X-RATED EXPEDITIONS.

THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM IS KNOWING THINGS BY THEIR OWN NAMES – KONGZI

ONE OF FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS’ MANY AIMS IS TO TAKE BACK THE TERM EXPEDITION CLIMBING FOR WHERE IT REALLY APPLIES. DECADES AGO THE TERM MEANT WHAT IT SAID ON THE TIN – CLIMBING UNDER CONDITIONS IN PLACES THAT TOOK AN EXPEDITION TO GET TO – BUT WAS THEN CO-OPTED AS A BUZZ WORD BY INDUSTRY THE SAME WAY REAL ESTATE AGENTS CO-OPT THE WORDS MANSION, ESTATE AND VILLA.

EXPEDITIONS SISTER WORD EXTREME FELL FOUL OF THIS MUCH MORE BLATANTLY, BECOMING A PARODY OF ITSELF AND A LITERARY OWN-GOAL. EXTREME IS PROBABLY UNSALVAGABLE EXCEPT IN THE MOST GROWN UP OF DISCOURSE, WHERE IT STILL KEEPS ITS POTENCY AS A METRIC WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF SERIOUS AND EVEN ACADEMIC CONVERSATION, THUS LOSING A GOOD WORD TO BANALITY DUE ITS OWN OPPOSITION TO EXACTLY THAT. WE CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN WITH EXPEDITION.

TODAY EXPEDITION GETS ATTACHED TO THINGS THAT COULD BARELY BE MORE DISTANT FROM THE MEANING, INCLUDING BEING USED AS A STYLE THAT REDUCES IT TO A MEANINGLESS VERB. MOST THINGS DONE AS ‘EXPEDITIONS’ NOW HAVE NO CONTENT THAT IS EXPLORATORY OR EXTRATERRITORIAL, OR EVEN EXTRACURRICULAR, SIMPLY FOLLOWING FORMATS AND WELL KNOWN TROPES, FINDING ANYTHING EX ONLY IN POINTLESS DETAILS, DIVERSION OR THE FIDDLING OF DEFINITIONS.

WE DON’T LIKE THIS. WE DON’T LIKE THE CORRUPTION OF LANGUAGE AND WE CERTAINLY DON’T LIKE THE ASSOCIATION WITH ANY INDUSTRY THAT PREYS ON THE LAZY DEFINITIONS OF OTHERS. FOR US EXPEDITIONS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS, THAT NEED TO COMMUNICATE CLEAR AND PRECISE IDEAS, AND FUNDAMENTAL WORDS LIKE EXPEDITION WE NEED TO CARRY THE WEIGHT OF THE IDEAS THAT STACK UPON THEM.

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THE EX IN EXPEDITIONS

THE ANARCHY OF CLIMBING IS NOT COMPROMISED BY DEFINITIONS, IT IS COMPROMISED BY LAZY DEFINITIONS.

THE DEFINING OF THINGS IS CALLED ONTOLOGY, A PROCESS SO THINGS CAN EXIST AS DISTINCT FROM OTHER THINGS SO THINGS CAN BE DONE. WITHOUT DEFINITIONS, THINGS HAVE NO CONTEXT OR MEANING, AND THE EXPLICITNESS OF A DEFINITION IS WHAT KEEPS SOMETHING FROM BEING MISTAKEN, CO-OPTED, MISCONSTRUED OR MISREPRESENTED.

ONTOLOGY IS WHAT ALLOWS IDEAS TO RISE FROM THE PLASMA AND, AS NORTH-WHITEHEAD PUT IT, GO THROUGH THE FORMALITY OF ACTUALLY OCCURRING. ONTOLOGY INCLUDES THE SYNCRETIZING OF INNOVATIVE IDEAS AS MUCH AS THE CUTTING AWAY OF UNNECESSARY AND REGRESSIVE ONES, AND APPLIES IN THE EXPEDITION CONTEXT TO EVERYTHING. NOT ALL EQUIPMENT, OBJECTIVES, STYLES AND MENTALITIES ARE PART OF THE PHASES AHEAD, AND THIS INCLUDES THE PEOPLE WHO ADVOCATE THEM. THE SOONER WHAT DOESN’T WORK IS DISCARDED IN FAVOUR OF WHAT DOES, THE SOONER WE GET ON WITH THE REAL MATTER OF CLIMBING.

