OIERLIZUOKE 6700m, AKSAI QIN, 2024. WHERE CELCIUS & FARENHEIT MEET.

NOTICE: FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS HAS NO POLITICAL AGENDA AND NO POLITICAL OPINION OTHER THAN ‘GO SEE FOR YOURSELF’. WE TRAVEL, CLIMB AND EMPLOY PEOPLE BASED ON OUR OWN FIRST HAND EXPERTISE BUILD OVER 25 YEARS RETURNING TO PLACES MANY CAN’T FIND ON THE MAP, AND HAVE LIMITED TIME FOR THE OPINIONS OF PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN TO THE PLACES MENTIONED. IF YOUR WORLD VIEW IS REPRESENTED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND AGENDAS YOU ARE ADVISED TO PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

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IN 2024 FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS OBTAINED THE FIRST PERMITS TO THE CHINA SIDE OF THE K2 MASSIF SINCE 2011, INCLUDING TO THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 ITSELF. THE OBJECTIVES WERE A +6500m FIRST ASCENT, OBSERVATIONS OF GLACIAL CHANGES OVER THE PAST DECADE, RECCE OF THE CHINA SIDE OF K2 IN EARLY WINTER CONDITIONS, AND A VISIT TO THE CHINA SIDES OF BROAD PEAK AND THE GASHERBRUMS.

THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED.

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NORTH OF THE KARAKORUM IS NOT NOW, AND NEVER HAS BEEN, A SIMPLE PLACE TO VISIT. HISTORY HAS RARELY INCLUDED IT IN THE GREAT ANNALS OF THE SILK ROAD, PASSING CIVILIZATIONS, ACCOUNTS OF TRAVELLERS AND GEOPOLITICS, AND CLIMBING HISTORY SPECIFICALLY RANKS IT AS SOME OBSCURITY DESPITE THE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL AND VISION OF THE HANDFUL OF ASCENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED THERE. THE PEAKS AND AREAS DON’T MAKE GOOGLE UNTIL WELL INTO THE DOUBLE DIGIT PAGES, THE BIG COMPANIES IGNORE THE PLACE, AND THE MAJORITY OF CLIMBERS DO NOT KNOW NOR CARE THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE KARAKORUMS 8000ers LAY HALF IN CHINA, AS DOES THE BULK OF THE ENTIRE K2 MASSIF. ASK ANY MOUNTAINEER WHICH COUNTRY K2 IS IN AND THEY WILL JUST SAY PAKISTAN, EVEN IF YOU ASK THEM AT BASECAMP. WE KNOW BECAUSE WE DID.

BEYOND THE KARAKORUM LAYS SEVERAL OTHER MAJOR RANGES, EVEN MORE OBSCURED BY VAGUE NAMES, VAGUER DEFINITIONS AND FEWER REPORTS. THE PAMIR AND TIEN SHAN ARE BROAD TERMS APPLIED TO CLUSTERS OF SMALLER RANGES AND MASSIFS – USUALLY BY OUTSIDERS – THAT RELATE AS MUCH TO INTERNATIONAL BORDERS, COMMERCIAL INTERESTS AND TOURISM AS TO ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE FUNCTIONAL REALITIES OF CLIMBING.

MOST OBSCURE OF THE LOT IS THE KUNLUN ‘RANGE’, BY SOME ACCOUNTS THE LONGEST CHAIN OF HIGH PEAKS ON EARTH, AND BY THE LACK OF ALMOST ANY ACCOUNTS AT ALL, THE MOST UNVISITED. CONTROVERSIAL AND REMOTE, ASIDE FROM FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS NO EXPEDITION ORGANIZERS HAVE SECURE ACCESS TO IT, MAKING IT THE LARGEST HIGH ALTITUDE WILDERNESS ON THE PLANET. SPANNING FROM KONGUR NEAR THE TAJIK-CHINA BORDER IN THE WEST TO AMNE MAQIN AT THE JUNCTION WITH THE NORTH EASTERN HIMALAYAS IN QINGHAI IN THE EAST WITH PEAKS TO 7000m ALONG IT’S LENGTH, MOST OF THIS IS HIGH DESERT WITH AN EXTREME CLIMATE MAKING IT UNINHABITABLE, ASIDE FROM THE FAR EASTERN EXTREMITY THAT COLLECTS PRECIPITATION FROM THE FURTHEST REACH OF THE ASIAN MONSOON.

