THE TRADITION OF NO TRADITION

PART OF OUR IDENTITY IS THE TIME WE SPEND WITH NOMADIC PEOPLE, MEETINGS THAT TAKE PLACE AS THEY ARE DESCENDING THE VALLEYS OFF THE PLATEAU AS WE ARE GOING UP THEM. THESE ARE HARDY PEOPLE, COMING FROM ALL SORTS OF CULTURES ACROSS THE KAZAKH, MONGOLIAN, TIBETAN AND TAJIK WORLD, WHO SPEND THEIR SUMMERS WITH THEIR HERDS IN THE HIGH PASTURES THEN THE COLDER MONTHS ALONG THE RIVERS WHERE IT’S WARMER AND THERE’S WATER.

TO THEM THE SIDESHOW OF US GOING UP THE VALLEYS AFTER SUMMER IS ABSURD, AND USUALLY THEY WARN US OF OUR FOLLY. THEY SAY THERE IS LITTLE TO HUNT, THAT EVEN THE BIRDS GO ELSEWHERE, AND THAT IF LACK OF FOOD DOESN’T TURN US AROUND THE WINDS WILL DRIVE US INSANE. WE OFTEN ASK WHAT THINGS ARE LIKE UP THERE, AND ABOUT ACCESS TO PEAKS AND OTHER VALLEYS, AND THEIR ANSWER IS INVARIABLY THAT THEY NEITHER KNOW OR CARE, AS THEY HAVE NO SPACE IN THEIR WORLD FOR IT. WHEN THINGS START GETTING COLD THEY SIMPLY LEAVE FOR THE WARMER VALLEYS JUST AS EVERY GENERATION BEFORE DID.

.

CLIMBING-WISE TOO, THERE IS NO TRADITION OR BLUEPRINT FOR THIS. WITH BARELY LITTLE IN THE WARM MONTHS THERE’S CERTAINLY NO TEMPLATE FOR ASCENTS AT OTHER TIMES LIKE EXISTS IN PAKISTAN AND NEPAL AND EVEN THE ‘STANS. WHATEVER MINIMAL LOGISTICS EXISTS IN SUMMER EVEN FURTHER DISAPPEARS AS THINGS COOL, AND OTHER THAN THE ICE CLIMBING SCENE AROUND SHUANGQIAOGOU EVEN THE TRIPS TO NAMA FENG STOP.

NOW IT’S TRUE THAT PLENTY OF CLIMBING HAS GONE ON ACROSS THE TIBETAN RANGES YEAR ROUND – JUST NOT ENOUGH TO ESTABLISH ANY TRADITION OF IT. WHAT’S BEEN DONE HAS BEEN TOO VARIED, TOO INDEPENDANT, AND IN MANY CASES TOO UNDERGROUND, TO LEAVE ANY SORT OF PROCESS FOR OTHERS TO FOLLOW. PLENTY OF PILOT D’ORS HAVE GONE TO ASCENTS IN THE REGION, FAR MORE IN RELATION TO POPULARITY THAN MANY PEOPLE REALIZE, AND MANY VANGUARD CLIMBERS HAVE CYCLED THROUGH TIBET QUIETLY AS A PLACE TO CLIMB WITHOUT THE IMPOSITION OF COMMERCIALISM.

INDEED, THIS VERY ASPECT OF HAVING NO METHOD AND NO RULES IS WHAT MOST CLIMBERS ARE ATTRACTED BY, AS A FORM OF ANARCHY IN THE GOOD SENSE THAT HARKS BACK TO ALPINISMS EARLY DAYS. YOU GET TO PICK OBJECTIVES BASED ON THE WHOLE GAMMUT OF YOUR CAPACITY TO GET THERE AND TRY IT, TAKING CONTROL OF EVERYTHING FROM THE MOMENT YOU LAND. WITH NO INDUSTRY TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING, CLIMBERS NEED TO HAVE THE INTENT, MOTIVATION AND PERSPECTIVE TO LINE IT ALL UP AND MAKE THEIR OWN PROCESS FROM ANARCHY, SOMETHING THE GREAT ALPINIST CROWELY CLAIMED WHERE TO DO WHAT THOU WILLS IS THE ONLY RULE.

THIS ALL SOUNDS VERY ESOTERIC, BUT IT’S EXACTLY HOW THE FINEST ASCENTS ACROSS THIS REGION WERE DONE, WITH PRECISELY ZERO OF THEM BEING THE RESULT OF A SLICK INDUSTRY DOING WHAT IT HAS PERFECTED OVER YEARS. EVERYTHING HAS BEEN UNIQUE AND MADE UP IN ITS OWN WAY, WHICH MEANS THERE IS NO STANDARD WAY TO DO THESE THINGS – WE SURE AS HELL DON’T OFFER ONE – AND SUCCESS COMES FROM INVENTION NOT COMPLYING TO THE STANDARDS FROM ELSEWHERE.

