CRITICAL THINKING

THE NORTH KARAKORUM IS THE LAST REMAINING TRUE 8000m WILDERNESS AREA. VERY, VERY FEW PEOPLE HAVE BEEN OUT THERE IN THE LAST 15 YEARS, AND EVEN BEFORE THAT IT WAS RARELY VISITED. DESPITE SOME BAD BEHAVIOUR AROUND K2 NORTH SIDE BASECAMP IN THE 1990s THAT LEFT BEHIND TRASH OF THE ERA, THERE’S VERY LITTLE DEBRIS FROM EXPEDITIONS OUT THERE AND EFFECTIVELY NONE AWAY FROM K2.

WE COULD EASILY RUN THINGS NEVER RETURNING TO ANY MOUNTAIN TWICE, AND EVEN THE MOST VISITED AREAS WE GO TO HAVE SEEN ONLY A COUPLE OF ASCENTS, WITH EVERY TRIP TO ANYTHING GOING PAST 95% UNCLIMBED OPPORTUNITIES

IT’S ONE THING TO SAY YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, AND A WHOLE OTHER THING TO ACTUALLY DO IT, AND MALACHOWSKI HAS PROVED OVER THE DECADES THAT WHEN IT COMES TO DOWN THEY MEAN WHAT THEY SAY. COLLABORATING WITH MALACHOWSKI IS TO TAP INTO A SPECTRUM OF POSSIBILITIES, PEDIGREE, MATERIALS AND RATE OF DEVELOPMENT THAT IS MATCHED BY ONLY A HANDFUL OF OTHERS (UNSURPRISINGLY WHO WE ALSO COLLABORATE WITH), UNLEASHING POTENTIAL WHERE IT COUNTS – ON THE MOUNTAIN – IN WAYS THAT CHANGE CLIMBING

WE ARE NOT BEING FUNNY WHEN WE CALL CHARLIE OUR ‘TOTEM ANIMAL’, BECAUSE HIS ENIGMA STILL INFORMS MOST OF WHAT WE DO AND HIS PRESENCE IS STILL OUT THERE. NOT IN SOME SUPERNATURAL WAY, BUT FOR REAL, AS THE PEOPLE HE MET STILL MENTION HIM, OCCASIONAL PITONS STILL SHOW UP AND HE STILL SETS THE STANDARDS FOR ‘PIRATE ALPINISM’. WE THINK WORLD ALPINISM HAS A LOT TO RELEARN FROM CHARLIES EXAMPLE, AS A CLIMBER, AN ADVENTURER AND AS PROTAGONIST OF STYLE

WE RUN THE ONLY Mt FUJI WINTER CLIMBING TRIPS, BASED ON A MIX OF JAPAN AND HIMALAYAN EXPERIENCE. MOST PEOPLE READING THIS WILL HAVE HEARD OF JAPANESE CLIMBERS, BUT ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS THE ALPINE CLIMBING IN JAPAN THEY COME FROM. FOR EXAMPLE ALMOST NO ONE RECOGNIZES THE BLURRY IMAGE IN THE PHOTO SHOWN ABOVE, SHOWING A SIDE OF MT FUJI FAR REMOVED FROM THE TOURIST VERSION, HOME TO SOME VERY SERIOUS ROUTES. WE FIND JAPANS CLIMBING TRADITIONS SO UNIQUE AND FASCINATING WE DECIDED TO BASE FROM THERE, TO INTRODUCE FOREIGN CLIMBERS TO THE MOST UNIQUE STUFF THEY’VE NEVER HEARD OF.

EXPEDITION CULTURE HAS ALWAYS HAD THE COMBINING OF NEW IDEAS AND TECHNOLOGIES AT THE CORE, AND UNLIKE SOME CULTURES IS WELCOMING TO BIG IDEAS, AUDACITY, GOING AGAINST CONVENTION AND A ‘MEANS OVER ENDS’ MENTALITY. EXPEDITION CULTURE ALSO HAS A HISTORY OF WILD THEORIES, STRANGE REASONS, UNTESTED HYPOTHESES, BIZARRE CLAIMS AND COINCIDENCES, MAKING IT AS MUCH A CULTURE FOR HARDENED ADVENTURERS AS FOR ROMANTICS, SKEPTICS AND MISFITS

IN THE LEAD UP TO OUR RETURN TO K2 IN 2024 WE ARE UPDATING THE ENTIRE FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS SITE, INCLUDING A WINNOWING AND REVITALIZING OF ARTICLES WE HAVE HAD UP FOR YEARS. WE ARE RECASTING THEM AS DANGEROUS IDEAS, NOT JUST FOR THE SEMANTIC STUNT, BUT BECAUSE EVERY SEASON AS 8000m CLIMBING DEVOLVES ELSEWHERE WHAT WE THINK AND DO SEEMS EVER MORE RADICAL

FEW COMPANIES INNOVATE AT THE RATE ELITECLIMB DOES – AND THOSE THAT DO WE ALSO PARTNER WITH TO DEVELOP THE HIGHEST FUNCTION EXPEDITION ALPINE EQUIPMENT POSSIBLE. WHAT ELITECLIMB AND THEIR ILK HAVE IN COMMON IS THEY FIND SOLUTIONS TO THINGS THE BIGGER INDUSTRY IGNORES, TAPPING IN TO A LEADING EDGE THAT’S DOING STUFF AT THE HEAD OF THE CURVE

WE REFER TO OURSELVES AS WORKING CLIMBERS. NOT PROFESSIONALS. NOT SPONSORED. NOT GUIDES, NOT ATHELETES. NOT AMBASSADORS. THOUGH THOSE TITLES MAY FIT OTHERS, NONE OF THEM FIT WHAT WE DO, BEING AT ONCE TOO POSTURING, BUT THEN ALSO NOT POSTURING ENOUGH.

*THIS REVIEW FOLLOWS OUR NEW REVIEW FORMAT FOR BOOKS. PART OF OUR GENERAL STREAMLINING ACROSS THE TRIPS & WEBSITE NOW WE ACTUALLY GET ENOUGH ATTENTION TO WARRANT IT. THIS BOOK IS GOOD BUT NOT BRILLIANT, A COOL READ BUT NOT NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE OUR PRESCRIBED READING LIST. AS A DABBLE INTO MANY THINGS, NOT…
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