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THERE’S ONE WAY TO GET GOOD AT HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING. YES, YOU GUESSED IT.

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FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO SPEND ENTIRE SEASONS AT ALTITUDE, DOING AS MANY HIGH ALTITUDE ASCENTS AS YOU WANT, RACKING UP HUGE AMOUNTS OF EXPEDITION ALPINE TIME. WHERE PREVIOUSLY THIS SORT OF THING WAS LIMITED TO THE RELATIVELY LOWER RANGES OF ALASKA, THE ALPS AND TATRAS etc, NOW PARTS OF NORTH EASTERN TIBET ARE OPEN TO BOTH THE CLIMBING AND THE LIVING, WITH 5000-6000m RANGES JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN AND A BASELINE LIVING ALTITUDE OF ALMOST 4000m. THIS IS ALSO VERY DIFFERENT TO SEASONS IN THE TIENSHAN AND THE ANDES, AND NOTHING LIKE PRE-SEASONS IN PAKISTAN AND NEPAL, WITH THOSE BEING EFFECTIVELY EXTENDED EXPEDITIONS RATHER THAN SERIAL ASCENTS BASED FROM A COMFORTABLE HOME. IN NORTH EASTERN TIBET IT IS POSSIBLE TO HEAD OUT EARLY AND DO 5500m FIRST ASCENTS IN A DAY, AND BE BACK TO RESTAURANTS, SUPERMARKETS, HOT SPRINGS AND COFFEE THAT EVENING, TO SLEEP AT 3800m – THEN DO IT AGAIN AS SOON AS THE NEXT DAY. REPEAT FOR A MONTH OR MORE, WORK IT ALL OUT, AND LEAVE AS A HIGH ALTITUDE MACHINE.

FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS HAS SPENT YEARS WORKING ON THIS IDEA, DOING IT OURSELVES FOR OVER A DECADE, BUT UNTIL NOW NOT HAVING IT NAILED DOWN FOR OUR TEAMSTERS. RECENT CHANGES TO VISAS AND REGIONAL ACCESS MEANS CLIMBERS CAN NOW STAY IN OUR PLACES IN REMOTE BUT FULLY FACILITATED TIBETAN TOWNS, PUTTING UP AS MANY ASCENTS AS THEY LIKE AND BUILDING MASSIVE BASELINES OF REAL HIGH ALTITUDE CONDITION.

THIS WAS SOMETHING CHARLIE FOWLER WAS DOING IN THE EARLY 2000s, THOUGH HE WAS LIMITED TO STAYING IN ONLY A FEW AREAS AND HAD TO DO MUCH OF HIS CLIMBING UNDER THE RADAR. THIS IS NO LONGER ADVISABLE NOR NECESSARY, AND MUCH OF THE TIBETAN RANGES ARE OPEN NOW, SOMETHING CHARLIE DREAMED OF AS A KEY TO THE FUTURE OF 8000m CLIMBING.

IN A WAY THIS IS SPORT HIGH ALTITUDE ALPINISM, WITH NORTH EASTERN TIBETAN RANGES OFFERING EVERYTHING FROM NON-TECHNICAL ROUTES, TO BIG WALLS, ICE ROUTES, HARD MIXED LINES, AS WELL AS COUNTLESS LINK-UPS, TRAVERSES AND EVEN MOUNTAIN RUNNING, THAT CAN BE TWEAKED AND ADAPTED TO FIT ANY FINAL OBJECTIVE. SIX WEEKS ADAPTING AND HONING SKILLS AT HIMALAYAN ALTITUDES MAKES THE TRANSITION TO THE 8000m AREAS SEAMLESS, WITH LIVING CONDITIONS BRINGING FULL RECOVERY AND BARELY ANY TIME DIVERTED TO APPROACHES AND ACCESS.

