CARBON NEUTRAL EXPEDITIONS 2025

WITH NO REAL COMMERCIAL INDUSTRY TO CONTEND WITH, RUNNING SUSTAINABLE EXPEDITIONS – EVEN TO K2 – HAS BEEN A VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD PROCESS. THE GOAL OF 100% CARBON NEUTRAL EXPEDITIONS BY 2025 IS WELL WITHIN DOABLE.

PRESENTATION TO THE DELPHI NETWORK, TOKYO, 2021

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THIS YEAR HAS SEEN A BIG SHIFT IN THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT THAT 8000m CLIMBING HAS. DESPITE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS THE RISE IN NUMBERS HEADED TO THE HIMALAYA AND KARAKORAM HASN’T ABATED SO AT THE SAME TIME AS MORE PEOPLE ARE ADDING TO THE LOCALIZED PROBLEMS, MORE PEOPLE ARE SEEING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE WORLDS HIGHEST PLACES.

FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS HAS BEEN AWARE OF ALL THIS SINCE WE STARTED. OUR FIRST TRIPS TO THE KARAKORAM INVOLVED STAYING WITH VILLAGERS HIGH IN THE SUMMER PASTURES AROUND SHIMSHAL & CHUPERSAN, WHERE THEY TOLD US ABOUT THE CHANGES IN THE MICRO-GLACIERS THEY SOURCED THEIR WATER SUPPLY FROM. SUBSEQUENT TRIPS ALL OVER THE KARAKORUM, NORTH & SOUTH SIDES, AND THE OTHER GREAT RANGES FROM THE TIEN SHAN TO ARUNACHAL OVER THE NEXT TWO DECADES HAS SHOWN US THINGS WERE NOT GETTING BETTER.

IN 2010 WE DECIDED WE NEEDED TO CHANGE.

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EVEN BACK THEN THE IMPACT CLIMBERS WERE HAVING IN PLACES LIKE THE BALTORO WAS OBVIOUS. CAMPS UP THE APPROACH TO K2 WERE FILTHY, NEW ROADS WERE SCARRING THE MOUNTAINSIDES WITH LANDSLIDES, CAMPS ON THE PEAKS WERE STARTING TO BE MADE MORE OF LAYERS OF FROZEN, SHREDDED TENTS THAN ROCK, PRAYER FLAGS FROM TIBET HALF A CONTINENT AWAY TANGLED ANY FEATURE THAT WOULD TAKE THEM AND THE HUM OF GENERATORS AT NIGHT DISPELLED ANY IDEAS OF THESE BEING SOMEHOW A REMOTE EXPERIENCE. IT WASN’T WHAT WE WANTED, AND OVER A DECADE ON IT’S WORTH NOTING NUMBERS IN PLACES LIKE K2 BASECAMP HAVE RISEN ABOUT 10-FOLD.

ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORAM AND TIBET, WE CHOSE TO FOCUS OUR TRIPS THERE, WHERE NONE OF THE IMPACT FROM THE CLIMBING INDUSTRY WAS PRESENT. AS GARGANTUAN AS THE CHINESE ECONOMY HAS BECOME OVER THIS TIME IT’S ALSO LEAD TO INCREASED EFFICIENCY WHERE IT COMES TO LONG RANGE & COMPLEX LOGISTICS, MEANING WE CAN RUN HIGH ALTITUDE TRIPS WITH THE SMALLEST FOOTPRINT PER CLIMBER ON EARTH.

WE TOOK A GOOD, HARD LOOK INTO THE FOOTPRINT OF A HIGH ALTITUDE EXPEDITION AND ALL THAT GOES INTO IT AND BROKE IT DOWN INTO THINGS WE CAN ADDRESS OURSELVES AND THINGS WE NEED TO LEVERAGE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS FOR. WE KNOW THAT WITH TODAYS TECHNOLOGY WE CAN NOT ONLY REPLACE OLD STUFF, BUT DO IT MORE EFFICIENTLY USING LIGHTER EQUIPMENT, MORE EFFICIENT POWER GENERATION AND STORAGE AND MORE EFFICIENT VEHICLES. WE ALSO KNOW THAT AS YET SOME THINGS WE CAN’T DIRECTLY AFFECT BUT WE CAN STREAMLINE – MAINLY OPERATING OUT OF MAJOR INTERNATIONAL AIR HUBS THAT REDUCE THE NUMBER OF DOMESTIC FLIGHTS USING OLDER, INEFFICIENT AIRCRAFT.

