE TRAVEL WITH, AND IDEAS IN GENERAL ABOUT HOW THESE THINGS CAN BE DONE. THIS WILL BE THE CLOSEST THING POSSIBLE TO A ‘SHIPTON & TILMAN-LEVEL’ EXPERIENCE, LAYING THE GROUND FOR ANOTHER STYLE OF 8000m CLIMBING TO EMERGE MINUS THE BAGGAE FOUND ELSEWHERE.

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NORTH EASTERN TIBET

OUR 2023 / 24 SEASON IN THE NORTH EASTERN RANGES OF TIBET ALLOWED US TO RETHINK AND ADAPT TO THE INSANE POTENTIAL OUT THERE. NEW AREAS ARE OPENING, OLD AREAS ARE EVOLVING, AND INTEREST FROM THE AUTHORITIES IS MANAGING AREAS BETTER AS WILDERNESS THAT BRINGS SOME ADVANTAGES TO CLIMBERS.

THIS SEASON WE HAVE TRIPS TO THE REGIONS HIGHEST PEAKS, AS WELL AS ASCENTS THAT EXPLOIT CHINAS MIND BLOWING INFRASTRUCTURE, TO ACCLIMATE ON REAL MOUNTAINS WITHOUT THE ORDEAL IT ENTAILS ELSEWHERE.

THESE TRIPS BLOW THE LID OFF HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING AS IT IS COMMONLY SEEN, SPANNING 5500m TO 7000m ASCENTS DONE IN SEASONS AND WITH LOGISTICS IMPOSSIBLE ELSEWHERE. WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE TIBETAN COMMUNITIES WE TAP INTO THEIR WAYS OF CROSSING THE RANGES YEAR-ROUND, CONNECTING THE MISSING LINKS THAT LIGHTER AND FASTER ASCENTS FEASIBLE.

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ICE CLIMBING IN THE GOBI DESERT

LAST YEARS TRIP INTO THE SOUTHERN GOBI MOUNTAINS IN THE DEAD OF WINTER GARNERED HUGE INTEREST, FROM THOSE SEEKING UNKNOWN ICE IN A DR SEUSS ENVIRONMENT. THE FEW IMAGES WE RELEASED SPIKED ENOUGH ENQUIRIES FOR US TO DO TWO TRIPS IN THIS SEASON, THOUGH KEEPING TEAMS VERY SMALL AND AGILE SO WE CAN FOLLOW MORE LEADS INTO SOMETHING WE ONLY JUST TOUCHED THE SURFACE OF.

THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR NORMAL ICE CLIMBERS, AND IS THE INTERSECTION OF STUNNING WILDERNESS, THE FRINGES OF CHINA, DEEP CULTURE, SERIOUS EXPLORATION – AND THE BEST F#&KING ICE FALLS THIS SIDE OF CANADA. FOR US THIS IS A BREAK FROM THE WOES OF ALTITUDE, PACK ANIMALS, WEEKS EATING OUT OF A CUP AND PISSING INTO A BOTTLE, YET RETAINS ALL OF THE WONDER AND EXCITEMENT OF FIND TREASURE IN A PLACE FEW WILL EVER SEE.

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JAPAN

THAT TOURISM TRENDS HAVE ‘DISCOVERED’ JAPAN IS QUAINT TO US, HAVING CLIMBED THERE FOR 25 YEARS. WITH THIS NEW ATTENTION, COMES A RISE IN INTEREST ABOUT THE COUNTRIES MANY 3000m PEAKS, INCLUDING ENQUIRIES ABOUT JAPANS ELITE CLIMBERS AND HOW AND WHERE THEY GO.

FOR US JAPAN IS NOT A TOURISM DESTINATION, IT IS A COUNTRY WE KNOW WELL AS AN ALPINE CLIMBING HUB, WHERE WE CAN ROLL OUT RELATIVELY SHORT AND SERIOUS TRIPS BETWEEN BIG EXPEDITIONS TO TIBET AND XINJIANG. THESE ARE TRIPS TO THE REMOTER PARTS OF JAPANS RANGES, WHERE THE CLIMBING IS SERIOUS, THE ICE IS GOOD, AND THE RATIO OF DAYS CLIMBING UNDER EXPEDITION CONDITIONS IS EXCELLENT.

JAPAN COMBINES 3000m ALPINISM, AN AMAZING CULTURE, UNMATCHED INFRASTRUCTURE AND INCREDIBLE WEATHER, TO BE BOTH A GOAL IN ITS OWN RIGHT AS WELL AS A STEP TOWARDS BIGGER THINGS. MANY OF OUR TEAMSTERS IN THE HIMALAYAS AND KARAKORUM CAME VIA TRIPS TO JAPAN, WHERE THEY FOUND WHAT GENERATIONS OF JAPANESE ALPINISTS HAVE QUIETLY KNOWN – THAT A WHOLE OTHER SPECIES OF EXPEDITIONS EXISTS.

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ALL OF THIS IS MADE POSSIBLE BY LONG AND MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONS WITH MULTIPLE SECTORS, FROM THE MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATIONS OF CHINA, TO THE TIBETAN AND KYRGYZ PEOPLE, AND THE DESIGNERS AND MAKERS OF THE UNIQUE EQUIPMENT THAT DOES WHAT NO OTHER EQUIPMENT WILL. BRINGING THESE THINGS TOGETHER CREATES AN OVERLAP WHERE NEW THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, AND EVERYONE INVOLVED IS ON THE SAME PAGE TO COLLABORATE.

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