MANY OF THE GROUND WATER SOURCES IN THE KUNLUN ARE TOO MINERAL-RICH FOR SUSTAINED CONSUMPTION BY ALL BUT THE MOST ADAPTED OR MIGRATORY ANIMALS, THE DISTANCES TO ANYWHERE MORE HABITABLE ARE TOO GREAT FOR ANYTHING ELSE, AND THE ABSENCE OF QUALITY GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION DESPITE BEING SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE GREATEST CIVILIZATIONS MEANS IT HAS BEEN KNOWN AS SOMEWHERE TO AVOID RATHER THAN WILLINGLY ENTER INTO.

THIS IS OUR KIND OF PLACE.

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IN OCTOBER 2024, IMMEDIATELY BEFORE LEAVING TO XINJIANG, CHINA, ENROUTE TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE K2 MASSIF, OUR PERMITS WERE UNEXPECTEDLY BUT TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED FOR REASONS ONLY DESCRIBED AS ‘MILITARY’. CURRENT NEWS AT THE TIME MADE READING BETWEEN THE LINES FAIRLY EASY, WITH US BEING UNABLE TO ENTER THE PRECINCT K2 SITS IN DESPITE IT BEING FAR FROM THE EVENTS CONCERNED. ANNOYINGLY THIS ALSO EXCLUDED US FROM OTHER AREAS WE PLANNED TO VISIT, AS ACCESS IS ONLY VIA THE K2 AREA, SO WITH A LOT OF SUPPLIES, FINANCES AND COMMITMENT ON THE LINE WE HAD TO FIND NEW OBJECTIVES – FAST.

THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION, LONG TIME FRIENDS AND CHEERLEADERS FOR CLIMBING IN ARGUABLY THE GREATEST PLACE FOR ALPINISM ON EARTH, TOOK OUR SIDE ENTHUSIASTICALLY, LAYING OUT OTHER OPTIONS THAT FIT THE PLANS AND LOGISTICS WE ALREADY HAD IN PLACE. THE NORTHERN SIDE OF K2 IS A VERY HARD ACT TO FOLLOW, AS IS FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS STRICT ‘STYLE GUIDE’, AND TO THEIR CREDIT THE XMA KICKED OUT THE JAMS TO PUSH FORWARD OPTIONS THAT WOULD INTEREST A TEAM HIGH ON THE PSYCHE FROM EXPECTING THE FIRST RETURN TO K2 NORTH SIDE IN NEARLY 15 YEARS.

OUR BASIC CRITERIA WAS; FIRST ASCENTS, AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE, THAT FIT OUR PREACCLIMATION CURVE, WHICH BEING IN TIBETAN SICHUAN HAD REMAINED UNCHANGED. LIKE K2 WE WOULD REMAIN UNSUPPORTED BEYOND A POINT AS FAR AWAY AS OUR CAPACITIES WOULD TOLERATE, ie THE LIMITS OF LOGISTICS, AND WE NEEDED OBJECTIVES OUTSIDE ANY INDUSTRY CONCERN SO WE COULD ACT ON OUR OWN TERMS 100% OF THE TIME WITH NO EXPECTATIONS OR COMPROMISES TO STIFLE IDEAS. WE WANTED REAL WILDERNESS, REAL EXPLORATION, REAL AUTONOMY AND REAL ALPINISM, AND WOULD PUT UP WITH ANY DEGREE OF INTRIGUE, WEIRDNESS, OBSCURITY AND DEPRIVATION TO GET IT.

KNOWING THE HUBRIS INVOLVED WHEN WISHING FOR SUCH THINGS, THE OPTIONS FROM THE XMA QUICKLY FILLED OUT A LIST FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS OF FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS TRIPS, ALL ACROSS XINJIANG IN EVERY DIRECTION – EXCEPT THE NEXT MONTH AROUND K2 AND A FEW PLACES WE ALREADY KNEW. BILL TILMAN AND CHARLIE FOWLER WOULD HAVE SALIVATED OVER THE THINGS THAT THE XMA PUT BEFORE US, AND WE COULD SEE THAT WE WERE GETTING AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF ACCESS SO DECIDED TO PLAY ALONG, UPPING THE ANTE AND ASKING ABOUT PEAKS WE FULLY EXPECTED TO BE POLITELY DENIED.

