“THE ROUTE WAS LONG, TECHNICALLY DEMANDING – IT INVOLVED STEEP GRANITE AND STEEP ICE THAT WOULD BE HARD EVEN IN THE ALPS, AT HALF THE ALTITUDE – AND IT HAD ALREADY DEFEATED TWO BRITISH AND TWO JAPANESE TEAMS IN THE PREVIOUS SIX YEARS. IN OTHER WORDS; IT WAS THE PERFECT WAY OF FEEDING THE RAT”
– AL ALVAREZ
WHY THE HELL DID YOU CHOOSE A NAME LIKE ‘FEEDING THE RAT’……?
MOST PEOPLE
WE CHOSE FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS AS OUR NAME AND CAMELUS BACTRIANUS AS OUR LOGO BECAUSE THEY BOTH REPRESENT SOMETHING WE FELT HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED IN THE RAPID EVOLUTION OF EXPEDITION CLIMBING; THE HUMAN URGE TO GO SOMEWHERE AND DO SOMETHING ON THE FRINGES OF COMMON EXPERIENCE. WE’VE SEEN THE WAY PLACES HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY OUTSIDERS AND WORK TO AVOID THAT, BY EXPERIENCING TRUE WILDERNESS WE CAN MAINTAIN IT.
AFTER GROWING UP WITH PICTURES OF JERZY KURCZYKA ON OUR WALLS AND GOING TO DOUG SCOTT’S PRESENTATIONS, WE FINALLY MADE IT OUT TO WESTERN CHINA AND TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORUM ITSELF. THINGS WERE DIFFERENT THEN; NEPAL WAS ALREADY LOST TO MASS TOURISM, BUT MOST OF TIBET WAS CLOSED, PAKISTAN WAS SEEING A SURGE IN TOURISM ALONG THE KARAKORUM HIGHWAY, CENTRAL ASIA WAS BEGINNING TO OPEN UP, AND KASHGAR HAD CAMELS IN THE STREETS AND BUSES TO PLACES WE’D NEVER HEARD OF (AND COULDN’T BUY TICKETS FOR). THIS WAS BEFORE iPHONES & SOCIAL MEDIA, WHEN GETTING TO THESE PLACES USED PHOTOCOPIES OF ‘ASIA OVERLAND’ AND SOVIET-ERA MAPS.
EFFORT & MISADVENTURE GOT US INTO BOTH SIDES OF THE KARAKORUM, THE CHANG TANG, THE PAMIR & HINDU KUSH, AND AS FAR INTO TIBET AS WE COULD MAKE UP A STORY FOR. TRIPS TO NEPAL, SIKKIM & INDIA SHOWED US HOW THE REST OF THE BIG MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS WERE DOING THINGS, BUT ALMOST NONE IT APPLIED TO THE CHINESE-SIDE. THE PRICE TO PAY FOR GOING TO UNEXPLORED AREAS WAS THE PRICE OF HAVING NO INDUSTRY TO DO IT FOR YOU.
AS WE STUCK IT OUT IN TIBET, PUSHING THE ENVELOPE OF PIRATE ASCENTS ALONG WITH OTHER CLIMBERS FROM THE US, RUSSIA, EASTERN EUROPE, JAPAN & OF COURSE FROM CHINA ITSELF, THE ECONOMY WAS TAKING OFF, AND WITH THAT CAME AN INTEREST FROM THE AUTHORITIES IN PROTECTING THESE PLACES BOTH AS RESOURCES & AS WILDERNESS. WE FOUND 90% OF THE TIME THE AUTHORITIES WEREN’T THE STONEWALL WE EXPECTED THEM TO BE, AND THAT WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE & RELATIONSHIPS WE COULD GET TO PLACES IMPOSSIBLE VIA THE OLD SCHOOL ‘PIRATE’ METHOD. FROM THAT OUR FIRST INCARNATION WAS BORN AND AFTER RUNNING TRIPS TO TIBET AND OUR FIRST TRIPS TO K2 WE SOON FOUND OURSELVES IN DISCUSSION WITH THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION IN URUMQI.
