CLIMATE CHANGE & EXPEDITIONS: GETTING YOU OFF THE GRID FOR AS LONG AS WE CAN

A SMALL TEAM LIVING UNDER TARPS FOR A MONTH GOES A LONG WAY TO OFFSETTING THE IMPACTS OF TRAVELLING THERE

WE’VE YET TO SEE THIS REALLY CONFRONTED BY ANY OTHER EXPEDITIONS COMPANY SO WE WILL DO IT HERE. YES, IN PART IT’S MARKETING, BUT ALSO BECAUSE PEOPLE ASK AND WE THINK WE HAVE A COOL WAY OF DOING OUR BIT USING EXPEDITIONS AS A REALISTIC WAY OF GETTING SOME CHANGE.

FOR A START, WE DON’T BELIEVE IN CLIMATE CHANGE – WE LIVE WITH IT. IN A BUSINESS THAT COVERS ICE, GLACIERS, RIVERS, DESERTS & SEASONS AS A FUNDAMENTAL, BELIEF HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT WHEN THE EXPERIENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS THE VERY MEDIUM WE ARE CLIMBING ON. ANY POLITICIAN OR DENIER WHO THINKS CLIMATE CHANGE IS A HOAX WE INVITE TO SPEND A WEEK WITH US.

ALL ACROSS ASIA THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ARE OBVIOUS AND AFTER THE COASTS ARE PROBABLY NOWHERE MORE FELT THAN THE ALPINE AREAS. IN THESE PLACES THE DIFFERENCE OF 1C FLUCTUATION OVER A YEAR IS THE DIFFERENCE IN WHERE THE SNOW COMES TO, WHICH AFFECTS WATER SUPPLIES, VEGETATION GROWTH, ANIMAL RANGE, LIVESTOCK FEEDING, ROUTES THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS & PEOPLES ROUTINES. IN JAPAN WE’VE SEEN SKI RESORTS CLOSE, IN PAKISTAN WE’VE SEEN VILLAGES ABANDONED AND IN KAZAKHSTAN WE’VE SEEN DESERTS ENCROACH. WE’VE SEEN THIS FOR 20 YEARS.

HALF OF WHAT’S MAKING THE ISSUE IS NOT JUST THAT IT’S HAPPENING – THESE THINGS HAVE ALWAYS HAPPENED – BUT IT’S THAT NOW MORE THAN PREVIOUSLY PEOPLE ARE MORE AFFECTED. 50 YEARS AGO IF URUMQI RAN OUT OF WATER IT WAS SMALL ENOUGH TO HAVE IT ROUTED IN. NOW A MAJOR CENTRAL ASIAN ECONOMIC HUB SUFFERS.

SO WHAT IS FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS DOING ABOUT IT?

AS A BASIC PARADIGM WE TRY TO ONLY DEAL IN SOLUTIONS THAT ARE DOUBLE-DIGIT. HAVING SEEN ‘PERMANENT’ SNOW PACK THAT NOW MELTS AWAY AND NOMADS DESCENDING VALLEYS A MONTH EARLIER BECAUSE THE RAINS END SOONER – DEALING IN SINGLE-DIGIT SUBTLETIES JUST ISN’T ENOUGH. TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION WE CHOOSE TO FOCUS NOT JUST SUSTAINING TRIPS TO REMOTE PLACES, BUT ACTUALLY USING THEM TO GET TANGIBLE RESULTS. AS A FUNCTIONAL EQUATION, TRIPS LONGER THAN 35 DAYS ACHIEVE MORE PROFOUND STUFF, AND GET YOU OFF THE CONSUMPTION-GRID FOR 10% OF THE YEAR. A TEAM OF 4 FRIENDS PREVENTS OVER A QUARTER OF A YEARS EMISSIONS OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND IF THEY GET THE SAME FLIGHTS THAT ASPECT IS QUADRUPLED. THAT’S REAL NUMBERS.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL GETS A LOT OF BAD PRESS WHEN IT COMES TO THE ISSUE, AND THERE’S NO ARGUMENT REALLY; FLYING ABOUT CONTRIBUTES TO BAD STUFF BEING INJECTED INTO THE ECOLOGY. IT’S A CATCH-22 IT SEEMS, AS THE FLIGHTS ARE GOING, SO THEY SHOULD BE FULL TO OPTIMIZE THEIR EFFICIENCY, BUT BY BEING FULL MORE FLIGHTS GET SCHEDULED…

FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITION’S RESPONSE IS TO OFFSET IT. TO COUNTER THE IMPACT OF THE FLIGHTS, SYNTHETIC CLOTHES AND METAL-WARE WE GET PEOPLE OFF THE GRID FOR EXTENDED TIME. THE LONGER THE BETTER. BY BEING ON EXPEDITION, YOU’RE FOOTPRINT IS AS MINIMAL AS A MODERN LIFE CAN ALLOW; EVERYDAY YOU USE NO ELECTRICITY, DON’T DRIVE A CAR, EAT STORED FOOD OR DON’T USE DETERGENTS YOU SUSPEND YOUR PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE MESS WE ARE IN. THE LONGER THE TRIP THE MORE EFFICIENT THE EQUATION AND AT SOME POINT YOU NULLIFY BOTH YOUR PART OF THE FLIGHT AND THE RESOURCES YOU’D BE BURNING UP STAYING AT HOME. COUNTERED TO WHAT A TRIP TO A RESORT BURNS, IT’S A NO BRAINER.

