CRITICAL THINKING

WE KNOW WE CAN’T SAVE THE WORLD, BUT WE CAN DO WHAT WE CAN FROM THE SMALL NICHE WE INHABIT, ESPECIALLY AS WE INHABIT ONE WHERE CHANGES ARE DRAMATICALLY FELT. WE FIND IT HYSTERICAL THAT CERTAIN HUGE COMPANIES FAWN OVER ‘1% FOR THE PLANET’, WHEN IT IS THEIR OWN SUPPLY CHAINS, PRODUCTION, LABOR PROTOCOLS AND CONTRACTING PROCESSES THAT DEFINE THE BAD PRACTICES SUCH AN EMPTY STATEMENT PRETENDS TO ADDRESS. THIS IS OUR WAY OF SPREADING THE PROCESS OF UNFUCKING AS FAR AS WE CAN, BEYOND OUR OWN SPECIFIC NICHE AND OUT WHERE IT’S NEEDED.

IN AN INDUSTRY LOST TO SLEAZY COMMERCIALISM WE RESORT TO THE LAST BASTION OF ALTERNATIVE MARKETING – THE ‘BAND SHIRT’ AND STICKERS. WE DON’T SPEND ON POP UPS, SCROLLING BANNERS, SPONSORED POSTS AND TRADE SHOWS, INSTEAD OUR INFLUENCERS ARE GRIMEY PACKS BEING PUSHED THROUGH ARRIVALS, FADED SHIRTS AT THE CRAG, AND PEELING AND MELTED STICKERS ON WATERBOTTLES, ICE TOOLS AND COOKING POTS BEING USED BY REAL CLIMBERS WHO KNOW WHAT REAL EXPEDITIONS ARE ABOUT.

CONTRARY TO THE DISTOPIAN FANTASIES SOME HAVE ABOUT CHINA AND TIBET, THESE LADIES RUN THEIR OWN BUSINESSES FREE FROM STATE INTERFERENCE, CULTURAL INTERFERENCE AND THE INTERFERENCE OF TIBETAN MEN. IF CAPITALISM CAN BE SEEN TO WORK THEN THIS IS THE EXAMPLE, AS WE PAY GOOD LIVING WAGES DIRECTLY INTO THEIR HANDS, AS WE HAVE DONE FOR WELL OVER A DECADE.

NORTH SIDES OF PEAKS, ON THE NORTH SIDES OF THE RANGES, UP ON THE NORTHERN PLATEAU AND IN THE NORTHERN PARTS OF THE GREAT DIVIDE. PLAY WITH THE SEMANTICS OF WHAT WINTER MAY MEAN IF YOU MUST, BUT ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN OUT THERE KNOWS THE PETTINESS IS CONFINED WITH THE SOUTHERN, LOWER LATITUDES, AND THAT ‘NORTH’ SOMEWHERE LIKE THE GASHERBRUMS IS A DIFFERENT PARADIGM THAT FEW PERCEIVE IN SUMMER LET ALONE EARLY JANUARY.

FROM NOVEMBER TO MARCH WE ARE ROLLING OUT EXPEDITIONS ACROSS TIBET AND INNER ASIA. THIS IS WHAT WE LIVE FOR, AND INVOLVES EXTENDED TIME AWAY FROM COMMUNICATIONS, BUT IS A TIME OF HIGH ENERGY AND IDEAS AND A GOOD TIME TO ENAGAGE US. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US, AND WE WILL REPLY WHEN…
Read more

CLIMBING AND MEDIA HAVE LONG BEEN SYNONYMOUS, ALL THE WAY BACK TO YOUNGHUSBAND, SHIPTON AND THE DUKE OF ABRUZZI WHERE REPORTS FUELED SPONSORSHIP, PUBLIC CURISOITY AND POLITICS. TODAY IS NO DIFFERENT, THOUGH OF COURSE THE SCALE IS EXPONENTIALLY LARGER, WITH THE FOOTPRINT OF AN EXPEDITION IN MEDIA GOING FAR BEYOND THE CLIMBING WORLD. THERE WAS…
Read more

WHEN ALL IS DEEPLY FROZEN, THE ROCK IS GOOD, YOU ARE ON YOUR TOOLS WITH BIG GLOVES AND THE RACK IS ALREADY AN ORCHESTRA OF ASSORTED OPTIONS, CAMS FILL THE PLACE FOR SMALLER CRACKS THAT ARE SMOOTH, WHEN THINGS ARE TOO INTENSE TO SPEND THE TIME ON A GOOD NUT. THIS ACCOUNTS FOR ONLY A SMALL PART OF ANY ASCENT, BUT A PART THAT IS PUSHING THE ENVELOPE SO DESERVES ATTENTION.

OUR PREVIOUS POST WITH THE ALEISTER CROWLEY SHIRT CERTAINLY ACHEIVED ITS AIM; TO SELL SHIRTS AND TO GET INTEREST, EVEN IF ONLY BY THE LOW HANGING FRUIT OF CONTROVERSY. THANKS TO INSTAGRAM MOST OF THE INTERACTION WAS ABOUT CROWLEY AND THE NATURE OF HIS IDEAS, AND WE FOUND A SECTOR ALMOST AS DROWNED IN COMPETING…
Read more

WE LEARNED EARLY ON THAT THE WAY TO WORK IN CHINA IS TO PLAY THE LONG GAME, TO DEVELOP PERSONAL TRUST ACROSS A PROCESS OF DISCUSSIONS, DEMONSTRATIONS AND QUALITY COMMUNICATIONS. THIS HAPPENS IN THE OFFICES AND OUT IN THE BASECAMPS, BUT ALSO IMPORTANTLY AT THE DINNERS, OVER COFFEE, SHARING WHISKY AND SMALL GIFTS. LIKE ANYWHERE THERE IS A CERTAIN INSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE, AND IN CHINA IT IS NO DIFFERENT TO ANY OTHER BUREAUCRATIC PROCESS.

IT IS ENTIRELY FEASIBLE TO PAIR AN 8000m LINER WITH A 6000m SHELL, FRANKENSTEINING THE BOOT YOU WANT FROM THE PIECES YOU LIKE. COST IS OBVIOUSLY MORE, BUT IN THE CONTEXT OF A WINTER HIGH ALTITUDE TRIP IS NOT MUCH, CONSIDERING THE IMPACT IT HAS ON YOUR CLIMBING.