THIS DOEN’T MEAN THERE IS NOT METHODOLOGY THOUGH, AND IF ANYTHING THE METHODS OF GOOD ALPINISM ARE BEST PLAYED OUT WHERE THERE’S NO TRADITIONS AND RULES TO STIFLE THINGS. RATHER THAN HAVING THE TRADITIONS OF ALPINISM IMPOSED, TIBET WITHOUT THE INDUSTRIAL FORMAT IS THE PLACE TO EXEMPLIFY THEM AS IT IS FREE OF THEM.

.

EXPECT DIFFERENT

TIBET AT ANY TIME IS NOT LIKE THE CLIMBING REGIONS OF NEPAL, PAKISTAN AND THE ‘STANS (WHICH ARE ALL MARKEDLY SIMILAR), AND OUTSIDE SUMMER EVEN LESS SO AS THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LATITUDES, CULTURES AND CONDITIONS REACH THEIR MOST EXTREME. THERE’S NO ESTABLISHED INDUSTRY HERE TO CARE WHEN OR HOW YOU DO THINGS, NO ONE TO TELL YOU THINGS SHOULD BE DONE A CERTAIN WAY AND NO GREAT HISTORICAL EXAMPLES FOR THE ARMCHAIR ANALYSTS TO REDUCE THINGS TO STATISTICS. AND FAR FROM PRESENTING AS CHAOS THIS PRESENTS AS FREEDOM.

NONE OF THE TROPES AND STEREOTYPES OF HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING EXIST IN TIBET. YOU WON’T SEE THE JADED AND INSTITUTIONALIZED GUIDES, YOU WON’T EAT THE USUAL MESS TENT FARE, YOU WON’T APPROACH ALONG THE BUSY AND WELL WORN PATHS, THERE WON’T BE SIGNS POINTING THE WAY OR ANY MARKED OUT PLACES FOR CAMPS. LIKEWISE THE GEOGRAPHY IS DIFFERENT, WITH PEOPLE LIVING MUCH HIGHER IN A LANDSCAPE MUCH DRIER. NORTH OF THE DIVIDE TIBET IS A SERIES OF SCATTERED RANGES ACROSS UNDULATING PLATEAU, WHERE WHOLE CULTURES OVERLAP AND RESULT IN DIFFERENT WAYS THE LANDSCAPE IS USED.

TIBET HAS NO DOMINANT ETHNIC GROUP THAT DEFINES A REGION AS THE SHERPAS, BALTIS AND HUNZAKUTS DO, AND THE TIBETANS THEMSELVES ARE NOT A SINGLE GROUP. THE TRADERS OF THE MINYA GONGGA AREA DO THINGS VERY DIFFERENTLY TO THE HORSE PEOPLE OF THE HIGH PLATEAU OR THE NOMAD OUTPOSTS IN THE NORTH, SO THEY RESPOND TO US CLIMBERS DIFFERENTLY AS WE TRAVEL AMONGST THEM.

.

THINK FOR YOURSELF

THINK WHAT YOU WANT TO CLIMB AND THINK WHAT YOUR APTITUDE IS TO DO EVERYTHING NEEDED FOR THAT. ANY SORT OF ASCENT IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE BREADTH OF TIBET, BUT IF YOU CAN’T WORK OUT HOW TO GET THERE AND ANSWER ALL THE ISSUES OF STRATEGY IT CAN’T HAPPEN – AND THERE’S NO GUIDE TO HOW IT’S DONE.

A FEW HOURS SEARCHING AAJ REPORTS WILL MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THOSE WHO DID BEST DID SO BY DOING THINGS THEIR OWN WAY, AND THAT CONVERSELY THE TRIPS THAT GO NOWHERE ARE THOSE THAT TRY AND USE FORMATS FROM ELSEWERE. WHAT DAVID LAMA DID IN NEPAL OR HIRAIDE DOES IN PAKISTAN OR URUBKO DID IN THE KARAKORAM IS ALL GOOD STUFF, BUT THE LESSONS FROM THOSE GUYS IS TO RETHINK, NOT COPY.

LOOK AT THE INFORMATION AND INTERPRET IT YOURSELF, AND MAKE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENTS ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK IS POSSIBLE. TIBET IS ABOUT WHAT YOU BRING TO IT, NOT WHAT IT PROVIDES FOR YOU, AND FORCING IT INTO THE METHODS OF ELSEWHERE IS FAILING TO SEE IT AT ITS BEST.

.