THE KOKOXIL MASSIFS OF ULAGH MUZTAG AND BUKADABAN FENG WE KNEW WERE NOT HAPPENING, AFTER YEARS OF ALREADY BEING TOLD SO. LIKEWISE THE ASPARAS PEAKS, FORMING THE BORDER WITH INDIA, WE KNEW WE DIDN’T NEED TO ASK ABOUT, THOUGH WE STILL DID ONLY TO CONFIRM YET AGAIN THE ANSWER, WHILST OTHER PEAKS SUCH AS QONG TAGH AND LIUSHAN WERE GREEN LIT HAPPILY, BUT SENT COSTS SOARING WITH THE NEED FOR WEEKS OF LOGISTICS INVOLVING CAMELS IN A PLACE NO ONE REMEMBERED HOW TO PROCURE THEM.

TO LIMIT THINGS REASONABLY WE EMPLOYED OCCAMS RAZOR – THE ONLY EDGED IMPLEMENT MORE IMPORTANT THAN ICE TOOLS – BUT AS WE SO OFTEN WE WERE REMINDED THAT OUTCOMES FOR ABNORMAL EVENTS ARE NOT FOUND BY NORMAL MEANS, AND WE WERE APPLYING OUR LOGIC IN THE WRONG WAY AND IGNORING THE ELEPHANT ROOM. THE THING WE NEEDED TO ASK WE WERE NOT, AND UNTIL WE DID WE WOULD HAVE NO SOLUTION, AND THAT QUESTION WAS IF WE COULD CLIMB IN AKSAI QIN, AND THEN EVERYTHING CAME TOGETHER.

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BY ALL CRITERIA, CLIMBING IN AKSAI QIN HAS NEVER BEEN ALLOWED. NOT ‘NEVER’ AS IN SINCE 2011, OR 1911, OR 1811 OR ANY OTHER ERA OF RULES THE RAJ, QING DYNASTY, MODERN CHINA, PAKISTAN AND INDIA MADE UP, BUT ‘NEVER’ AS IN NEVER. SHIPTON AND TILMAN DIDN’T CLIMB THERE, NOR DID THE JAPANESE IN THE 80s AND 90s, CHINESE TEAMS NEVER WENT THERE, NOR DID ANY COVERT ‘ASIA OVERLAND ERA‘ TRAVELLERS IN THE SHORT PERIOD BETWEEN THE END OF SOVIETISM AND THE WAR OF TERROR. ONE OR TWO PASSING TREKKERS BRIEFLY WANDERED UP ROAD-SIDE PEAKS BUT DIDN’T STAY, RISKING THE IRE OF THE AUTHORITIES THAT HURRIED ANY TRAVELLERS ALONG WHO ENDED UP IN THE PLACE. TURKMENISTAN, NORTH KOREA AND NAGALAND ARE FAR MORE OPEN THAN AKSAI QIN EVER HAS BEEN, AND THOUGH CLIMBERS HAVE VERY OCCASIONALLY GOTTEN NEAR TO THE REGION, GETTING IN WITH ALL THAT’S NEEDED WITH TIME TO SERIOUSLY CLIMB ANYTHING HAS BEEN IMPOSSIBLE.

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ASKSAI QINS HISTORY HAS KEPT IT IRRELEVANT SINCE LONG BEFORE HUMANS, WITH ITS GEOGRAPHY MAKING IT UNINHABITABLE FOR MORE THAN MIGRATING BIRDS, HARES, PIKAS AND THE RARE WILD CAMEL. SNOW LEOPARDS AND PALLAS CATS MAAAAY EXIST, BUT NONE ARE CONFIRMED, AND UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF TIBETAN AND UYGHER TRADERS WHO ONLY EVER PASSED THROUGH, NO HUMANS LINGERED THERE UNTIL VERY RECENTLY.

