CRITICAL THINKING

FROM 2025 ALL OUR EXPEDITIONS WILL HAVE UNIQUE BEAN ROASTS, EITHER FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS OWN WICKEDEST ESPRESSO IN THE WORLD! BEANS, OR SOMETHING DONE TO THE TEAMS OWN REQUEST.
IS THIS THE FINAL DESCENT INTO THE ABYSS OF HIPSTERISM, FIRST-WORLD PROBLEMS AND THE INANE? WE DON’T THINK SO. IT COULD BE IF WE WERE TALKING SOMEWHERE ALREADY IN THE GRIPS OF URBAN CHIC LIKE EVEREST, BUT THE CULTURAL JUXTAPOSITION IN AN OFT-MISUNDERSTOOD PLACE LIKE TIBET, WHERE WE GET TO SHOOT ESPRESSOS WITH KHAMPA COWBOYS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM YAK MARKETS, IS POST-MODERN CLIMBING AT ITS BEST

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY GOOD GLOVES AND THE EXPENSE IS ALWAYS JUSTIFIED, AND ANYTHING THAT REDUCES THE CHANCE OF ENDING UP WITH FROSTBITE IS MONEY WELL SPENT. SAVE YOUR DOLLARS ELSEWHERE (TITANIUM SPOONS ARE FOR SUCKERS), BECAUSE FAILING ON A $15K TRIP BECAUSE YOU SCROOGED ON GLOVES IS JUST DUMB. IF YOU MUST HAVE A FETISH, MAKE IT GLOVES

AKSAI QIN IS A REMOTE AND ALIEN FRONTIER ON THE EDGE OF HABITABILITY, WHERE PEOPLE ARE BARELY RELEVANT, ESPECIALLY IN WINTER WHEN THESE IMAGES WERE TAKEN

IN FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS PERSPECTIVE, ‘PUNK ALPINISM’ IS JUST ALPINISM, AND WHAT WE DO IS IN AN UNBROKEN LINE THAT GOES BACK TO CLIMBING’S ORIGINS. LIKE PUNK ROCK, THIS STUFF NEVER WAS MEANT FOR THE MASSES, BEING A SUBCULTURE FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL, THE PRAGMATIC AND THE INDIVIDUAL

THAT MANY BOOTS ARE STILL WED TO THE OLD IDEA OF A RIGID CRAMPON ON A RIGID BOOT WHERE EVERYTHING IS LOCKED INTO IMMOVABLE PLACE, HERE – BY MAKING THE RIGID ELEMENT PRECISE – WE HAVE FREELY ARTICULATING ANKLES ON CRAMPONS THAT HAVE NO RIGID BAR AND THAT CLIMB STEEP STUFF AT EXPEDITION LEVELS. WE THINK THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

“The punk ideal is self-knowledge and the alpinist uniquely positioned to test the validity of his or her knowledge and capability. Be honest or get dead.” – MARK TWIGHT

IF YOU REMEMBER THE 1990s YOU WEREN’T THERE, AND THOUGH MUCH OF THE GEAR OF THE ERA IS BEST LEFT TO THE PAST, THE NORTH FACE WENT AHEAD AND REVAMPED SOME OF THEIR ‘CLASSIC ERA’ DESIGNS TO APPEAL TO TODAYS HIPSTER MARKET AND ACCIDENTLY NAILED IT FOR EXPEDITION CLIMBERS AS WELL

THE MAIN ISSUE WITH FIRST DEGREE FROSTBITE IS LEARNING THE LESSON, BECAUSE ONCE EXPOSED THE RISK OF FUTURE INJURY INCREASES. ANALYSIS OF WHAT LEAD TO IT SHOULD BE THOROUGH AND INCISIVE, AND THE LESSONS HEEDED. THE CLIMBER WHO ALLOWS IT TO HAPPEN TWICE NEEDS TO APPRAISE THEIR MINDSET AND FACE THE GAPS IN THEIR BEHAVIOUR, BECAUSE IF SOMETHING SO BASIC IS SLIPPING THROUGH YOU NEED TO ASK WHAT ELSE IS

ONCE ISSUED, IMMIGRATION ENTERING CHINA IS EASY, AND THIS SAME VISA WILL SEE YOU THROUGH ANY CHECKPOINTS, HOTEL BOOKING AND PERMIT CHECKS THAT ARE COMMON IN THE SENSITIVE AND REMOTE AREAS WE USUALLY CLIMB IN. CHINA VISAS COVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY, WHICH MEANS XINJIANG AND TIBET ARE PART OF THAT, NEEDING NO SPECIAL ADDITIONS TO THE VISA ISSUED FOR ENTRY.

IN OUR WORLD EVERY GRAM SAVED ON PACK WEIGHT BECOMES FUEL, FOOD AND INSULATION, WHICH WHEN COMPARED TO REGULAR PACKS EQUATES TO AN INCREDIBLE EXTRA WEEK OF SUSTAINMENT. THIS FURTHER EXTRAPOLATES TO ANOTHER 1000m OF CLIMBING OR ANOTHER WEEK INTO WILDERNESS OR TWO WEEKS INTO WINTER, WHICH ARE VERY REAL NUMBERS IN A VERY REAL WORLD, FAR FROM THE REACH OF MOST CLIMBING ELSEWHERE