FORGET BASECAMPS

THE IDEA OF YOMPING A BIG SET UP TO THE BASE OF A GLACIER THEN LAUNCHING FROM THERE DOESN’T WORK HERE, WHICH FUNDAMENTALLY ALTERS THE ENTIRE WAY TRIPS WORK. WITHOUT THE ARMY OF PORTERS, COOKS, GUIDES AND STAFF TO CARRY AND RUN THE WHOLE THING, THERE IS NO NEED TO HAVE A LARGE BASE FOR EVERYONE TO SIT OUT THE SEASON.

IN ITS PLACE, SOME TRIPS HAVE WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED A HIGH CAMP, AND OTHER TRIPS DON’T EVEN HAVE THAT AND SIMPLY PROCEED ALPINE STYLE RIGHT FROM THE START. ALL THIS HELPS A LOT TO CUT THE CONNECTION TO THE GROUND THAT IS SO OFTEN WHAT HOLDS A TEAM BACK. IN THIS PARADIGM THE ASCENT STARTS UNBROKEN FROM THE MOMENT YOU START THE APPROACH, WITH FORAYS LAUNCHED FROM HIGHER UP.

MUCH OF THIS DISPENSATION OF A BASECAMP IS FOUNDED ON BEING WELL PREACCLIMATIZED, WITH MOST OF THE ACCLIMATION PROCESS DONE BETTER IN TOWNS THAN IN TENTS. IT ALSO MEANS RETHINKING HIGH CAMPS, SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THE ‘ALASKAN STYLE’ WHERE THEY USE LIGHTWEIGHT TENTS AND SNOW STRUCTURES, WITH THE ENTIRE IDEA BEING YOU WON’T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME THERE.

.

CLIMB SIMPLY

DISMISS THE CONSTANT URGE TO HAVE MORE GEAR AND MORE SYSTEMS AND MORE SUPPLEMENTS AND MORE DEVICES AND MORE DATA AND MORE STUFF, BECAUSE HIGH ALTITUDE OUT OF SEASON IS A GREAT LEVELLER OF ACTIONS AND IDEAS, THAT TEARS OFF AND BREAKS ANYTHING TOO COMPLICATED OR FIDDLY.

THESE ASCENTS CALL FOR PRAGMATISM, HAVING STRONG AND IDIOT-PROOF SYSTEMS THAT ARE LIGHT AND EFFICIENT. ‘LIGHT & FAST’ HERE DOESN’T MEAN TRIMMING ALL THE PERCENTILES OFF FRAGILE, OVER-TUNED METHODS, IT MEANS HAVING MINIMAL MOVING PARTS THAT CONSUME MINIMAL ENERGY THAT REAPS ITS SWIFTNESS FROM FROM BEING SMOOTH AND RELIABLE. MANY-LAYERED CLOTHING SYSTEMS, MULTIFEROUS RACKS OF EVERY INCREMENT OF GEAR, STOVES THAT NEED DELICATE FIDDLING TO WORK AND PLANS THAT ARE MADE OF TOO MANY PARTS ALL FIND THEIR WEAKNESSES FAST IN THE FACE OF THE COLD.

THE ASCENTS THAT WORK BEST ARE THOSE THAT EXPLOIT SIMPLE GEAR WITH SIMPLE ROPE SYSTEMS AND CLIMB SIMPLE AND ELEGANT LINES. COMPLEXITY ALWAYS ARISES AT SOME STAGE OF COURSE, BUT NEED NOT BE INVITED, AND AN INTENT TO ALWAYS SIMPLIFY THINGS FENDS OFF A DESCENT INTO CONFUSION.

CHOOSE CLIMBING METHODS THAT WILL STILL MAKE SENSE AT 0200, SEVERELY IN CALORIE IN DEFICIT AND BY FADING BATTERIES, WHERE COMMUNICATION IS PRIMITIVE AND DEXTERITY IS THROUGH MITTS. HAVE THE BASICS AGREED WHEN IT IS BETTER TO STOP AND REGROUP, AND STICK WITH YOUR PLANS UNTIL SOMETHING MEANS YOU CAN’T. SIMPLICITY DOESN’T HEROIC IN THE PLANNING, AND THE ARMCHAIR COMMENTATORS WON’T GET IT, BUT BY RECASTING IT AS ELEGANCE AND ZEN-LIKE PARSIMONY YOU FIND A SIDE TO SIMPLICITY MANY DON’T.

.