AKSAI QIN IS TOO HIGH, TOO COLD, TOO MINERAL SATURATED AND TOO FAR FROM ANYTHING TO SUPPORT PEOPLE – UNTIL THINGS LIKE LITHIUM WERE FOUND AND EXPLOITATION BY CORPORATOCRACIES BEGAN. FOR CENTURIES IT WAS VAGUELY PART OF THE KINGDOMS OF LADAKH AS SOME OUTLYING PLACE THE GREATER TIBETAN EMPIRE OVERSAW IN SOME TACIT INTEREST TO PROTECT TRADE CARAVANS. CHINESE DYNASTIES AT THEIR PEAK CONSIDERED IT AS A HIGH PASS BETWEEN VARIOUS NATION STATES LONG SINCE LOST TO TIME, AND WHEN BRITISH INDIA WANTED A BORDER WITH THE FAILED STATES OF RUSSIAN TURKESTAN THEY PICKED A WATERSHED SEEMINGLY ARBITARILY AND CERTAINLY WITHOUT VISITING, WHICH A WEAK AND COERCED QING ACCEPTED BY WAY OF NOT REPLYING.

MODERN INDIA INHERITED IT ALONG WITH ALL THEIR OTHER BORDER DISPUTES, MASSIVELY OVERSHADOWED BY BIGGER ISSUES IN THE REST OF THE REMNANTS OF KASHMIR THAT WOULD RATHER TAUNT NUCLEAR DEMISE BY THEOCRACIES THAN LET OTHERWISE PEACEFUL PEOPLE LIVE HAPPILY. THE 3D CHESS BETWEEN PAKISTAN, INDIA AND CHINA RARELY INCLUDED AKSAI QIN BECAUSE IT HAS NO NATIVE POPULATION TO LEVERAGE, UNTIL MINERALS NO ONE CARED ABOUT BEFORE WERE FOUND IN QUANTITIES LUCRATIVE ENOUGH TO FINANCE WAR. WHILST BUSY FIGHTING PAKISTAN, CHINA BUILT A ROAD IN TO CONNECT THE PERRENIAL PROVINCES OF XINJIANG AND XIZANG, SECURING AT LEAST PART OF OLD KASHMIR FROM VIOLENCE, POPULATING IT WITH MINERS, TRUCK DRIVERS AND SICHUAN RESTAURANTS IT WAS A NORMALIZED PART OF A MODERN NATION FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, EVEN THOUGH WITHOUT THE SUPPLY CHAINS OF CHINA IT IS NO MORE HABITABLE THAN THE MOON.

AS A UNIQUE PLACE WITH NO INDIGENOUS POPULATION AKSAI QIN IS OUTSIDE THE USUAL FLASH POINTS THAT INVOLVE DISPUTES OVER RELIGION, ALLEGIENCE AND ETHNICITY. THOUGH SANDWICHED BETWEEN TIBET AND XINJIANG, NEITHER TIBETAN, UYGHER, KYRGYZ OR CHINESE PEOPLE HAVE EVER HISTORICALLY INHABITED AKSAI QIN, LEAVING NO SIGNS OF HABITATION SUCH AS BUILDINGS, ROADS OR RESERVOIRS. UNLIKE THE REST OF CENTRAL ASIA, TIBET, LADAKH AND CHINA WHICH HAS THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY RIGHT OUT INTO THE REMOTEST PLACES, AKSAI QIN HAD NONE UNTIL CHINESE MILITARY BUILT ROADS ACROSS IT IN THE MID-20th CENTURY.

CHINA ITSELF DOES NOT RECOGNIZE AKSAI QIN, SEEING IT ONLY AS PART OF XINJIANG – ANOTHER CONTENTIOUS REGION – CONSIDERING IT AN IMPORTANT MINING AND TRANSPORT AREA. THOUGH JADE HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THE KARAQASH RIVER FOR AT LEAST 5000 YEARS, THE TRADE HAS LEFT NO MARK IN THE SOUTHERN KUNLUN UNTIL RECENTLY. WHEREAS THE NORTHERN KUNLUN SHOWS THE EFFECTS OF ENTIRE CIVILIZATIONS BUILT ON THE ENIGMA OF JADE, CHANGING THE COURSES OF RIVERS AND LOCATING CITIES, THE HEADWATERS OF THESE RIVERS IN THE SOUTHERN KUNLUN HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY PERMANENT IMPACT.

