THINK FOR YOURSELF, AND QUESTION AUTHORITY
TIMOTHY LEARY
FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS ARE NOT LIKE OTHER TRIPS, BUT TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE TAKE A BIT OF LOOKING. WE HAPPILY ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AND CONSIDER ANY IDEAS, BUT FOR A FULL REFERENCE YOUR OWN RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT. WITHOUT BEING INDULGENT, WE ARE EXPERTS IN WHAT WE DO AND WHERE WE GO, BUT BEYOND OUR PERSPECTIVE THERE’S OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT OFFER OTHER ANGLES, AND DESPITE WHAT SOME MAY SAY, WE ARE NOT RUNNING A CULT, VARIETY OF IDEAS AND OPINION IS WHAT MAKES AN EXPEDITION DYNAMIC.
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UNLIKE NEPAL AND EVEN PAKISTAN, TIBET AND XINJIANG HAS EFFECTIVELY NO TOURISM BUBBLE TO SHIELD YOU FROM THE REALITY OF THINGS, AND IT’S A REALITY THAT IS GUARANTEED TO BE VERY DIFFERENT TO THINGS ANYWHERE ELSE, EVEN OTHER PARTS OF CHINA. WE ARE WELL AWARE OF THE WAY XINJIANG, TIBET AND CHINA ARE PRESENTED IN THE MEDIA AND SHORT SAYING IT’S WRONG WE WILL SIMPLY SAY THERE’S MUCH MORE TO IT ALL THAN THAT. TO VIEW THESE PLACES THROUGH THE SHALLOW LENS OF FOREIGN MEDIA IS TO LOOK THE WRONG WAY THROUGH BINOCULARS, AND IS EASY TO REMEDY.
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BEYOND THE POLITICS AND STEREOTYPES ARE THE MOUNTAINS THEMSELVES, WHICH CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM THE CULTURES THAT LIVE THERE. AS TIMELESS AND OVERWHELMING AS PLACES LIKE THE TRANS-KARAKORAM TRACT, CHANGTANG AND TIBETAN PLATEAU MAY BE, YOU ARE ONLY EVER STANDING IN IT BECAUSE MILLENIA OF CULTURE PAVED THE WAY. WHY, HOW, WHEN AND WHERE THINGS ARE OUT THERE HAS BEEN A PROCESS NOT ALWAYS APPARENT TO THE OUTSIDERS EYE. SEEMINGLY UNINHABITED VALLEYS MAY NOT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY, ANCIENT TOWNS MAY BE RELATIVELY RECENT BY THE STANDARDS OF THE LOCALS, BORDERS MAY HAVE CHANGED, PEOPLE MAY HAVE MOVED AROUND. KNOWING THAT THINGS HAVEN’T ALWAYS BEEN THE WAY THEY APPEAR NOW HOLDS CLUES IN HOW TO APPROACH THEM, AND THE MORE YOU KNOW BEFORE YOU SHOW UP THE MORE YOU CAN INCLUDE IT IN WHAT YOU FIND FIRST HAND.
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AT A BASIC LEVEL A CLIMBER SHOULD KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GETTING THEMSELVES IN FOR, AND WE HAVE SEEN THE RRESULTS FIRST HAND ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT TIME SPENT LOOKING, LISTENING AND READING AT HOME CAN SAVE A LOT OF CONFRONTATION WHEN YOUR FEET ARE IN THE GROUND. THE NORTHERN KARAKORAM IS SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE AWAY FROM THE KHUMBU OR ANNAPURNA, SOMETHING THAT A GRASP OF WILL HELP WHEN PLANNING AND UNDERSTANDING THE LOGISTICS, COSTS AND TIMELINES. YES, ON A COASTER THINGS LOOK SIMILAR – IT’S ALL WALKING INTO THE BIGGEST MOUNTAIN RANGES ON EARTH – BUT WHEN YOU CONSIDER THAT MORE PEOPLE WATCH THE SUNRISE ON EVEREST FROM KALA PATTAR ON ANY GIVEN MORNING THAN HAVE EVER LAID EYES ON THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 IN ALL HISTORY, YOU START TO REALIZE THE PERSPECTIVE.
