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IF YOU HAVEN’T READ LINCOLN HALL’S WHITE LIMBO THEN YOU SHOULD. YES, IN A RARE CASE THE FILM IS SOMEWHERE ON PAR WITH THE BOOK, BUT WHAT IT LACKS IS THE APPENDICES THAT IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE WILL TELL YOU MORE ABOUT EXPEDITION CLIMBING THAN EVERYTHING ELSE WRITTEN IN THE LAST DECADE COMBINED. YOU THINK THAT’S HYBERBOLE DON’T YOU…?

THESE DAYS THE PRESENCE OF FILM CREWS, PHOTOGRAPHERS AND JOURNALISTS IN CLIMBING IS WHAT CORRODES IT, TURNING OUR BELOVED SPORT INTO TABLOID FODDER FOR THE PEANUT GALLERIES IN THEIR ARMCHAIRS WITH THEIR STATISTICS. BUT NOT SO IN 1984, AS A BUNCH OF AUSTRALIANS PULLED OFF A COUP IN ALPINISM, WHERE THE WHOLE THING WAS DOCUMENTED. A DECADE AND A HALF BEFORE EXTREME ALPINISM, HERE WAS THE RAW NERVE ENDINGS OF VANGUARD CLIMBING EXPOSED FOR ALL TO SEE, AT A TIME WHEN THE FEW LOOKING KNEW WHAT THEY HAD IN THEIR HANDS. WHITE LIMBO IS A BLOW BY BLOW ACCOUNT THAT COULD READ AS A MANUAL FOR THOSE HAVE EYES TO SEE, BY A TEAM WITHOUT SUPERSTARS SUCKING OUT THE LIMELIGHT, WHO KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND WHERE IT FITTED IN, AND WHO DIDN’T GIVE TWO FLYING FUCKS ABOUT WHAT THE PAPERS WOULD SAY.

THIS RANT IS ABOUT THE GEAR THEY USED, NOT TO FROTH OVER IT, BUT TO LOOK AT HOW FAR WE HAVEN’T COME. IF YOUR STUFF HAS LOTS OF BOAS, DYNEEMA AND LOGOS ON IT THEN THIS WILL SOUND LIKE THE DARK AGES, BUT THINK AGAIN. WHAT THESE GUYS WERE USING SITS IN A PARADIGM OF EXPERIMENTATION AND DO-IT-YOURSELF, WHERE THE CLIMBER SET THE DEMANDS NOT THE INDUSTRY. WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH IT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

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IN 1984 HIGH ALTITUDE GEAR WASN’T MADE FOR TOURISTS AND INSTAHEROES, IT WAS MADE FOR WEIRDOS   WE’VE SAID BEFORE THAT IN THAT TIME ALPINISM WAS MORE RADICAL THAN THE DEAD KENNEDYS AND MORE DANGEROUS THAN BLACK FLAG, AND SOMEWHERE AS REMOVED AS AUSTRALIA IT WAS AS SHADY AND BIZARRE AS A VOODOO CULT. PEOPLE DIDN’T THINK THIS STUFF WAS COOL THEY THOUGHT IT WAS INSANE, AND A VISIT TO THE CLIMBING STORES OF THE DAY WAS LIKE VISITING OCCULT HEADQUARTERS.

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LET’S START WITH THE BOOTS.