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ON THE GROUND, NORTHERN AKSAI QIN IS A VAST LANDSCAPE OF HEAVILY ERODED VALLEYS, CARVED WIDE BY LONG PAST GLACIAL ACTIONS, WITH PEAKS UP INTO THE HIGH 6000s RISING ABOVE WHAT WAS ONCE AN ICE CAP. IT IS INCREDIBLY ARID, MOSTLY SITTING DEEP WITHIN RAIN SHADOW AND FAR ABOVE ANY CLOUD BASE, WITH MOST VALLEY FLOORS ABOVE 5000m AND ALMOST ALL WATER COMING FROM OCCASIONAL SNOW AND GLACIAL MELT. RIVERS LIKE THE KARAQASH HAVE CUT WIDE BRAIDS OUT FROM THE GLACIERS THAT ARE ANCIENT, BLEACHED AND SHRINKING. MOST RIVERS, INCLUDING THE EAST KARAQASH, HAVE HIGH MINERAL CONTENT WITH SOME LAKES BEING ENCRUSTED. THE EAST KARAQASH ITSELF IS HIGH IN SEEMINGLY HARMLESS BICARBONATE, WITH EVERY 1.5L OF MELTED DRINKING WATER LEAVING ABOUT A TEASPOON OF WHITE SEDIMENT.

HUMAN USAGE WISE, THE MILITARY FACE OFF IS WELL TO THE SOUTH, WITH NO PERMANENT HABITATION WITHIN AKSAI QIN ITSELF. FRONTIER TOWNS OUTSIDE AKSAI QIN HOUSE WORKERS WHO GO IN TO MINE, CONSTRUCT ROADS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, AND TRANSPORT STUFF BETWEEN XINJIANG AND TIBET, AS AN ITINERANT WORKFORCE FROM ALL ACROSS CHINA MADE UP OF UYGHERS, YI, HUI MUSLIMS, HAN CHINESE AND TIBETANS. HOTELS ARE A FESTIVAL OF LANGUAGES AND REGIONAL FOOD, THAT DESPITE THE MAD MAX-LEVEL OF LIVING ARE A CULTURAL AND GASTRONOMICAL WONDERLAND.

SECURITY IS EVER-PRESENT BUT NEVER PROBLEMATIC – WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PAPERWORK OF COURSE – WITH THE PREDOMINANTLY UYGHER POLICE WELCOMING US AS A DISTRACTION FROM THEIR UNEVENTFUL ROUTINES. HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND OFFER EVERYTHING FROM EMERGENCY OXYGEN TO RIDES TO THE ROAD HEAD, THEY ARE FAR FROM THE UNINFORMED STEREOTYPE OF CHINA’S AUTHORITIES. THE XMA INSISTS ON CLIMBING TEAMS HAVING LIAISON OFFICERS, WHO ARE POLITE, FRIENDLY, LOCAL, USUALLY UYGHER AND CONFUSED BY THE THINGS CLIMBERS WANT. THERE TO INTERACT BETWEEN THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND THE FOREIGN TEAMSTERS, THEY SOON LOSE INTEREST AND LET US GET ON WITH THE EXPEDITION.

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PREACCLIMATION, Mt YAMU, TIBETAN SICHUAN, 5250m

BEFORE HEADING TO XINJIANG WE PREACCLIMATED IN THE TIBETAN RANGES OF WESTERN SICHUAN, COMFORTABLY SLEEPING, CLIMBING, EATING AND DRINKING ESPRESSO UP TO 5300m ON Mt YAMU. THIS MEANT WE COULD GO RAPIDLY TO THE START OF THE APPROACH IN AKSAI QIN, RETURNING TO ABOVE 5000m EASILY, RECOVERING DURING THE DAYS IT TOOK TO DESCEND FROM TIBET, FLY TO KASHGAR AND DRIVE INTO THE TRANS-KARAKORUM IN A WAY NO ACCLIMATION PROCESS, MEDICAL OR ACTUAL COULD ACHIEVE. THIS LAYS THE FOUNDATIONS FOR ALL FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITION’S TRIPS, GETTING US OUT TO THE CLIMBING IN THE BEST PHYSICAL CONDITION POSSIBLE, AND MOVES COST EFFECTIVENESS TO WHERE IT HAS THE MOST ADVANTAGE.

