CRITICAL THINKING

OUR OPERATION MEANS IT’S THE SAME PEOPLE TAKING THE EMAILS AS CLIMBING ON THE MOUNTAIN, AND BY THE TIME YOU ROLL THROUGH ARRIVALS THERE WILL ALREADY BE A RELATIONSHIP. AS A TEAM – A REAL TEAM – YOU HAVE BEEN PART OF THE PLANNING, WITH NO NAMELESS MINIONS IN THE SHADOWS OR HIDDEN SURPRISES. THIS MEANS WE ARE ALL REAL PEOPLE, WHO WORK TOGETHER FROM THE FIRST EMAIL. READING THESE WORDS MAY EVENTUATE WITH US BEING TOGETHER ON THE MOUNTAIN, SO FOR SOME THE TEAM BEGINS NOW

OUR TRIPS ALREADY HAVE THE BEST FOOD OF ANY EXPEDITIONS GOING, THE CUISINE OF CHINA, TIBET AND XINJIANG GUARANTEE IT, AS DOES THE AVAILABILITY OF RESTAURANT-GRADE SOURCES THAT MEANS WE EASILY COVER THE NEEDS OF HUNGRY CLIMBERS. BUT, ONCE ON THE MOUNTAIN EVERYONES NUTRITION AND CONDITION IS THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY. THE SUPPLEMENTS LISTED HERE ARE THE ONES WE SEE WORK

THE POINT OF ALL THIS IS NOT TO MASTURBATE OVER NUMBERS, CREATING DREAM GEAR LISTS, OR USING THEM TO REWRITE THE PAST. THE POINT IS TO USE THEM TO PROJECT FORWARD, TO SEE WHERE CLIMBING CAN GO, BY MATCHING THEM WITH OTHER FACTORS LIKE TRAINING, CLIMATE AND ACCESS TO PICK WHAT THE NEXT GENERATION CAN PLAY WITH.

ONCE MODIFIED, THESE ARE THE BEST APPROACH FOOTWEAR FOR OUR TRIPS WE’VE KNOWN IN YEARS. WE NOW WEAR THEM IN ON THE FLIGHT AS OUR ONLY BOOTS OTHER THAN DOUBLES, FINDING THEM LIGHT ENOUGH AROUND TOWN AND EASILY RUGGED ENOUGH RIGHT UP TO WHERE IT’S TOO COLD. A CASE COULD BE MADE FOR PAIRING THESE WITH AN OVERBOOT FOR SOME STUFF, AND WE HAVE WORN THEM TO JUST OVER 5000m OF MIXED ALPINE CLIMBING IN EARLY SPRING.

SHORT FIXING IS WELL WITHIN THE PARADIGM OF ALPINISM, AND DOES NOT REDUCE ACTUAL CLIMBING TO ASSISTED VIA FERRATA. YOU STILL NEED TWO TOOLS, YOU STILL ACTUALLY CLIMB, BUT IT SPEEDS THINGS UP BY REDUCING THE TIME SPENT ON PITCHING. IT TAKES THE GUESSWORK OUT OF THE SECONDING CLIMBERS EFFORT WHICH HELPS KEEP FRIED MINDS BACK FROM THE EDGE, THOUGH THIS MENTAL SEMI-REST IS BALANCED BY THE SECONDS BEING ABLE TO CLIMB WITH SIGNIFICANTLY MORE WEIGHT. WHEN USED ACROSS A SMALL TEAM THIS MAKES FOR PERHAPS THE BEST WEIGHT-SPEED RATIO OF ANY HIGH ALTITUDE STYLE.

WE HAVE RUN TRIPS THROUGH CHENGDU FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS, AND GOING BACK TO THE 1980s EVERY MAIN EXPEDITION TO TIBET HAS STAGED FROM HERE. THE HISTORY OF CLIMBING NORTH OF THE HIMALAYA ADORNS THE HOTELS AND GEAR SHOPS OF CHENGDU, HAVING HOSTED MANY OF THE GREAT ALPINISTS HEADING WESTWARD TO TIBET.

SANITY IS OVERRATED, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT SHOULDN’T BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. NOT ALL ASPECTS OF A PSYCHE RETOOLED BY EXPEDITION CLIMBING ARE HEALTHY, AND MENTAL STATE NEEDS TO BE OBSERVED TO REMAIN PROPORTIONATE AND SYMMETRICAL WITH OFTEN DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENTS. THE OLD POP PSYCHOLOGISTS AFFIRMATION THAT YOU ARE NOT CRAZY IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT BE IS MEANINGLESS IN ALPINISM, WHERE YOU HAVE ALREADY OVERSTEPPED SO MANY RED FLAGS OF WHAT NORMAL SANITY ALLOWS

OUR GEAR COMES FROM THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY, COMPANIES THAT PUSH WHAT MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS CAN DO. WE PRESENT THEM WITH ENDLESS BIZARRE AND RADICAL IDEAS TO SOLVE PARTS OF OUR TRIPS, BUT SOMETIMES WE FIND THE LIMITS OF WHAT THEY WILL DO, THEY FIND THE LIMITS OF THEIR PATIENCE WITH US, AND A CONSERVATIVE CLIMBING SCENE – WELL WE FOUND THE LIMITS WITH THAT 20 YEARS AGO. WE CONSIDER ALL THIS A GOOD THING AND A SIGN THAT WE HAVE TO INNOVATE.

WE KNOW THERE ARE A ZILLION CLIMBING BOOKS OUT THERE, BUT THESE ARE THE ONES THAT APPLY TO WHAT WE DO IN CHARACTER AND LOCATION IN BOTH TIME AND GEOGRAPHY. YOU WON’T FIND TOUCHING THE VOID, THE SAVAGE MOUNTAIN OR ANYTHING BY JON KRAKAUER, ANDY KIRKPATRICK OR HERZOG BECAUSE THEY LACK HALF OF WHAT OUR TRIPS ARE CONCERNED WITH, BUT YOU WILL FIND BOOKS THAT LINK THE HISTORY OF CLIMBING WRITING THROUGH MANY CULTURAL EPOCHS, AND BOOKS THAT INFORM ABOUT AN AREA OFTEN LEFT OUT OF POPULAR THINKING.

WE GET SOME STRANGE EMAILS – THE WEIRDER THE BETTER WE SAY – AND COUNT SEEING “ARE YOU SATANISTS?” IN THE SUBJECT BAR AS BEING RIGHT UP THERE, ALONG WITH EMAILS FROM THE BAND IRON MAIDEN AND THREATS OF LEGAL ACTION FROM AN INDUSTRY WHOSE BAD PRACTICES WE WON’T BE SILENT ON. NOW IT’S NOT UP TO US TO DIVULGE THE NATURE THE ENQUIRY (IT’S NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT), BUT IT RAISED THE RESPECTABLE QUESTION OF WHAT EXACTLY FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS BELIEVES AND ADVOCATES.