HALL’S FEET ARE ALMOST ANOTHER CHARACTER IN THE BOOK, THE COLD INJURIES HE ALREADY CARRIED BEING A CONSTANT THEME. THE GOOD THING HERE IS THAT WE HEAR ALL ABOUT WHAT HE HAS ON HIS FEET, AND THE PROCESS OF DIY TO MAKE IT WORK. (NOTE HERE, OTHER TEAM MEMBERS LOST THEIR BOOTS AT THE START AND SO CLIMBED IN A MASH UP OF BITS, INCLUDING McCARTNEY-SNAPE WHO SUMMITED IN XC SKI BOOTS…). YES, PLASTIC BOOTS OF THE TIME NEEDED TO BE EVOLVED PAST, BUT THE ATTITUDE OF CUSTOMIZATION IS ONE NOW REPLACED WITH BLIND BRAND ALLEGIANCE AS MARKETDRIVEN AS ANYTHING SEEN FROM NIKE. HALL THOUGHT NOTHING OF HEAT FORMING, HACKING AT, RESEWING, REPLACING, RETHINKING AND REASSESSING WHAT HE WANTED FROM HIS BOOTS, WEARING A TRIPLE-BOOT COMBINATION THAT ADAPTED TO DIFFERENT PHASES OF THE CLIMBING. REAL CLIMBING THAT IS.

DESPITE IMPROVEMENTS IN FOOTWEAR, THIS ABILITY TO THINK FOR ONES SELF ON THE MATTER HAS SEEMINGLY EVAPORATED, TODAY BEING MORE ABOUT BRAND THAN ANY CRITICAL ANALYSIS. FEET STILL GET COLD, PEOPLE STILL GET FROSTBITE, AND COMPARED TO PROGRESS IN OTHER AREAS BOOTS STALLED ABOUT A DECADE AGO WHEN AVAILABILITY DISPLACED THINKING. WHILST TRUE, IN SOME SHADOWY CIRCLES THINGS GO WITH CUSTOMIZING AND MODIFYING HIGH ALTITUDE BOOTS, WHEN IN THE LIGHT OF THE MATERIALS AND EXPERTISE NOW AVAILABLE ANY NEW DESIGNS ARE GLARINGLY ABSENT.

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CLOTHING-WISE, TEAM WHITE LIMBO WORE STUFF RADICALLY DIFFERENT TO WHAT IS SEEN NOW, AS A MODULAR SYSTEM THAT ADAPTED TO THE PHASES OF CLIMBING. HALL DETAILS HOW THEY WORKED IT OUT OVER OTHER ASCENTS ON ANNAPURNA AND AMYNEMAQIN, HAVING THE WHOLE THING CUSTOM MADE. 

FOR THE ACCLIMATION STAGES THEY WORE VARIOUS MIXES OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING COTTON IN THE HEAT, BUT THEN FOR THE FINAL FULL ASCENT – NO OXYGEN, NORTH SIDE, LATE IN THE YEAR – BEYOND THE BASELAYER (AN EMERGING CONCEPT AT THE TIME) THEY HAD A TRIPLE-SUIT OF A FIBER PILE ‘ACTION SUIT’, A LIGHT DOWN SUIT AND A WIND SUIT, ALL ONE-PIECE. IMAGES IN THE BOOK EXPLICITLY SHOW THESE LAYERS IN USE AS A SYSTEM, WITH SLEEPING BAGS SPECIALLY MADE WITHOUT ZIPS, AND SIZED TO WORK EXPLICITLY WITH THESE SUITS – SOMETHING NOT OFTEN SEEN OTHER THAN FROM VERY SERIOUS PRODUCERS LIKE MALACHOWSKI

ONE THING NOTICEABLE IS THE HIGH USE OF SYNTHETIC INSULATION, ESPECIALLY JACKETS FOR THE LOWER CLIMBING WHERE DAILY TEMPERATURE RANGE WAS HUGE. THIS SHOWS AN EARLY ADHERENCE TO THE ‘BELAY LAYER’ PRINCIPLE THAT EXTREME ALPINISM FIRST ELUCIDED TO THE GENERAL CLIMBING PUBLIC (AS IT EMERGED), AND WITH THE NEWNESS OF SYNTHETICS AT THE TIME SHOWS THE WILLINGNESS TO PURSUE TECHNOLOGY.