NUTRITION-WISE, XINJIANG IS FAMOUS FOR HAVING THE BEST FOOD AVAILABLE TO EXPEDITIONS ANYWHERE, AND THIS EXTENDS FROM THE BIG TOWNS LIKE URUMQI, KASHGAR AND HOTAN RIGHT OUT TO THE FRONTIERS LIKE DAHONGLIUTAN. THE SPECTRUM OF UYGHER, CHINESE AND HUI FOOD MEANS NOTHING IS COMPROMISED EVEN WHEN A PLACE HAS NO ELECTRICITY AND IT’S -20C OUTSIDE, WITH FRESH FOOD AND ENDLESS VARIETY MAKING POOR APPETITE IRRELEVANT ON THESE TRIPS. DEVELOPMENT IN OUR OWN CAMP KITCHENS CAPITALIZES ON WHAT WE CAN BRING FROM THE TOWNS, FURTHER PUSHING INTO OBSOLESCENCE OLD IDEAS ABOUT WHAT CAN BE COOKED BY AN UNSUPPORTED TEAM CARRYING SPARTAN GEAR.

GENERALLY, WE CO-DEVELOP MUCH OF THE GEAR WE USE ON SUCH TRIPS, BASING OUR OBJECTIVES ON WHAT WE KNOW WE CAN DESIGN FOR. LIGHTER, WARMER, MORE EFFICIENT AND MORE SPECIFIC GEAR MEANS WE CAN MAP OUT AREAS WE CAN PUSH INTO, WITH THE AREA GETTING LARGER EVERY YEAR AS OUR DESIGN CAPABILITY EXPANDS. THIS ALSO MEANS WE CAN KEEP SCREWING TIGHTER THE DEFINITIONS OF ALPINISM; GOING MORE SELF-RELIANTLY FURTHER INTO EVER HIGHER, MORE COMPLEX, LESS KNOWN AND COLDER PLACES. BASED ON SUCH ELEMENTS, IDEAS ABOUT NEW METHODS ON THE WORLDS HIGHEST PEAKS COME INTO FOCUS, AS ALTERNATIVES TO THE LITERAL SHIT-SHOW NOW MISTAKEN FOR THE ONLY OPTION.

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5700m, PULPIT, WEST FLANK OF OIERLIZUOKE

SPECIFICALLY WE CLIMBED IN THE EAST KARAQASH MOUNTAINS, THE PEAKS THAT FORM THE WATERSHED OF THE EAST KARAQASH RIVER AND THAT MARK THE NORTHERN BORDER OF AKSAI QIN. PROBABLY THE HIGHEST PEAKS IN ALL AKSAI QIN, THESE PEAKS INCLUDE OIERLIZUOKE, THE ONLY NAMED PEAK, AT 6700m AND UNCLIMBED, THAT NO ONE IN THE XMA OR LOCAL AUTHORITIES HAS ANY IDEA WHAT THE NAME MEANS, WHEN IT WAS GIVEN OR EVEN WHAT LANGUAGE IT IS IN (IT’S NOT UYGHER, TIBETAN OR CHINESE).

THE EAST KARAQASH PEAKS GUARD THE ENTRANCE TO THE ENORMITY OF THE SOUTHERN KUNLUN, OF WHICH ONLY A HANDFUL OF OTHER ASCENTS HAVE BEEN MADE, ALMOST ALL ALSO FROM THE NEAREST PROXIMITY OF THE G219 ROAD. ON PAPER THE EAST KARAQASH PEAKS LOOK SIMPLE TO GET TO BUT THE REALITY IS MORE DIFFICULT, BECAUSE A MIXTURE OF STRATEGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND CONDITIONS MAKE FOR UNIQUE PROBLEMS.

