REOPENING CLIMBING IN CHINA

IT’S BEEN A LONG HAUL BUT NOW THINGS ARE REOPENING AND WE ARE RESURRECTING EXPEDITION CLIMBING IN THE PARTS OF TIBET AND XINJIANG WE GO TO THE RIGHT WAY.

COVID 19 SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN, AND IN THAT TIME CHINAS PLACE IN THE WORLD HAS CHANGED, AS HAS THE CLIMBING INDUSTRY, THE CLIMBING MEDIA, AND THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF IT ALL. THREE YEARS OF WATCHING NETFLIX HAS SKEWED THE WAY 8000m CLIMBING IS KNOWN, AS HAS THE SURGE OF INTEREST GENERATED BY EVERYTHING FROM INSTAGRAM, THE DEATH OF SOME FORUMS AND THE RISE OF OTHERS, AND THE COMMERCIAL CLIMBER-ATHLETES INFLUENCE IN THE MARKET.

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LET US START WITH THE FACT THAT EXPEDITION CLIMBING IN CHINA, WHETHER TIBET OR XINJIANG, HAS NEVER BEEN MAINSTREAM, EASY OR COMMERCIAL. ASIDE FROM WHAT GOES ON AROUND EVEREST, WHICH IS RUN AS PART OF THE NEPAL-BASED INDUSTRY, AND ANOMALIES LIKE MUZTAGH ATA AND PERHAPS THE ICE IN SHUANGQUIAOGOU, PLACES LIKE THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORAM, TIEN SHAN, HOH XIL AND TIBETAN PLATEAU ARE JUST AS REMOTE NOW AS THEY HAVE EVER BEEN, ie VERY.

CHINA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BEHEMOTH BECAUSE IT HAS FOR SO LONG BEEN CIVILIZED, AND THOUGH THESE PLACES ARE NEW TO FOREIGN EXPERIENCE THEY HAVE LONG BEEN ADMINISTERED BY A SERIES OF GOVERNMENTS RANGING FROM INDEPENDANT TO TRIBAL, TO WARLORDS AND THEOCRACIES. WHAT WE HAVE NOW IS ABOUT THE BEST IT’S EVER BEEN. WE ARE NOT IN CHINA TO ENGAGE IN POLITICS, WE ARE THERE TO CLIMB MOUNTAINS, AND JUST WE DON’T GET INVOLVED IN THE POLITICS OF PAKISTAN, NEPAL, BOLIVIA OR TAJIKISTAN, WE STICK TO WHAT WE KNOW WHICH IS CLIMBING.

AND WE KNOW THIS THE BEST OF ANYONE.

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AS YOU READ THIS WE ARE BUSY CONFERRING WITH THE AUTHORITIES AND PROVIDERS FOR OUR TRIPS TO K2. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS NEVER STOPPED, AND WHERE OTHERS CLOSED SHOP AND LEFT WE STAYED, RUNNING THE TRIPS WE COULD AND WORKING ON THE FUTURE. TO THOSE WHO DARE GOES THE CONQUEST, THE OLD GREEK SAYING SAYS, AND OUR PERSISTENCE HAS PAID OFF AS THE ONLY PROVIDER NOW IN THE NICHE.

NOW THAT CHINA IS ISSUING VISAS AND PERMITS WE ARE PUTTING OUR TEAMS TOGETHER, TO BE THE FIRST INTO SOME PLACES IN THREE YEARS, AND OTHER PLACES IN ALMOST FIFTEEN. WHERE OTHERS MAY SEE A PROCESS IN ATROPHY WE SEE SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT; PLACES LEFT TO REGENERATE, BETTER WAYS TO ACCESS THEM, AND BETTER RESOURCES TO USE. OUR TRIPS OF TODAY ARE BETTER RUN, BETTER SUPPLIED AND BETTER INFORMED THAN THEY WERE BEFORE, WATCHING THE DECADENCE OF THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY ONLY INCREASE WE FEEL MORE VIRULENT ABOUT DEFENDING WHAT WE HAVE.

WE KNOW NOW THAT THE ENCROACHMENT OF INDUSTRIALIZED CLIMBING WILL NOT BE RESTRAINED, AS EVEN THE DEPTHS OF THE COVID PANDEMIC DID NOTHING TO HALT, RESOLVE, OR AVOID THE NEGATIVE EFFECT THEY HAVE. IF THAT COULDN’T CHANGE THINGS, THEN NOTHING WILL. MEANWHILE, ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RANGE, THINGS HAVE BEEN QUIET AND EFFECTIVELY UNTOUCHED AND GIVEN A CHANCE TO RECOVER, INCLUDING THE TOURISTIFICATION OF THE TOWNS AS MUCH AS THE IMPACT ON WILDERNESS. AS MUCH AS THE SHUTDOWN SUCKED FROM A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE, FROM A MOUNTAIN PERSPECTIVE IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS DUE.

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STARTING UP AGAIN OUR PLANS ARE BIG, WITH THREE YEARS OF CONSULTATION ON PLACES LIKE K2, G1 AND THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORAM BEING EXACTLY THE LONG GAME THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES LIKE SEE. WE STUCK IT OUT, SO OUR FORTITUDE WAS REWARDED, AND NOW WE HAVE UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS TO PLACES THAT HAVE KNOWN FEWER PEOPLE THAN THE SURFACE OF THE MOON.

THESE FIRST TEAMS WILL BE VERY SMALL, AS WE GET THE PROCESS RIGHT, WHICH INVOLVES IN SEEING HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN BE SUSTAINED WITHOUT STRESSING EITHER THE LOCATIONS OR THE CLIMBING. WITH NEARLY A BLANK SLATE WE GET TO SEE WHAT RESOURCES WORK BEST WITHOUT INDUSTY PRESSURE, WHICH INCLUDES EVERYTHING FROM ZERO-IMPACT LOGISTICS, TO REFUSING LARGE COMMERCIAL GROUPS, AND WORKING WITH LOCALS TO MAKE OUR PRESENCE POSITIVE AND ENGAGED.

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THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE CONSTRUCTIVE INTERACTIONS WITH EACH OTHER, BUT WE CAN, AND CLIMBING HAS A LONG HISTORY OF POSITIVE CONTACT WHERE MAINSTREAM SOCIETY COULD NOT. AS A SUBCULTURE WE HAVE NEVER BOUGHT INTO THE CONSENSUS OF LETTING GOVERNMENTS AND THE MEDIA DICTATE OUR THINKING, ALWAYS CHOOSING TO GO OURSELVES AND FIND OUT FOR REAL. EXPLORERS AND CLIMBERS FROM CROWLEY TO NEWBY, THE FREEDOM CLIMBERS OF THE COLD WAR TO THE GUERILLA CLIMBERS LIKE FOWLER & BOSKOFF, COULD ALWAYS SEE BEYOND THE POPULAR OPINIONS AND MUSTER THE COURAGE TO ENTER THESE PLACES FIRST HAND.

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TO GET ON OUR TRIPS TALK TO US, AND BE READY TO ENGAGE. IF YOU CAN’T ANSWER EMAILS YOU WON’T STAND A CHANCE WITH THE REST OF IT. BUT IF YOU CAN, AND CAN THINK FOR YOURSELF AND WANT THE TRUE EXPEDITION EXPERIENCE, YOU WILL FIND THE FINEST CLIMBING ON EARTH, LEFT THE WAY IT WAS WHEN ERIC SHIPTON SAW IT.