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TENTS WERE A WEAKNESS OF THE ERA, AND THE WHITE LIMBO ASCENT SUFFERED AS MANY DID, IN THE TRANSITIONAL ERA BETWEEN WHILLANS-STYLE POLE TENTS AND THE EMERGING TENSEGRIC DESIGNS USING FLEXIBLE POLES. FINE FOR CAMPING, THE FIBERGLASS POLES OF THE DAY WERE WEAK FOR THE WEIGHT WHEN THE WIND AND SNOW HIT, THUS MAKING CAMPS FAR LESS SECURE THAN WHAT WE KNOW TODAY. FABRICS SHREDDED – SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE WITH CURRENT NON-WOVEN MATERIALS – MAKING THEM ALMOST DISPOSABLE IN THE EYES OF CLIMBERS. THIS ADDED TO THE AUDACITY SUCH ASCENTS HAD, BASICALLY HEADING UP RELYING ON SNOW HOLES TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE WHEN TENTS WERE EXPECTED TO TEAR APART, AND HALL’S ACCOUNT, LIKE HIS BOOTS, HAS THE PROBLEM AS A CONSTANT.

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STOVES TOO WERE A LONG WAY BACK FROM WHAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED TODAY, A MIX OF ADAPTED MODELS WHERE IT IS STATED THEY JUST ACCEPTED THE LIMITATIONS. THAT STOVES MIGHT NOT WORK AT ALL IN THE CONDITIONS WAS JUST PART OF CLIMBING, ANOTHER ELEMENT THAT PUTS SUCH CLIMBING INTO A PARADIGM NO LONGER KNOWN.

THEIR ‘LIGHTWEIGHT’ ALPINE STOVES WERE THE OPTIMUS GAZ BLUETS, THAT AS STOVES ARE LIGHT, THOUGH PUT OUT A PATHETICALLY LOW AMOUNT OF ENERGY (1300w) AND COUNTER THE LOW WEIGHT OF THE BURNER BY NEEDING BLEUET 206 CANISTERS OF THE DAY THAT WERE STEEL WALLED AND BUTANE, REQUIRING LUCK AND PATIENCE TO GET TO WORK. THOUGH THIS SORT OF INTIMACY IS THANKFULLY IN THE PAST, THE WHEREWITHAL TO TINKER AND RESOLVE LIMITATIONS IS ADMIRABLE, AND SOMETHING WESTERN STOVE COMPANIES HAVE FALLEN BEHIND WITH (THOUGH IS ALIVE AND WELL WITH JAPANESE, KOREAN AND CHINESE MAKERS).

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PACKS USED WERE BOTH LARGE LOAD HAULING PACKS AND LIGHTER ALPINE ONES, THE LATTER HALL SEEMS INTENTIONALLY VAGUE ON EVEN THOUGH HE WAS THE DESIGNER. WHILST THE LARGE ONES ARE STOCK MACPAC MODELS, PROBABLY CORDURA, IMAGES SHOW THE LIGHT ONES TO BE SIMPLE AND SACK-LIKE ALSO CORDURA, WITH FEATURES TO STRAP THEIR LARGE CLOSED CELL MATS ON. BY TODAYS STANDARDS THESE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LIGHT, BUT THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES OF MINIMAL CONSTRUCTION AND VOLUME TO EASILY LOAD EVERYTHING ARE THERE, SOMETHING HAS DISSIPATED OVER TIME.

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NOTABLE ARE THE TITANIUM AND CARBON FIBER ICE AXES, MATERIALS STILL NOT SEEN OUTSIDE OF DEDICATED TOOL MAKERS, AND IF YOU THINK 8.SOMETHINGmm ROPES ARE A CONFRONTING NEW THING YOU ARE WRONG, AS THE WHITE LIMBO TEAM CLIMBED THEN ABSEILED MILES OF STEEP MIXED ON 50m LENGTHS.