YES THERE ARE STILL IMPACTS FROM CLIMBING, PADDLING OR TREKKING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, BUT WE ARE WORKING ON IT; GEAR THAT LASTS LONGER AND IS MORE THERMALLY EFFICIENT, AVOIDING 99% OF PACKAGING, STOVES THAT BURN MORE EFFICIENTLY, EXTREMELY LIGHT FOOTPRINTS BY AVOIDING BIG BASECAMPS, EFFICIENT TRANSPORT THAT MINIMIZES TIME BURNING GASOLINE, SMALL LOCAL HOTELS THAT USE LESS HEATING, CREW THAT STAY WITH THE TEAM RATHER THAN GO BACK TO TOWN AND DOUBLE FUEL COSTS, LOCALLY SOURCED FOOD FROM FRESH MARKETS, NO WESTERN LUXURIES, USING OUR OWN VEHICLES THAT WE LEAVE AT ROADHEADS RATHER THAN SEND BACK TO TOWN. PERHAPS OUR BIGGEST REDUCER OF IMPACT IS BASING OUT OF MAJOR AIR HUBS LIKE CHENGDU, URUMQI, TOKYO & ISTANBUL, AVOIDING POINTLESS SHORT HAUL FLIGHTS IN HALF EMPTY PLANES. NOT ONLY DOES IT KEEP COSTS DOWN, THE SOONER WE CAN GET ON A ROAD THE SOONER WE ARE INJECTING MONEY INTO LOCAL BUSINESSES AND COST-SHARING THE USING OF SMALL VEHICLES.

THE FURTHER OUT WE GO THE WIDER WE SPREAD OUR IMPACT TO THE POINT WHERE WE LEAVE NO INORGANIC TRACE AT ALL. WELL VISITED PLACES LIKE GENYEN, YATSUGATAKE AND TRANGO HAVE OBVIOUS ISSUES WITH HUMAN IMPACT WHICH ARE COMPOUNDED BY CHANGES TO FREEZE LEVELS AND RAIN FALL; SO BY HEADING TO PLACES RARELY VISITED AND STAYING ONLY BRIEFLY IN ANY ONE PLACE, OVER A MONTH LONG TRIP 1 PERSON’S IMPACT BECOMES LITTLE MORE THAN STRAY ISOBUTANE FUMES.

BY KEEPING TEAMS SMALL WE AIM TO HIT A SWEET SPOT OF EFFICIENCY THAT WORKS FOR BOTH OUT IMPACT AND THE EXPEDITION; 2 – 4 MEMBERS MEANS FEWER ROOMS THAT NEED HEATING, SMALLER VEHICLES AND OPTIMIZED EXPENSES THAT RESULT IN CREW GETTING MORE DONE FOR LESS ENERGY.

IN THE END, THE BEST THING WE CAN DO IS GET REPEAT CLIMBERS DOING LONGER EXPEDITIONS EVERY YEAR. BY SCHEDULING LONGER BLOCKS OF TIME WE GET MORE USE OF GEAR AND USE RESOURCES IN MORE ‘WHOLESALE’ QUANTITIES SO LESS CRAP TO GO WITH IT. SUPERFICIALLY IT DOESN’T SOUND SIGNIFICANT, BUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 5 DAYS WORTH OF FOOD PACKAGING AND FUEL AND 15 DAYS WORTH IS SURPRISINGLY SMALL; LONGER TRIPS MEAN MORE TEAM MEALS WHICH ARE FAR MORE EFFICIENT ON RESOURCES (NOT TO MENTION HEALTHIER) AND 1 TEAM OF 4 USES SUPPLIES MUCH MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN 2 TRIPS OF 2.

FOR ALL THE APPEARANCES OF BEING A WESTERN MODERN LUXURY, EXTENDED TRIPS CAN EASILY BE REWORKED TO BE REAL SOLUTIONS. INSTEAD OF THINKING OF A TRIP TO TIBET AS BEING A FUEL-BURNING WASTE, RE-THINK IT AS AN ANNUAL PERIOD OFF GRID, DIRECTING WHAT RESOURCES YOU DO USE INTO FRAGILE COMMUNITIES.