TRIPS TO CLIMB K2 & BROAD PEAK FROM THE PAKISTAN SIDE TAUGHT US THE MODEL USED THERE WOULDN’T TRANSLATE WELL TO THE CHINA SIDE, SO WE PUT TOGETHER A SMALL FOOTPRINT VERSION BASED ON WHAT WE USED IN TIBET AND STARTED PUTTING THE IDEA OUT THERE. EVEN AMONG PROFESSIONAL MOUNTAINEERS WE FOUND THE IDEA OF CLIMBING IN THE KARAKORUM FROM THE NORTH SIDE WAS VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN, RESERVED ONLY FOR THE ELITE TEAMS OF THE 90’S & A SMALL GROUP WHO HAD ALREADY FOUND THE LIMITS OF WHAT THE PAKISTAN SIDE COULD OFFER. THE NEXT SEASON FRIENDS WE HAD CLIMBED WITH IN PAKISTAN SUMMITTED FROM THE NORTH SIDE AND WE GOT INVALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO HOW THINGS COULD WORK.
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TODAY, FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS HAS HAD 25 YEARS OF RUNNING TRIPS ACROSS THE KARAKORUM & TIBETAN PLATEAU. DOZENS OF HIGH ALTITUDE FIRST ASCENTS, DESERT CROSSINGS & TRIPS INTO REMOTE AREAS HAS EARNED US UNPARALLELED ACCESS TO MUCH OF CHINA’S HIGH ALTITUDE WILDERNESS. WE HAVE RUN TRIPS, FROM AS FAR EAST AS JAPAN TO AS FAR WEST AS IRAN, ALL OF THEM UNIQUE, ALL OF THEM SMALL FOOTPRINT & ALL OF THEM A SUCCESS – WE MAY NOT HAVE SUMMITED 100% OF THE TIME, BUT 100% OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS HAVE MADE IT BACK TO THE AIRPORT HAVING DONE SOMETHING FEW IF ANYBODY HAS EVER ATTEMPTED BEFORE. IN TWO DECADES WE’VE MADE AS LITTLE IMPACT AS POSSIBLE IN THE EFFORT TO RETAIN THE TRUE WILDERNESSES WE GO TO; ALWAYS SMALL TEAMS, WE’VE MET THE LOCALS AS EQUALS, AVOIDED OVER-COMMERCIALISM, PAID FAIR WAGES, ADVOCATED BEST PRACTICES, MADE NEW FRIENDS & LEFT PLACES AS WILD AS WE FOUND THEM. HARD ATTAINED SUMMITS ARE ALWAYS GOOD, BUT THERE’S MORE TO A GOOD TRIP. MUCH MORE.
SOME TRIPS MAKE IT INTO THE MAGAZINES & AWARD CEREMONIES, BUT THE BEST TRIPS YOU’LL NEVER HEAR ABOUT, AND THE BEST TRIPS ARE WHAT OUR NEXT TRIPS ARE BASED ON. DECADES SPENT IN THESE PLACES HAS SHOWN US THAT NOT ONLY IS THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORUM AMONG THE LAST GREAT WILDERNESSES LEFT – AND IT’S CERTAINLY THE HIGHEST – IT CAN BE MAINTAINED AS THAT BY PEOPLE VALUING WILDERNESS OVER ALL THE JUNK THAT GOES WITH COMMERCIAL TOURISM. MACRO-MANAGEMENT BY THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES AND MICRO-MANGEMENT BY THE SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT WORK IN THERE CAN AVOID THE PROBLEMS FOUND IN OTHER 8000m AREAS. WE’VE SEEN IT WORK IN TIBET, WHERE VIRGIN 6000m PEAKS SIT WITH A DAY OR TWO OF BUSY TOWNS, SO WE WANT TO SEE THAT HAPPEN FOR THE NORTHERN KARAKORUM TOO.