APPROACH CAMP, 5100m, EAST KARAQASH RIVER. OIERLIZUOKE 6700m BEHIND

UNSUPPORTED FROM THE ROAD, WE APPROACHED OVER MULTIPLE CARRIES, SHUTTLING 25kg LOADS OVER SEVERAL DAYS TO A BASECAMP AT 5250m. THERE WERE NO PORTERS, THE NEAREST BACTRIAN CAMELS WERE 2 DAYS BACK IN MAZAR SOMEWHERE, THE LIAISON OFFICER STAYED IN THE WARMTH OF DAHONGLIUTAN, AND THE PSB TOOK OUR WORD THAT WE WOULD NOT STRAY FROM THE PLAN. WE FOLLOWED THE EAST KARAQASH RIVER AS IT NARROWED INTO A RAVINE, TERMINATING AT THE SNOUT OF THE GLACIER, PLACING OUR BC NEARBY IN A REENTRANT OFF THE UNNAMED PEAK TO THE WEST, IN THE ONLY FLAT PLACE THAT RECEIVED ANY SUN, AND THEN ONLY 4 OR 5 HOURS A DAY.

EAST KARAQASH GLACIER FACE

MOUNTAIN FLANKS RISE 1600m EITHER SIDE OF THE UPPER EAST KARAQASH RIVER, CONVERGING AT THE GLACIER THAT’S ABOUT 50m THICK AT THE FACE. OIERLIZUOKE IS A HIGH, NARROW DORSAL, RELENTLESSLY STEEP EITHER SIDE AND WITH LONG RIDGES RUNNING NORTH-SOUTH. IT RISES OVER 1500m OFF GLACIERS TO BOTH SIDES AND HAS A COMPLEX ROAD PLAN OF GLACIERS AND SUB-PEAKS OFF ITS NORTHERN HALF, WITH RAVINES FLOWING SOUTH OFF THEM THAT HAVE FROZEN RIVERS TO APPROACH UP.

APPROACH TO BASECAMP, EAST KARAQASH GLACIER BEHIND

WE ATTEMPTED THE WEST FACE, ABOVE THE EAST KARAQASH GLACIER. THAT STARTED AT 45o AND ONLY GOT STEEPER. OUR ROUTE WAS A STRAIGHTFORWARD ASCENDING SNOW AND ICE LINE, STARTING ABOUT 500m ABOVE THE GLACIER, ACCESSED VIA A STEEP GULLY OF SCREE THAT LEAD TO A PULPIT BEFORE WE TRAVERSED ACROSS TO THE START OF THE ICE AND SNOW.

ALL CLIMBING WAS STRAIGHTFORWARD, WITH THE LOOSENESS OF THE ROCK DISCOURAGING ANY IDEAS ABOUT GETTING TOO TECHNICAL. THINGS NEVER GOT ANYWHERE NEAR ABOVE FREEZING SO ROCKFALL WAS MINIMAL, AND THE ICE AND SNOW WAS A SOLID, WELL BONDED LAYER THAT WAS FAST TO MOVE UP. WE CARRIED A STRIPPED DOWN RACK OF BEARTOOTH ALPINE BEAKS, SCREWS AND SMALL CAMS, BUT BARELY PLACED ANYTHING.

FOR THE MAIN ATTEMPT WE CHOSE A PACK-LESS STYLE, CARRYING SUPPLIES IN OUR POCKETS AND ROPES COILED INSIDE OUR SUITS, WALKING OUT OF CAMP HARNESSED UP, CRAMPONS ON FOR THE STROLL UP THE FROZEN RIVER. INFLUENCED BY IDEAS FROM THE ‘NIGHT NAKED’ CLIMBERS OF THE 1980s, WE COMBINED WHAT WE KNEW FROM EARLY WINTER ASCENTS IN THE EASTERN HIMALAYA, PUNKING TOGETHER A FRANKEN-STYLE FOR A PLACE THAT DIDN’T HAVE ONE. A WORK IN PROGRESS, WE FOUND MUCH TO LIKE ABOUT THIS CONCEPT, AS IT TURNS SEEMING DISADVANTAGES INTO INTERESTING SOLUTIONS.

