CRITICAL THINKING

LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, THE FOOD ON OUR TRIPS IS DIFFERENT TO WHAT YOU WILL FIND ELSEWHERE. CHINA IS CHINA, WHICH MEANS ANYTHING YOU COULD WANT TO EAT EXISTS. THERE’S NO INGENIOUS RECREATIONS OF FOREIGN MEALS, INSTEAD WE SIMPLY DRIVE TO COSTCO AND BUY WHAT WE WANT. COFFEE BEANS ARE ROASTED BY AUSTRALIANS IN CHENGDU, THE…
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OUR PREVIOUS ARTICLE/RANT TRIGGERED A BIT OF RESPONSE – SOME CONSTRUCTIVE, SOME NOT – WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE ASKING JUST WHAT THIS ‘EXPEDITION ALPINISM’ THING IS. THIS IS A VERY GOOD QUESTION. WE SOMETIMES TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT EXPEDITION ALPINISM IS AN OBVIOUS THING, FORGETTING WE ARE IN A SORT OF ECHO CHAMBER WHERE OUR AUDIENCE…
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WE’VE BEEN BOUYED RECENTLY BY REPORTS OF CHRISTOPHE PROFIT, ONE OF THE FINEST GUIDES IN THE EUROPEAN ALPS, GOING VIGILANTE AND REMOVING BELAY STAKES FROM A SERIOUS ROUTE ON MONT BLANC WITH THE EXPLICIT INTENTION OF CONFRONTING AUTHORITIES OVER WHAT ALPINISM IS TURNING INTO. AS A LIVING LEGEND, PROFIT HAS FACED OFF TO BOTH THE…
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OUR TOP FIVE ENQUIRIES ARE 1) HOW TO HANG A BLADE 2 STOVE (ASK US), 2) CAN WE GET DEALS ON SAMAYA TENTS (YES IF YOU’RE ON OUR TEAMS), 3) HOW MUCH TO GO TO K2 NORTH RIDGE (WATCH THIS SPACE), 4) WHY ARE THERE SO MANY SPELLING MISTAKES (WE ARE CLIMBERS WRITING FROM PHONES…
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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…
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THE FINEST THING SAID ABOUT OUR TRIPS IS BEING CALLED “THE THINKING CLIMBERS EXPEDITIONS”. WE DON’T ALWAYS GET GREAT PRESS, HAVING BEEN CALLED STATE AGENTS, RADICALS, WANNABES, HASBEENS, RIP-OFFS, RACISTS, CAVALIERS, DELUSIONAL, AND PART-OF-THE-PROBLEM, SO WHEN SOMEONE WHO HAS ACTUALLY BEEN CLIMBING WITH US GIVES US PRAISE WE FEEL COMPELLED TO EXPLAIN IT. . THE…
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IT IS ABSURD TO TRY TO QUANTIFY BIG ALPINE ROUTES WITH GRADES AND VECTORS THAT COME FROM THE RECREATIONAL CLIMBING WORLD. HOPELESS ATTEMPT ARE MADE THAN INCLUDE LONG STRINGS OF NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS AND MEMES, WITH THE BEST WE FEEL BEING THE RUSSIAN SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE REMOTENESS AND TIME ON ROUTE, THOUGH WHICH…
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IF YOU CLIMBED IN EASTERN TIBET ANY TIME IN THE LAST 30 YEARS YOU PROBABLY PASSED THROUGH THE JIAOTONG FANDIAN, OR THE TRAFFIC HOTEL, IN CHENGDU. TO SAY THIS PLACE HAD A PIVOTAL ROLE IN CLIMBING HISTORY IS NOT TO WAX LYRICAL. . THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE OPTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS IN CHINA WERE…
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NOT EVERYTHING FOR ALPINE CLIMBING NEEDS TO BE SUPER-EXPENSIVE, SPEC-MADE, HARDCORE GEAR FROM THE BIG BRANDS. OVER THE WINTER OF 2022/23 WE GOT A LOT OF DAYS AND NIGHTS CLIMBING, ALMOST ALL OF THEM AT SOME POINT USING THE MARNI GLOVES FROM UNIQLO. “UNIQLO?” YOU MIGHT SAY, AND YES, THE JAPANESE STREETWEAR COMPANY BETTER KNOWN…
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DON’T THINK IT CAN’T HAPPEN. WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE EFFECTS OURSELVES AND WITNESSED AT LEAST ONE FATALITY BECAUSE OF IT. ASPHYXIATION FROM TOXIC GASES AND LACK OF AIR IS A REAL HAZARD WITH EXPEDITION CLIMBING . SERIOUS CLIMBING MEANS COOKING INSIDE A TENT OR SNOW HOLE BECAUSE IT IS NOT REALISTIC OUT IN THE OPEN…
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