FRONTIER CLIMBERS. ARE YOU ONE?

SERIOUS EXPEDITION ALPIMISM HAS NEVER BEEN FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF CLIMBERS, AND THE CHARACTER TYPE THAT GOES FOR IT IS NOT WHAT MOST PEOPLE EXPECT. THE HISTORY OF EXPEDITIONS OUT TO THE FRONTIERS OF MOUNTAINEERING – THE PLACES FAR FROM THE POPULAR CONCEPTION AND THE INDUSTRY THAT SURROUNDS IT, OUT TO OBJECTIVES WHERE NOT ENOUGH IS KNOWN TO GUARANTEE A RESULT – SHOWS THAT LONG BEFORE THE BIG NAMES SHOW UP IT IS A DIFFERENT SORT OF CLIMBER WHO IS DRAWN TO IT.

PICK ANY FAMOUS ASCENT AND IF YOU LOOK CLOSER YOU WILL SEE IT ALMOST ALWAYS CAME AFTER A COUPLE OF EXPLORATORY ATTEMPTS, USUALLY BY CLIMBERS THE INDUSTRY IS HAPPY TO FORGET. THE CLASSIC EXAMPLES WILL ALWAYS BE CROWLEY & ECKENSTEINS ATTEMPT ON K2, TAKASHI OZAKI ON HKAKABO RAZI AND ERIC SHIPTON ON EVEREST, ALL OF WHICH WERE ATTRACTED BY THINGS OTHER THAN TO DO WHAT HAD ALREADY BEEN SHOWN TO BE DIFFICULT.

THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE FRONTIER CLIMBER ARE NOT THOSE OF THE PEAK GUN OR ‘ATHLETE’, BEING MORE CONCERNED WITH THE BUZZ OF THE UNKNOWN THAN THE SATISFACTION OF A SUMMIT. WHERE THE ATHLETE SEES THEMSELVES ASSOCIATED WITH CLIMBING A PEAK THE FRONTIER CLIMBER SEES THEMSELVES ASSOCIATED WITH DISCOVERING IT, AND RATHER THAN MERELY VALUING DOING SOMETHING KNOWN WELL, VALUES INVENTING THE VERY THING TO BE DONE.

AS A PERSPECTIVE, THE FRONTEIR CLIMBER IS EXCITED BY A VISTA OF MOUNTAINS NOT BY THE PEAKS THEY CAN IDENTIFY BUT BY VERY THE ABSENCE OF SUCH THINGS. WHEN LOOKING AT MAPS AND IMAGES WITH FRONTIER CLIMBERS IS GLARINGLY APPARENT THAT THEY IGNORE THE NAMED STUFF AND GET EXCITED BY WHAT IS BLANK. THIS IS A CHARACTER TYPE, FROM WHICH ALL AN ENTIRE ATTITUDE TO CLIMBING EMERGES, ALMOST ALWAYS ENTAILING THE FOLLOWING.

WITH MOST THINGS, FEW PEOPLE TICK ALL THE BOXES, BUT MANY WHO WILL READ THIS WILL TICK EVERY ONE. THIS IS A TYPE – WE KNOW BECAUSE WE ARE ALL THIS OURSELVES – AND THIS TYPE KNOWS WHAT IT WANTS IN A WORLD THAT REALLY HAS NO IDEA.

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CURIOUS – FRONTEIR CLIMBING IS CURIOSITY DEFINED, EMBODIED AND LIVED OUT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT. REAL CURIOSITY IS LIKE AN ITCH THAT CAN ONLY BE SCRATCHED BUT NOT FIXED, AND IN THE CASE OF FRONTIER CLIMBING APPLIES TO EVERYTHING FROM THE LANDSCAPE TO THE ACCESS TO THE RESOURCES TO THE NEXT THING.