IN THESE RANGES, UNCLIMBED 5000-6000m RISE FROM THE ROAD SIDES, WITH VALLEYS OFTEN HAVING HERDERS TRAILS AND SPRING FED STREAMS OF DRINKABLE WATER. ROADS CAN GO TO 4500m, TOWN IS HALF AN HOUR AWAY, WEATHER IS USUALLY PERFECT, AND WITH A PAIR OF BINOCULARS FROM THE ROOF OF MANY BUILDINGS, ROUTES CAN BE PLANNED FOR TOMORROW. NOWHERE ELSE HAS BARELY VISITED RANGES SO CLOSE TO SUSTAINABLE LIVING, WITH SEASONS GENERATING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF METERS OF REAL CLIMBING.

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A SEASON LIKE THIS CHANGES THE GAME FOR MAJOR ASCENTS ELSEWHERE, AND CAN FUSE DIRECTLY INTO ASCENTS LIKE THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 OR THE GASHERBRUMS. A TEAM COULD EFFECTIVELY TRANSITION FROM TIBET TO THE NORTHERN KARAKORAM WITHIN TWO OR THREE DAYS, AND BEING ACCLIMATED FULLY TO 6000m WOULD HAVE AN UNPRECEDENTED ADVANTAGE FOR MAJOR OBJECTIVES.

DO NOT OVERLOOK THAT THIS IS STILL VERY MUCH SERIOUS EXPEDITION CLIMBING, WITH VERY LITTLE KNOW ABOUT SOME AREAS AND MOST PEAKS UNNAMED LET ALONE CLIMBED. EVEN INCLUDING PROBABLE PIRATE ASCENTS BY THE LIKES OF CHARLIE, ASCENTS ARE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS, AND FOR MANY A SINGLE ASCENT OF THIS SORT IS THE STUFF OF LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENTS.

THESE ARE ALSO GENUINELY UNTOURISTED PARTS OF TIBET, AND THOUGH THE TOWNS ARE LARGE, THEY ARE STILL VERY TRADITIONAL. TIBETANS MAKE UP 97% OF THE POPULATION, THERE ARE LARGE NOMADIC POPULATIONS PASSING THROUGH, AND THERE IS NO TOURISM INDUSTRY TO BE CAUGHT UP IN. PERMITS ARE STILL NEEDED, AS ARE BASIC LOGISTICS, BUT AFTER 20 YEARS IN THESE AREAS WE HAVE THINGS ARRANGED TO MAKE LONG STAYS THERE SIMPLE, EFFICIENT AND COMFORTABLE.

LIFE BETWEEN CLIMBING DAYS IS A MIX OF THE FUNCTIONAL AND THE AMAZING, WITH THE BASICS LIKE EATING, WASHING AND SOURCING SUPPLIES PRETTY NORMAL – SIMPLY IMMERSED IN THE CULTURE OF MODERN TIBET. MONKS AND HERDERS SHARE THE STREETS WITH TIKTOKING TEENAGERS AND MIDDLE CLASSED FAMILIES, IN A SIDE OF TIBET THAT DOESN’T MAKE THE WESTERN PRESS.

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NUTS AND BOLTS FOR THIS ARE QUITE SIMPLE. WE ARRANGE THE WHOLE THING INCLUDING INITIAL ORIENTATION UPON ARRIVAL AND OVERSIGHT, COSTS ARE FOR ADMINISTRATION, TRANSPORT AND ACCOMMODATION AND THE REST IS UP TO YOU. EAT WHERE YOU WANT, GO WHERE YOU WANT, LIVE HOW YOU WANT, IMMERSE YOURSELF IN TIBET AND CLIMB HIMALAYAN PEAKS AS A LIFESTYLE. A SEASON DOING THIS WILL CHANGE HOW YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF BIG ALPINISM.

THIS SUITS SMALL TEAMS, AND WE CAN ARRANGE MISFIT GROUPS WHERE FEASIBLE. THERE IS NOTHING GUIDED ABOUT THIS, IT IS FULLY INDEPENDENT CLIMBING, AND ASIDE FROM A FEW PEAKS THE AREA IS TOTALLY OPEN ONCE YOU HAVE THE PERMITS. ACCOMMODATION IS MODERN AND CENTRAL TO THE BUSY TOWN CENTERS, THINK OF IT AS THE MOST AMAZING AIRBnB IN THE WORLD, WITH 6000m PEAKS OUT THE WINDOW.

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2026 BOOKING NOW. CONTACT US

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