EXPEDITION TERMINOLOGY HAS BEEN THREATENED WITH IMPOTENCE BECAUSE POPULAR MEDIA HIJACKED THE TERMINOLOGY, SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED LONG BEFORE INSTAGRAM, NETFLIX, CLIMBING TABLOIDS, ONLINE COMMENTS AND MASS TOURISM. EXPEDITION WAS CARRIED OVER FROM WHEN THE TERM WAS A VERB, TO BECOME A NOUN FOR POPULAR DIGESTION AND THEN COMMERCIAL USE.

IN THE JARGON OF CLIMBING X MEANS TO RUN OUT A PITCH, TO CLIMB SO BEYOND PROTECTION THAT THAT PROTECTION NO LONGER APPLIES. IN MORE APPLICABLE TERMS EXPEDITION SHOULD MEAN GOING INTO UNSANCTIONED AND UNDOCUMENTED PLACES, OR AS ERIC SHIPTON MIGHT BEST HAVE SAID IT – TO THE BLANKS ON THE MAP. ABOVE ALL ELSE AN EXPEDITION NEEDS TO EXPLORE, THEY MUST CONNECT DOTS PREVIOUSLY UNALIGNED, AND MUST BE FUNDAMENTALLY CONCERNED WITH MOVING AWAY FROM NORMS AND KNOWNS.

‘EX’ IS THE LATIN FOR ‘MOVING AWAY FROM CENTER’, AND THE WORD EXPEDITION HAS CHANGED LITTLE SINCE ITS ROOTS WITH EVERY PERMUTATION MEANING TO GO OUTWARDS, INTO NEWNESS AND BEYOND EXPECTATION. EX IS THE COMMON PREFIX TO MANY WORDS THAT MEAN TO EXTEND, EXPLORE, EXTRAPOLATE AND EXAMINE, WITH EXPEDITION INCLUDING THE NOUN OF GOING OUT TO DO IT. EX IMPLIES GOING BEYOND NORMS, BEYOND SOME POINT OF REFERENCE AND BEYOND FAMILIARITY, WHICH INCLUDES THE NORMS, REFERENCES AND FAMILIARITIES OF CLIMBING ITSELF.

EXPEDITIONS MUST GO BEYOND IN A SET OF OVERLAPPING WAYS, THAT MAKE THE ENTIRE ENDEAVOUR ONE THAT GOES AWAY FROM CENTER, TOWARDS THE EDGES. EDGES OF WHAT? THE EDGES OF CLIMBINGS ACCEPTED NORMS OF HOW, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE AND WHY. THESE BUILDING BLOCK ELEMENTS, WHEN TOO COMFORTABLE, BECOME HARBORS FOR LAZY THINKING AND CONVENIENCE, PULLING EXPEDITIONS BACK FROM REAL POTENTIAL.

THE EX GOES BOTH WAYS TOO, AND MAY MEAN HAVING TO EXPUNGE, EXCISE, EXPELL OR EVEN EXTERMINATE THE EXTRANEOUS THINGS THAT CORRUPT REAL EXPEDITIONS. FOR THE SAKE OF ONTOLOGICAL FIDELITY IT IS AS IMPORTANT TO DEFINE WHAT DOESN’T FIT THE DEFINITION AS WHAT DOES, BECAUSE THE IMPERATIVE HERE IS PRECISION. EX ONTOLOGICALLY IS ANTONYMIC BY NATURE, IT EXPRESSES A DIRECTION AWAY FROM CENTER, THUS ANYTHING THAT PERMITS ALLUSIONS OF MEDIOCRITY NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED TO KEEP DEFINITIONS DEFINITE.

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GETTING THE X RATING

IF THE PERMIT ALREADY EXISTS AND EVERYTHING YOU WILL NEED IS ALREADY IN PLACE, IT’S NOT AN EXPEDITION, BECAUSE INTELLECTUALLY, SOME NEW CONTRIBUTION MUST ENTER THE JOURNALS OR CONVERSATION SPACE, THAT SPAWNS FURTHER EXPEDITIONS BASED OFF WHAT WAS FOUND.

GEOGRAPHICALLY, YOUR FRIENDS HAVEN’T HEARD OF IT AND NONE OF THEIR FRIENDS EITHER. REMOTENESS AND OBSCURITY HERE ARE INTRINSIC TO EXPEDITIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE REASONS WHY, IN THE MODERN AGE, SOMEWHERE STILL REQUIRES INNOVATION TO GET TO.

