MALACHOWSKI CUSTOM DOWN. WHY WE ARE TAKING IT TO K2 NORTH

WE CAN DO ANYTHING

– BARTEK MALACHOWSKI

IT’S ONE THING TO SAY YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, AND A WHOLE OTHER THING TO ACTUALLY DO IT, AND MALACHOWSKI HAS PROVED OVER THE DECADES THAT WHEN IT COMES TO DOWN THEY MEAN WHAT THEY SAY. COLLABORATING WITH MALACHOWSKI IS TO TAP INTO A SPECTRUM OF POSSIBILITIES, PEDIGREE, MATERIALS AND RATE OF DEVELOPMENT THAT IS MATCHED BY ONLY A HANDFUL OF OTHERS (UNSURPRISINGLY WHO WE ALSO COLLABORATE WITH), UNLEASHING POTENTIAL WHERE IT COUNTS – ON THE MOUNTAIN – IN WAYS THAT CHANGE CLIMBING.

LONG BEFORE WE EVER CAME TO THIS, MALACHOWSKI WAS OUTFITTING THE GREATEST CLIMBERS THE WORLD HAS KNOWN, BOTH DIRECTLY AND AS PART OF THE CONTRABAND ‘FREEDOM DOWN’ PROCESS THAT AFTER GREAT CLIMBERS WAS POLANDS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION TO MOUNTAINEERING. THIS IS NOT AN “ANYTHING” RELATED TO WHAT A BUNCH OF CLIMBERS WILL BUY, BUT IS AN “ANYTHING” ON THE SCALE OF CHANGING CLIMBING AS IT’S KNOWN.

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OUR TRIPS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HARD TO GEAR UP FOR BECAUSE THEY GO TO PLACES THE COMMERCIAL COMPANIES HAVE NO INTEREST IN. HIGHER, DRIER, COLDER, WITH NO INDUSTRY TO SUPPORT THEM, MOST OF THE EQUATIONS WE NEED TO CRUNCH WE HAVE TO REWORK OURSELVES, AN EXCITING PROCESS THAT MEANS WE CAN HAVE OBJECTIVES UNHEARD OF ELSEWHERE.

DOWN IS MAJOR PART IF THIS AS IT COVERS BOTH THE BIGGEST ITEMS WE CARRY, AND DETERMINES THE CLIMATES WE CAN GO INTO AND WHAT WE CAN DO THERE. PEOPLE ARE OFTEN SURPRISED THAT WE GO TO TIBET SO LATE IN THE YEAR, BUT WHEN YOU KNOW THE GEAR WE USE THERE IT ALL BECOMES CLEAR AND THE ADVANTAGES OBVIOUS.

MALACHOWSKI IS FAMILIAR WITH THIS PARADIGM, HAVING DEVELOPED THE GEAR FOR WINTER 8000m ASCENTS EVER SINCE THEY BEGAN. RIGHT UP UNTIL TODAY THEY MAKE THE SPECIAL SUITS AND GEAR FOR VANGUARD ASCENTS, THAT RELY ON PERCENTILES ACROSS A RANGE OF THINGS TO ALL LINE UP.

FOR US, MALACHOWSKI SMASHES THE LIMITS OF INSULATION AND WEIGHT, SOMETHING THAT LITERALLY ‘CHANGES THE EQUATION’ AND HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN SLOW TO EVOLVE. SUITS AND CLOTHING HAVE A SLOW RATE OF CHANGE, SOME STUFF EVEN GOING BACKWARDS, AS THE STUFF MADE FOR HIGH ALTITUDE GOES TO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SORT OF COMMERCIAL DEMAND. SLEEPING BAGS ARE A BIT BETTER BUT HAVE THEIR OWN MARKET DEMANDS, THAT MAKE REAL INNOVATION VERY EXPENSIVE AND SO COMPROMISES ARE PROBLEMATIC. THE RESULT OF BOTH IS THAT MUCH OF THE CLIMBING COMMONLY SEEN TODAY IS THE PRODUCT OF WHAT THE GEAR USED WILL ALLOW.

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WE HAD BEEN GRINDING ON FOR YEARS WITH WHAT WAS AVAILABLE, BASICALLY IT DETERMINING THE LOADS WE HAD TO CARRY WITH DISPROPORTIONATE EFFECT. UNLIKE PACKS AND TENTS, INSULATION IS VERY HARD TO MODIFY, FOR THE SAME REASONS IT’S HARD TO GET CUSTOM ie DESIGN AND MATERIALS ARE VERY COMPLEX. THEN, AS WE KICKED INTO GEAR FOR TIBET AND THE KARAKORAM AFTER CHINA REOPENED, MALACHOWSKI CAME OUT WITH THEIR SUPER ULTRALIGHT RANGE AND EVERYTHING CHANGED.

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THERE’S A LOT OF CLAIMS MADE AROUND DOWN, AND ACTUALLY NAILING DOWN A TRUE COMPARISON IS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD, AS WE PRESENTED HERE, EVEN AMONG THE TOP PERFORMING SLEEPING BAGS AVAILABLE FROM SPECIALITY MAKERS, THINGS GET OBSCURE FAST WHICH MAKES THEM VERY HARD TO PLAN WITH. UNLIKE HARDWARE AND EVEN PACKS, WHERE GLITCH IN THE SLEEPING BAG EQUATION WILL BE MECHANICAL PROBLEM, A GLITCH IN SLEEPING BAGS AS YOU ENTER SOMEWHERE LIKE TIBET IN WINTER WILL GET VERY SERIOUS VERY FAST.