INSIDE VESTIBULE, DAYTIME TEMPERATURE

IN THE END WE RETREATED UNABLE TO FACE MORE COLD, WITH DAYS STILL GETTING SHORTER, COLDER AND THE NEED TO STAY HIGHER. BASECAMP AT 5100m WAS HITTING BELOW -30c ALREADY INSIDE THE TENTS (OUR TEMPERATURE GAUGES ONLY WENT TO -30…), WITH DAYTIME TEMPS AROUND -25c, PUTTING HIGH CAMP TEMPERATURES POSSIBLY 10c LOWER AND MAKING WINDCHILL A CONCERN. OUR EQUIPMENT, BEING DESIGNED FOR LATE SEASON K2, WAS UP TO THE TASK, BUT THE WEEKS ABOVE 5000m WERE STARTING TO SHOW AND THOUGHTS OF WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE AS WE GOT HIGHER AND COLDER WERE NOT ENCOURAGING. -40c IS ONE THING ON A BUSY 8000m PEAK, BUT QUITE ANOTHER WITH 50km OF DESERT AND 1600m OF DESCENT ABOVE 5000m TO THE NEAREST PEOPLE.

OUR HIGH POINT WAS JUST BELOW 6000m, AND THOUGH WE WERE NOT THE FIRST CLIMBERS TO THE TOP OF OIERLIZUOKE WE WERE THE FIRST TO THE BASE OF IT, AND TO ALL SOURCES WE INVESTIGATED THE FIRST TO SURMOUNT THE GLACIER AND OBSERVE THE PEAKS WHILST BEING ACTUALLY ON THEM. HUGE PARTS ARE STILL UNSEEN, INCLUDING THE ENTIRE EAST FACE, BUT WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO RETURN.

OIERLIZUOKE BASECAMP

GETTING OUT OF AKSAI QIN IS NO EASIER THAN GETTING IN, REVERSING THE LONG DISTANCES, ICY PASSES, CHECKPOINTS AND LONG HOURS. THERE IS NO QUICK WAY BACK TO HOT SHOWERS, RELIABLE ELECTRICITY, GOOD COFFEE AND SANE DRIVING, AND EVERYTHING MUST BE CARRIED OUT THE WAY IT CAME IN, MEANING LONG DAYS UNDER HEAVY LOADS BACK TO TOWNS EMPTYING AS WORKERS FLEE AHEAD OF THE REAL WINTER.

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FOLLOWING OUR RETURN TO THE UNRESTRICTED PART OF XINJIANG WE THEN DROVE OUR LOAD OF EQUIPMENT +4000km HOME TO CHENGDU, VIA THE KUNLUN OF SOUTHERN XINJIANG, THE KOKOXIL REGION, THE SOURCES OF THE YELLOW AND YANGZI RIVERS IN AMDO TIBET, AND THE MORE FAMILIAR TERRITORY OF OF THE TIBETAN EAST HIMALAYA OF SICHUAN, BECOMING THE FIRST OFFICIAL OUTSIDERS TO DO SO. WE ATE, WE DANCED, WE MET WONDERFUL PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY AND WE ATE SOME MORE, ALL THE WAY BACK.

THAT TOO IS A STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME.

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APPROACH CARRY UP THE EAST KARAQASH RIVER, AKSAI QIN, XINJIANG. L to R; TOM, MARCO, SAM, BENJI BRENNAN (AUSTRALIA), ALEX TANG (CHINA) OUT OF SHOT. PHOTO ED HANNAM. FULL NAMES OF TEAM MEMBERS REDACTED FOR PRIVACY.

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THE 2024 KUNLUN EXPEDITION WAS AN INDEPENDENT EXPEDITION ARRANGED BY FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS, AND TOOK PLACE WITH NO SPONSORS, NO GRANT ASSISTANCE, AND NO FILM DEAL. WE COLLABORATE WITH INDUSTRY INNOVATORS FOR THE SPECIALIZED RESOURCES OUR TRIPS REQUIRE, CONTRIBUTING UNIQUE CONDITIONS FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT THE LIMITATIONS OF FINANCIAL OBLIGATION.

FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS THANKS ELITECLIMB TOOLS, SAMAYA TENTS, MALACHOWSKI DOWN CLOTHING, PARBAT PACKS, BEARTOOTH HARDWARE AND CHHOGORI PROTOTYPING FOR THEIR PRODUCTS. WITHOUT THEIR DESIGN CAPABILITIES, MOTIVATION TO INNOVATE AND PATIENCE WITH OUR IDEAS THESE TRIPS SIMPLY COULD NOT BE DONE.

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