RETHINK THE SEASONS

AFTER MID-AUTUMN CONDITIONS AT 6000m STARTS APPROXIMATING SUMMER AT 8000, AND WHAT ADVANTAGE THE BODY HAS IN METABOLIC PRESSURE IS THWARTED BY LACK OF THERMAL RADIANCE. COMPARED TO SUMMER, YOU WILL SPEND A LOT MORE TIME STATIONARY IN TENTS, BEING OUT IN THE PRE-DAWN AND SPENDING YOUR TIME IN INDIRECT LIGHT, AND THOUGH YOU ARE CARRYING 20% MORE OXYGEN THAN AT 8000m YOU ARE PUSHING AGAINST MORE AMBIENT COLD.

THERE WILL BE NO REAL WARM TIMES WHERE YOU MIGHT TAKE YOUR GLOVES OFF FOR PHOTOS OR CLIMB JUST IN YOUR BASELAYERS DOWN LOW, CAMPS WON’T INVOLVE CHILLIN’ IN THE SUN AND ‘WARM’ WILL MEAN NOT FREEZING. FOR THIS THE TRADE OFF IS A MORE STABLE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS SIMPLER TO PREDICT – IT WILL ALWAYS BE COLD – SO IDEAS ABOUT GEAR, FOOD AND STRATEGY CAN REFLECT THAT.

EXPECT EVERY DAY TO PUSH MAXIMUM KCAL DEMAND AND DISMISS ANYTHING ABOUT ENERGY CONSUMPTION BASED ON SUMMER EQUATIONS. IT IS FEASIBLE YOU WILL METABOLIZE AS MANY KCALS IN YOUR SLEEP AS YOU DO DURING AN ACTIVE SUMMER DAY, SO THREE MEALS A DAY WON’T REPLACE THAT NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU EAT AT A TIME. THESE THINGS NEED TO BE CATERED TO WITH THE DIFFERENT GEAR, FOOD AND FUEL, WHICH ALTERS THE EQUATIONS ABOUT CARRYING

SEASONS OF COURSE CHANGE THINGS LIKE ICE AND SNOW, AND THE INTERSECTION OF DAY LENGTH AND TEMPERATURES MAKES FOR MORE THAN SIMPLY JUST ‘COLD’. IN TIBET THE CHANGES ACROSS THE WHOLE HALF A YEAR THAT IS ‘OUT OF SEASON’ HAVE BARELY BEEN INVESTIGATED BY CLIMBERS, WITH HIGH PROFILE TRIPS STILL FAILING DUE TO LACK OF THOUGHT GIVEN TO CONDITIONS.

.

INNOVATE

THERE IS NO MARKET AIMED AT THIS SORT OF THING, SO WHAT YOU USE AND HOW YOU USE IT MUST BE DRAWN FROM ACROSS A WIDE SPECTRUM. REGULAR HIMALAYAN 8000m STUFF IS TOO BULKY AND HEAVY, DENALI STUFF IS TOO GENERAL, GEAR FOR THE ALPS IS TOO OVER-DESIGNED AND TOO LIGHT AND THE STUFF USED ON IN-SEASON PEAKS ISN’T WARM ENOUGH. WHAT’S CALLED FOR IS A SORT OF ‘ATHLETIC SUPER ALPINE’ STYLE THAT EXISTS IN ITS PIECES BUT HASN’T REALLY BEEN DEFINED AS A WHOLE BECAUSE THERE ISN’T THE DEMAND TO DO SO.

GOING HIGHER AND INTO SHORTER DAYS PUSHES THE SPECS OF RESOURCES, AS DEMANDS INCREASE AND SO DOES MASS, BUT THIS IS OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING THAT MUST BE COUNTERED. THIS PLAYS DIRECTLY TO THE ADVANTAGES OF EMERGING MATERIALS, BUT ALSO TO THE WAY THINGS ARE DONE, SO NOT EVERY PROBLEM WILL BE RESOLVED SIMPLY BY MONEY AND GEAR.

INNOVATION IN THIS SPACE NEEDS TO HAPPEN ACROSS THE ENTIRE FIELD OF THE TRIP, WITH STRATEGIES THAT EVOLVE HOW ASCENTS WORK. PICKING A TIBETAN 7000m OBJECTIVE WHEN IT’S COLD IS A WHOLE OTHER THING TO JUST HEADING TO AMA DABLAM OR SPANTIK DURING PEAK SEASON AND THE LISTS OF UNCLIMBED PEAKS OF THIS SORT SHOW THAT.

.

ABSENCE OF TRADITION WE SEE AS THE BEST WAY FORWARD IN ALPINE CLIMBING, BY SHRUGGING OFF INDUSTRIES AND COMMENTATORS THAT ARE ALL TOO WILLING TO DO THE THINKING FOR YOU. WE THINK THE GREAT TRADITION OF CLIMBING HAS ACTUALLY BEEN THE TRADITION TO CAST OFF THE TRADITIONS OF BEFORE, AND THAT THAT TAKES LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE INNOVATION TO PLAY OUT.