DOWN IS INCREDIBLY SYSTEM-RELIANT TO MAKE INTO SLEEPING BAGS AND CLOTHING, AND POLAND HAS ALWAYS PRODUCED THE BEST DOWN, AS A NATIONAL INDUSTRY THAT IS HELD WITH ESTEEM WHICH MAKES IT THE ONLY SOURCE OF TRUE 1000FP DOWN. MALACHOWSKI IS EXTRAORDINARILY OPEN WITH THEIR NUMBERS AND EXPLANATIONS OF THE DOWN THEY USE, PROVIDING A DEGREE OF RELIABILITY NO ONE ELSE DOES.

WE FOUND THAT MOST COMPANIES JUGGLED A BLEND OF DUBIOUS NUMBERS, LEAVING INFORMATION OUT, QUIET COMPROMISES, MISAPPLIED METHODS AND SIMPLY FALLING SHORT, SO NOTHING WAS QUITE WHAT IT SEEMED FOR VERY EXPENSIVE AND CRITICAL GEAR. THIS MAY BE ACCEPTABLE IN THE WORLD OF EVEREST OR SOMEWHERE WITH A VAST RESOURCE OF CONTINGENCY, BUT IS A POTENTIAL TIMEBOMB A WEEK UP AN UNMAPPED VALLEY IN TIBET AS WINTER SETS IN.

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IN THE COLD, DRY, STABLE ENVIRONMENT OF WINTER NORTH OF THE HIMALAYAN DIVIDE, INSULATION HAS A RELIABILITY HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE. WHERE THE NUMBERS AROUND LOFT, FILL, RATIOS AND WEAR ARE INDICATIONS AT BEST ELSEWHERE, THE LOW HUMIDITY, STABLE AIR PRESSURE, DESERT CONDITIONS AND HIGH UV OF TIBET AND XINJIANG MEAN WE CAN EXTRAPOLATE MATERIAL PERFORMANCE SURPRISINGLY ACCURATELY WHEN WE HAVE IT TO WORK WITH. THIS MEANS LIGHTER LOADS, FEWER MOVING PARTS, BETTER INTEGRATION WITH OTHER GEAR AND THINGS LIKE FOOD, AND A CONFIDENCE IN WHAT WE HAVE TO RETOOL THE WAY EXPEDITIONS WORK.

FOR EXAMPLE, BY HAVING RELIABLE PERFORMANCE FROM OUR INSULATION, TENTS, PACKS, HARDWARE AND STOVES, WE CAN DO THINGS LIKE DISPENSE WITH BASECAMPS WHICH RADICALLY CHANGES THE TIMELINE ON A MOUNTAIN. DIFFERENCES OF DOUBLE DIGIT PERCENTILES ACROSS THESE THINGS RADICALLY SHIFTS HOW LONG WE CAN STAY HIGHER, WHICH SHIFTS WHAT OBJECTIVES CAN BE PURSUED. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASTOUNDED WHAT WE DO, AND QUITE RIGHTLY QUESTION HOW THE NUMBERS ON PAPER TRANSLATE TO REALITY, AND WE HAVE DOZENS OF TRIPS OVER DECADES THAT SHOW THIS PROCESS BOTH WORKS AND IS GETTING BETTER.

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WHERE MALACHOWSKI FITS IN

TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD – AND AWAY FROM WHAT HIMALAYAN CLIMBING HAS BECOME ELSEWHERE – WE NEED STUFF THAT ALLOWS SMALLER TEAMS TO GO HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER AND COLDER. THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, WITH A LOT OF POTENTIAL IN IT AND A LOT OF POSSIBILITIES AHEAD, AND WE NEED COLLABORATING PEOPLE TO BRING THEIR EXPERTISE AND MOTIVATION AND WILLINGNESS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS WE KEEP COMING UP WITH.

THIS IS BASICALLY WHAT MALACHOWSKI DOES BY DEFINITION, SO THE COMPANY RESPONDS TO IT, AND FOSTERS A DIALOGUE THAT PROMOTES INNOVATION. TRUTH BE TOLD, THIS IS A RARITY, WHERE MOST COMPANIES EITHER DON’T LISTEN, TRY TO RAILROAD US TOWARDS WHAT THEY WANT, OR SIMPLY DISMISS WHAT WE ASK FOR. OUR LONG AND ILLUSTROUS LIST OF ABANDONED, FAILED OR TERMINATED COLLABORATORS IS TESTAMENT TO THIS, COMPANIES THAT COULDN’T OR WOULDN’T OR DIDN’T OR CAN’T – COMPARED TO THE LIKES OF MALACHOWSKI AND A FEW OTHERS WHO CAN, DO, WANT TO, WILL AND ARE.

ABOVE AND BEYOND ALL THIS IS THE WILL TO MAKE DOWN GEAR TO THE OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE IT CAN BE. MOST MAKERS OF DOWN CLIMBING GEAR CANNOT CRUNCH A REASON TO DEVELOP THINGS TO THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE STANDARD, SO A COMPANY MUST BE SPECIALIZED FOR IT AND MUST BE SET UP FOR INNOVATION, NOT JUST BULK PRODUCTION, BUT NOT MUCH OF THIS EXISTS, WITH VERY LITTLE DONE THAT PUSHES THE ENVELOPE.

WE SHARE WITH MALACHOWSKI THE WILL TO EVOLVE CLIMBING, NOT JUST SWATHE OUR TEAMSTERS IN COOL GEAR, LOGOS AND CRED. WE NEED THEIR EXPERTISE – UNSURPASSED IN THE DOWN INDUSTRY – AND OWE IT TO THEM TO USE THE FRUIT OF THEIR EFFORTS IN WAYS THAT SET IT APART FROM WHAT OTHER PRODUCTS CAN DO.

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