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TODAY DOING RESEARCH IS AT A LEVEL ONLY DREAMT OF A GENERATION AGO.
BUT BEAR IN MIND THAT SEARCHING THE INTERNET DOESN’T ITSELF EQUATE TO RESEARCH UNTIL YOU WEIGH THINGS UP COMPARATIVELY. 20 PEOPLE SAYING THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 IS IMPOSSIBLE ON INSTAGRAM HAS NO RELEVANCE UNTIL YOU CROSS-REFERENCE IT WITH OTHER SOURCES, OTHER INDUSTRIES AND OTHER NARRATIVES. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN PLANNING EXPEDITIONS WE SOURCE FAR MORE INFORMATION FROM MINING, GEOLOGICAL, INDUSTRIAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL SOURCES THAN ANY CLIMBING SOURCE COULD EVER HOPE TO PROVIDE.
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SEARCHING JOURNALS IS A GOOD PLACE TO START – NEVER FORGETTING THAT GOOGLE TRANSLATE IS YOUR FRIEND AS MUCH AS GOOGLE EARTH. THERE ARE VAST ARCHIVES OF CLIMBING HISTORY LOCKED AWAY IN LANGUAGES LIKE POLISH, JAPANESE, RUSSIAN, SPANISH, CHINESE AND FRENCH, WITH DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES FOCUSING ON DIFFERENT DETAILS AND DIFFERENT ASPECTS. SOME NATIONS CONSIDER ALPINISM TO BE HIGH CULTURAL PURSUITS AND PUBLISH ACCOUNTS THROUGH UNIVERSITIES AND GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, WITH DATA EVERY BIT AS COLLECTED AS THE RGS OR AAJ.
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NEVER FALL INTO THE TRAP OF THINKING OLD INFORMATION IS EITHER EXOTIC ANTIQUES OR UNFASHIONABLY QUAINT. ALL REPORTS CARRY VALUE AS REFERENCES TO THE TIME AND CONDITIONS OF THE DAY. IT’S FUN TO LAUGH AT THE TENNIS SHORTS AND BEACH UMBRELLAS USED AT BASECAMPS IN THE 70’S AND OVERLOOK HOW IT INDICATED WEATHER CONDITIONS.
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DOING YOUR OWN RESEARCH DEVELOPS YOUR OWN CONTRIBUTION AND HELPS MINIMIZE THE RISK OF COLLECTIVE MIS-THINKING. WE’VE HAD TEAMS LOST BECAUSE THEY GOT THE NAME OF A TOWN WRONG DUE TO ONLY ONE MEMBER BOTHERING TO TRANSLATE IT – SOMETHING EMBARASSINGLY UNACCEPTABLE. DIVERSE RESEARCH PREVENTS A SINGLE IDEOLOGY OVERTAKING A GROUP, AND IT’S HEALTHIER FOR A TEAM MEMBER TO RAISE AN ALTERNATIVE THAN FOR A TEAM TO BIFURCATE INTO CAMPS. AN ATMOSPHERE OF CURIOSITY IS THE BEST THING TO BRING TO AN EXPEDITION, COUPLED WITH THE NOTION OF NO STUPID QUESTIONS, ROOM TO THINK AND RESPECT FOR VOICING YOUR THOUGHTS. NO EXPEDITION IS PREDICTABLE BEYOND THE LARGER PLAN SO THE TEAM NEEDS AN INFORMATION BASE TO WORK OFF THAT’S AS BROAD AS POSSIBLE.
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WITH MORE INFORMATION THE CONTINGENCY OF A PLAN B BECOMES LESS LIKELY TO BE TURNING AROUND IN DEFEAT. HAVING AN IDEA, EVEN VAGUE, OF WHAT’S UP THE VALLEY OR AROUND THE MOUNTAIN GOES A LONG WAY.