TOPOGRAPHICALLY, LOCATION ISN’T ENOUGH – THE TERRAIN MUST REQUIRE EXTRA ABILITY, BE IT ALTITUDE OR LATITUDE OR REMOTENESS OR TEMPERATURES, THE MORE THE BETTER COEXISTING IN THE SINGLE OBJECTIVE. EXPEDITIONS PUSH INTO MULTIPLE VECTORS ACROSS SEVERAL DIMENSIONS, IN COMPLEX ALGORYTHMNS THAT ALIGN ALTITUDE, DISTANCE, TEMPERATURE AND MASS, THAT INHERENTLY MEAN THE MOST DRAMATIC AND WILD PLACES ON EARTH.

PHYSICALLY, THE ULTIMATE LIMITATION MUST BE HUMAN CAPACITY AND SOMEWHERE OUT ON THE FRACTAL EDGE OF IT. THIS IS THE PREMISE OF HOW FAR, FAST, COLD, HIGH AND DEPRIVED A HUMAN CAN GO, WITHOUT SUBSTITUTING HUMAN ABILITY BY ALTERING THE ENVIRONMENT. TIRED OLD DEBATES HERE CONCERN OXYGEN, STEROIDS AND FIXED INFRASTRUCTURE – ALL THINGS LONG DEMONSTRATED AS SUPERFLOUS TO GOOD CLIMBING – HAVING BEEN REPLACED WITH NEW DEBATES ABOUT HOW TO PUSH ENDOGENOUS CAPACITY INTO NEW REALMS.

GEOPOLITICALLY, SOMEONE MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT YOU BEING THERE, AND EVEN BETTER – TELLING YOU TO STAY AWAY. BY DEFAULT EXPEDITIONS SHOULD MEAN BORDERS; CROSSING THEM, PARANOIA OVER THEM, THE CHANGES THAT COME WITH THEM AND THE LURE OF FORBIDDEN LANDS. YOU WANT SURPRISED OFFICIALS, BUNDLES OF DOCUMENTS AND SECURITY BRIEFINGS, AND THE REAL EXPEDITION SEES THE POLITICS OF BORDERS AS BASE REASON TO BE THERE. BORDERS ARE THE EX IN EXPEDITION AND THE ANTITHESIS OF A COMFORTABLE CENTER. CLIMBING OR NO CLIMBING, THE EVOCATIVENESS OF CONTENTIOUS LANDS IS HALF OF ANY REAL EXPEDITION.

CULTURALLY, THE LOCALS CAN’T BE EXPECTING YOU, GRINNING HANDLERS AND GUIDES WAITING AT ARRIVALS DOES NOT AN EXPEDITION MAKE, AND IF THEY HAVE LEARNED YOUR LANGUAGE IT IS NOT A GOOD SIGN. EXPEDITIONS SHOULD CHALLENGE AND DELIGHT YOUR TASTE BUDS, SHAKE OFF YOUR DEFAULT PERSPECTIVE AND MOST OF ALL FORCE OPEN YOUR EYES, TEARING ANY CONSENSUAL ‘REALITY’. CLIMBING OUTSIDE YOUR CULTURE WHERE CLIMBING IS IRRELEVANT IS THE TRUE SIGNATURE OF AN EXPEDITION,

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THE OTHER SIDE OF ONTOLOGY

WE ARE ALL FOR THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE, BUT VERY MUCH AGAINST LANGUAGES DEVOLUTION, HIJACKING OR DUMBING DOWN. WE SEE THE WAY THE TERMINOLOGY RELATING TO ALPINISM AND CLIMBING SHIFTS AND SYNCRETIZES IN A SPECTRUM OF OTHER LANGUAGES, AFFECTING THE SHARP END ON THE MOUNTAIN IN VERY REAL WORLD WAYS. THE INTENTIONAL DISTORTION OF WORDS MAY NOT MATTER MUCH IN THE WORLD OF DISPOSBALE COMMERCIALISM, BUT IN THE HIGH-CONSEQUENCE WORLD OF MOUNTAINEERING THE STAKES ARE REAL, NOT SOCIAL OR COMMERCIAL.

WE SEE THIS CONTINUOUSLY, HAVING TO REFERENCE AILING OLD DEFINITIONS TO TRY AND CONSTRUCT SOMETHING NEW, APPLYING DEFINITIONS THAT NO LONGER FIT, OR NEVER REALLY DID, TO OUTFIT THE POTENTIAL AVAILABLE. IN THE INTEREST OF EVOLVING LANGUAGE WE THINK THE DEFINTIONS OF EXPEDITION SHOULD ROLL FORWARD, RATHER THAN BEING STUCK IN THE PAST TO THE BEACHED REMNANTS OF OUTDATED MODALITIES. THE NATURE OF THE WORD SHOULD KEEP IT AT THE LEADING EDGE OF ITS PREMISE, TO SAVE IT FROM THE RETROGRESSION THAT CAME TO ‘SAFARI’