HARDWARE TOO WAS VERY STRIPPED DOWN, AND MADE CENTRAL USE OF FRIENDS BEFORE THEY GOT STUCK WITH THE URBAN MYTH THAT THEY ARE INAPPROPRIATE FOR BIG ALPINE. THEY CLIMBED WITH A RACK WORRYINGLY SPARTAN BY TODAYS STANDARDS, LESS RELIANT ON SCREWS OF THE DAY THAT WERE UNRELIABLE, AND HEAVY ON PICKETS FOR THE LONG SNOW SECTIONS.

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IT’S EASY TO LAUGH AT THE ‘OLD SKOOL’ GEAR, BUT WHAT WE SEE HERE IS A PROCESS OF DEVOLUTION, WHERE THE DRIVE TO PUSH MATERIALS, NICHES, DEMANDS AND POSSIBILITIES HAS DIMINISHED, STARVED OUT BY EASY AVAILABILITY OF OFF-THE-RACK SOLUTIONS. WE SEE THIS AS CONTRIBUTING TO DIVERSION IN OTHER ASPECTS OF MOUNTAINEERING – NOTE THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF EQUIPMENT FOR INDUSTRIALLY GUIDED CLIMBING HAS IMPROVED IN LEAPS AND BOUNDS – WHERE THE LENS THROUGH WHICH ALPINISM IS VIEWED IS CONTROLLED BY THE GEAR MARKET. YES GEAR NOW IS STRONG AND LIGHTER, ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE BEYOND WHAT THE WHITE LIMBO GUYS USED, BUT EVEN A BASIC LOOK INTO MATERIAL DESIGN SHOWS IT ALL COULD BE A LOT LIGHTER, STRONGER AND MORE FUNCTIONAL, AS FAR BEYOND WHAT WE HAVE NOW AS CURRENT STUFF IS BEYOND THE CUTTING EDGE OF 1984. 

OF COURSE MOST THINGS WERE HEAVIER, AND THOUGH ACTUAL WEIGHTS FOR LITTLE ARE GIVEN (THE SLEEPING BAG/BIVY BAG COMBINATION WAS A SOLID 2.5kg) THEY CAN BE GUESSED AT, AND IT’S NOT HARD TO ASSUME THEY WERE DECKED OUT AT THREE TIMES THE WEIGHT THE BEST OUTFITTED CLIMBER OF TODAY IS. IT IS ALSO NOTICEABLE THE ABSENCE OF ANY GIMMICKS AND SUPPLEMENTS, PHOTOS SHOWING VERY MUNDANE SUPPLIES FOR THINGS LIKE EATING AND GENERAL LIVING. THIS WAS AN EXERCISE IN PARSIMONY, OF GOOD CLIMBING BASED ON  ABILITY AND VISION NOT GEAR WIZARDRY.

BUT IT’S ALSO WORTH LOOKING BEYOND OVERT DIFFERENCES, AND NOTING HOW SIMILAR MUCH OF THIS IS TO WHAT ELITE CLIMBERS STILL USE, BUT WHICH HAS LITTLE TRICKLE DOWN TO THE REST OF HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBERS. IDEAS ABOUT DOUBLE OR TRIPLE SUITS, INTEGRATED INSULATION AND MODULAR BOOTS ABSOLUTELY EXIST, DESPITE BEING THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRY FLOGS.

WE THINK THE DESIGN IMPERATIVES DISPLAYED HERE ARE THE WAY FORWARD, AS THEY WERE BEFORE WHITE LIMBO, OF INCREASED ADAPTABILITY, MINIMAL MOVING PARTS, PUSHING THE BEST OF NEW MATERIALS AND DESIGNING TO WELL-DEFINED NICHES. A LOT HERE HAS NO POINT BEING RESURRECTED BUT EVOLVED ITERATIONS CAN EASILY EXIST THAT OPEN UP NEW HIGH ALTITUDE POTENTIAL THAT IS CURRENTLY DORMANT BECAUSE THE RESOURCES DON’T FIT TOGETHER. LIKE IN 1984, GEAR NEED NOT BE THE LIMITING FACTOR WHEN THE CLIMBERS AND OBJECTIVES PRESENT.

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