INDEPENDENT – IF YOU CAN’T SUSTAIN YOURSELF THEN YOU’VE COME TO THE WRONG PURSUIT, BUT IF YOU CAN THEN THIS IS EVERY DREAM OF INDEPENDENCE AT ONCE. EXPEDITION ALPINISM CAN BE NOTHING ELSE THAN MAKING AND LIVING YOUR OWN DECISIONS, AS FAR AWAY FROM ANY ESTABLISHED FORMAT THERE IS.

INNOVATIVE – WE NOTICE AN UNUSUALLY HIGH PERCENTAGE OF DESIGNERS, DEVELOPERS, RESEARCHERS, CREATIVE TYPES AND TINKERERS ON THESE TRIPS, ALL OPENLY INTERESTED IN WAYS FRONTIER CLIMBING CAN LEAD TO THE NEXT THING. THESE SORTS OF CLIMBERS LOOK AT THE WORLD IN THE ‘HOW CAN WE TAKE THIS FURTHER’ WAY, SEEING THE WAY WE CLIMB WHAT WE CLIMB AS A CHANCE TO FIND NEW THINGS.

DISCONTENT – DON’T MISTAKE THIS FOR BEING MALCONTENT, WHICH IS A TOXIC AND ABRAISIVE MINDSET, INSTEAD TO BE DISCONTENT MEANS TO KNOW WHERE CONTENTMENT LAYS BUT TO HAVE TO GET THERE. ALL FRONTIER TYPES NEED TO BE PUSHED AS MUCH AS PULLED TOWARDS THINGS, AND SEEING CONTENTMENT OUT IN THE BIGGEST AND MOST EXTREME LANDSCAPES ON EARTH IS A GOOD THING TO BE.

HUNGRY – IT’S CORNY, BUT YOU HAVE TO WANT THIS, IT HAS TO COME FROM DEEP IN THE PSYCHE, NOT JUST BE A SUPERFICIAL PECKISHNESS. FRONTIER ALPINISM REQUIRES AN INNER NEED THAT AFFECTS LIFE CHOICES, AND WE SEE A LOT OF CLIMBERS WHO SUSPEND EVERYTHING FOR IT, CHOOSE IT OVER THINGS LIKE DRUGS OR THE MILITARY, AND EVEN REPLACE RELIGION WITH IT AS A WAY TO SUSTAIN AND NOURISH THEIR PSYCHES.

FUNNY – ALL EXPEDITIONS RUN ON HUMOUR, AND THE MORE FRONTIER THINGS GET THE MORE EXCELLENT THE HUMOUR. SUPERFICIALLY THIS IS A WAY TO VENT STRESS, BUT REALLY IT’S A CONTINUUM OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY FUNNY. VERY OFTEN EXPEDITION CLIMBERS WERE THE CLASS CLOWN, THE PRANKSTER, THE COMIC OR THE RACONTEUR, WITH DARK SENSES OF IRONY, THE ABSURD, WIT AND PLAY. BEING FUNNY ISN’T AN ACT, IT’S AN ACTION, TO MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD, AND EXPEDITIONS TO STRANGE NEW LANDS IS THE CLASSIC STAGE FOR THAT.

ANARCHIC – THE FURTHER YOU GET FROM THE ALPS, ALASKA, SCOTLAND AND NEPAL THE LESS THE ‘RULES’ APPLY, AND BY THE TIME YOU GET TO EASTERN TIBET AND XINJIANG, ALL BETS ARE OFF. THE MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATIONS IN CHINA, OUTSIDE OF SECURITY AND WAGES, IMPOSE NO RULES FOR CLIMBING, MAKING IT ALARMING TO THOSE WHO NEED THEM AND FREEDOM, FINALLY, FOR THOSE WHO DON’T. ANARCHY DOESN’T MEAN CHAOS, IT MEANS THE ABSENCE OF INSTITUTIONS AND AUTHORITY, AND IN THE HANDS OF INSPIRED CLIMBERS IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY NEED TO PROGRESS.