OF COURSE DEFINTIONS ARE NOT EVERYTHING, AND AS THE OLD TROPE GOES – ONCE A METRIC BECOMES AN OBJECTIVE IT CEASES TO BE A METRIC. THIS MEANS THAT AT SOME POINT DEFINITIONS NEED TO BE EXPANDED, NEW WORDS DEVISED OR NEW TERMS PATCHED TOGETHER. THIS CAN BE AS CONVOLUTED AS GOING BACK TO LATIN AND GREEK, HYPHENATING ON WHOLE WORDS, OR AS SIMPLE AS A PREFIX SUCH AS POST OR ULTRA.

THIS IS THE PHASE SOME ASPECTS OF EXPEDITION CLIMBING IS NOW IN, WHERE THE STRICTURES OF EXPEDITION START TO PEEL AWAY. IT’S NOT THAT THE MEANING OF THE WORDS ARE BEING WATERED DOWN BY THE LIMITATIONS OF CLIMBERS, INSTEAD THE WORDS ARE FOUND TO BE THE LIMITATIONS HOLDING CLIMBERS BACK. THE DIFFERENCE HERE WITH ONTOLOGICAL FAILURE IS THAT EVEN THE MOST STRICTLY APPLIED TERMINOLOGY DOESN’T SUFFICE FOR WHERE THE LEADING EDGE OF ALPINISM MIGHT GO, WITH VAGUE TERMS LIKE TRIP ENCOMPASSING WHAT A FEW DECADES AGO WAS A DREAM.

AS STATED, DEFINITIONS HAVE REAL EFFECTS, AND MOVING INTO THE NEXT PHASE OF EXPEDITIONS IS BEING HOBBLED BY THE LAG OF INDUSTRIES WITHOUT GOOD DEFINITIONS TO GUIDE THEM. WHERE REAL MONEY MUST BE SPENT, REAL DETAILS MUST BE GIVEN, AND WHEN MOST CLIMBING IS STRUGGLING WITH TERMINOLOGY FROM THE 90s THE EFFECT IS FELT AT THE LEADING EDGE WITH EQUIPMENT, PREPARATION AND VISION HOLDING CLIMBERS BACK.

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SO WHAT TO DO THEN?

WE THINK THE PROCESS HERE IS SIMPLE; TO PUT THE WORD EXPEDITION BACK IN ITS RIGHT PLACE ON THE SHELF BEFORE EXPLORATION AND EXTEND. WE WANT TO SEE EXPEDITION X-RATED – BACK IN THE HANDS OF ADULTS AND RADICALS – SO THE INCOMPLETE PROCESS OF EXPEDITION CLIMBING CAN REGAIN MOMENTUM JUST AS IT’S BEARING FRUIT. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER WE ARE REALIZING THE OVERLAP OF ALL THE PIECES THAT CAN SEE 150 YEARS OF ALPINISTS VISIONS HAPPEN, AS RESOURCES, OBJECTIVES AND STYLES INTERSECT, WHERE FIDELITY MATTERS INTENSELY TO LOSE NOTHING TO DISTRACTION.

THE LATIN EXTRAPOLATION OF EX IS ULTRA, AND WE THINK THIS WORKS, BECAUSE IT IS ALREADY IN COMMON USE AND THE TERM STILL CARRIES CREDIBILITY. ULTRA ALLUDES TO HUMAN EFFORTS AND THE CONVERGENCE OF ELEMENTS THAT ARE ACCEPTED AND DEFENSIBLE, THAT INCLUDE THINGS LIKE ULTRA-DISTANCE, ULTRA-PROMINENCE AND ULTRA-MODERN. MOST OF OUR COLLABORATORS ALREADY USE THE TERM IN THE EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS WE USE – MALACHOWSKIS SUPER ULTRALIGHT DOWN, SAMAYAS ULTRA SERIES TENTS AND PARBATS ULTRA EXPEDITION PACK ARE OBVIOUS EXAMPLES WHERE OLD IDEAS AND PRODUCERS WERE INTENTIONALLY DISCARDED TO MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW – SO WE WILL DO LIKEWISE AND REFER TO ULTRA EXPEDITIONS TO DEFINE WHAT WE DO.

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*THIS ARTICLE WILL BE INCLUDED IN FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS FORTHCOMING EXPEDITION X SUBSTACK, THE REPOSITORY OF THINGS TOO OBLIQUE, CONTENTIOUS OR HALF-BAKED FOR COMMERCIAL PUBLICATION.