METAPHYSICAL – WE DON’T INTRUDE ON PEOPLES BELIEFS, BUT IT HAS TO BE SAID THAT OUT IN THE VAST WILDERNESSES OF THE GREAT RANGES THE MIND TURNS TO BIG THINGS. WITH THE STRUCTURES OF NORMALCY SO FAR BEHIND THINGS LIKE SYNCHRONICITY, GLITCHES IN PERCEPTION, STRANGE LOGIC AND AN UNRAVELLING OF IDENTITY CAN OCCUR, AND MORE THAN ONE GREAT EXPEDITION CLIMBER HAS HAD THEIR MIND TAKEN TO PLACES IT WOULDN’T HAVE OTHERWISE GONE. THE GOOD CLIMBER ALLOWS THIS TO PASS BUT THE GREAT CLIMBER ALLOWS IT TO CHANGE THEM, GETTING AN INSIGHT INTO WHY ALL GREAT THINKERS HAVE SPENT TIME IN THE MOUNTAINS.

ECCENTRIC – FRONTIER CLIMBERS ARE WEIRDOS, THERE, WE SAID IT, THESE ARE NOT NORMAL CLIMBERS LET ALONE NORMAL OUT IN MAINSTREAM SOCIETY. ODD IDEAS, ALWAYS CHOOSING THE EXOTIC, STRANGE HOURS, OBSESSIONS, IMPULSIVENESS, ALL THE THINGS THAT IN NORMAL LIFE GOT YOU CALLED WEIRD AT SCHOOL,OUT ON EXPEDITION FIND THEIR PLACE, THE WEIRDER THE BETTER. THIS STUFF IS NOT FOR NORMAL PEOPLE, IT IS FOR THOSE WHO DON’T FIT, BEING THE 3% OF SOCIETY THAT NEEDS TO FIND THE EDGES SO THE REMAINING 97% KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.

RESTLESS – THOSE THAT DON’T GO FAR CAN’T BE FRONTIER CLIMBERS, BECAUSE WHEREVER YOU ARE, THE FRONTIER ISN’T THAT. EVEN IN THE DEPTHS OF THE KUNLUN THERE IS ALWAYS THE NEXT HILL, AND IF THE CALL TO GO HOME IS TOO STRONG YOU WON’T BE GOING OVER IT. FOR SOME THE RESTLESSNESS CAN BE EASED – TEMPORARILY – BEFORE BUILDING AGAIN. FOR OTHERS IT IS THE ONLY CONSTANT IN A LIFE THAT FEARS LITTLE BESIDES STAGNATION.

HARD WORKING – EXPEDITIONS ARE WORK, AND THOUGH IT’S NOT THE SORT YOU LEAVE BEHIND AT HOME, IT STILL REQUIRES TOIL AND GRIST TO GET THROUGH MOST DAYS. LIKE NORMAL WORK, THERE’S THINGS THAT MUST GET DONE WHETHER PLEASANT OR NOT, AND NO DAY IS OVER TILL A THOUSAND THINGS ARE SIGNED OFF. DESPITE MOST FRONTIER CLIMBERS HATING WORK BACK HOME, THIS SORT OF STUFF FEELS FUN EXACTLY BECAUSE IT IS WHAT REAL WORK SHOULD FEEL LIKE. THE LOADS, THE CHORES, THE PLANNING, THE DISCUSSIONS, IN ANY OTHER CONTEXT ARE DRUDGERY BUT ON EXPEDITION ARE WONDERFUL.

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THIS PROFILE IS BASICALLY THE DESCRIPTION OF A FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS CLIMBER; ONE WHO HAS DARED TO CLICK ON THE SILLY NAME, HAS MADE IT PAST THE INKY & GLITCHY GRAPHICS AND SPELLING, HAS SEEN PAST THE STUFF ABOUT CROWLEY, XINJIANG AND THE POOR STATE OF 8000m CLIMBING, HAS SALIVATED OVER THE EXOTIC AND QUEERLY COLOURED GEAR, AND WITH EACH TURN TAKING THEM FURTHER FROM MAINSTREAM CLIMBING HAS FELT MORE AND MORE THIS IS THE PLACE FOR THEM.