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“WE MESS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT IN DOZENS OF WAYS SO IT WILL TAKE DOZENS OF WAYS TO FIX THINGS” – WHAT ‘CARBON NEUTRAL’ MEANS

IT MEANS WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN, WE NEED NO TRICKY SEMANTICS TO GET AROUND IT. IT MEANS

– NO EMISSIONS FROM THE TRIP ITSELF; RUNNING ALL OUR BASECAMPS ON SOLAR, WIND & MICRO-HYDRO ENERGY SOURCES AND USING ELECTRIC VEHICLES FOR ACCESS*

– REALISTICALLY OFFSETTING EMISSIONS THAT ARE UNAVOIDABLE; BUYING INTO CARBON REDUCING PROJECTS THAT ARE IMMEDIATE, LOCALIZED AND EXPANDING – IN OUR CASE REPLACING COAL-BURNING STOVES WITH ONES USING RECYCLED FARM WASTE, ALL ACROSS THE POOREST PARTS OF CHINA.

– KEEPING TRIPS SELF-SUFFICIENT; NO PORTERS, NO BOTTLED OXYGEN, LIMITED NUMBERS, LOCAL RESOURCES INCLUDING INDIGENOUS PACK ANIMALS, ULTRALIGHT & HIGH TECH EQUIPMENT, AVOIDING SPECIALLY IMPORTED SUPPLIES.

– CONTRIBUTING TO REHABILITATING THE PLACES WE GO TO; IN OUR CASE CONTRIBUTING FUNDING TO RESEARCHING & SAVING APEX PREDATORS IN HIGH ALTITUDE WILDERNESS, ESPECIALLY THE SNOW LEOPARD VIA THE SNOW LEOPARD TRUST, WHICH KEEPS IN CHECK THE HERBIVOUOUS ANIMALS THAT DICTATE PLANT GROWTH AND EROSION PATTERNS IN FRAGILE HIGH ALTITUDE AREAS.

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IN THE FLESH A CARBON NEUTRAL EXPEDITION LOOKS MUCH LIKE AN OLD SCHOOL INDUSTRIAL ONE, THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BEING IN THE ABSENCE OF ARMIES OF PORTERS, BEING REPLACED BY ANIMALS AND GEAR LIGHT ENOUGH WE CAN CARRY OURSELVES, AND THE ABSENCE OF FOSSIL FUEL POWER SOURCES.

2025

WE CHOSE 2025 BECAUSE IT’S REALISTIC, BUT THE MAJORITY OF ALL THIS WE HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED, PUTTING US AHEAD FOR THE 2025 TIMELINE. WE ALREADY HAVE A TINY LOCAL FOOTPRINT OF ALMOST ZERO FOOTPRINT BASECAMPS, NO HUMAN ARMY CARRYING OUR STUFF, SMALL STAFF NUMBERS, DIRECT FLIGHT HUBS FOR OPERATIONS, CONSERVATION INITIATIVES WITH THE SNOW LEOPARD TRUST, OFFSETS WITH CLEAN FUEL PROJECTS, NEW EFFICIENT VEHICLES & SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT LIGHT ENOUGH TO NOT LEAVE BEHIND ON A MOUNTAIN.

IN OTHER WORDS – THIS IS A PROCESS ALREADY HAPPENING WITH A LOT OF MOMENTUM

THE REST IS A MATTER OF USING TECHNOLOGY THAT’S 75% OF THE WAY THERE UNTIL WE CAN PROCURE THE STUFF THAT NAILS IT IN FULL. RIGHT NOW OUR EXPEDITIONS ARE SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE ‘CLEANER’ THAN WHAT IS COMMONLY SEEN ELSEWHERE, BUT WE STILL CAN DO BETTER WITH OUR VEHICLES, ENERGY SOURCES AND SOME ACCOMMODATION. SOME THINGS WE HAVE REPRESENT THE BEST OF THEIR TIME AND ARE SEEING OUT THEIR EFFICIENCY LIFE-SPANS BEFORE BEING REPLACED, AND WE EXPECT 2025 TO BE WHEN THINGS HIT EVEN.

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*FUN FACT; COMBUSTION ENGINES LOSE AROUND 10% EFFICIENCY FOR EVERY 1000m OF ALTITUDE, MEANING IN PLACES LIKE TIBET AND SOUTHERN XINJIANG A VEHICLE CAN BE WORKING AT ONLY 50-70% FOR WEEKS AT A TIME, CONSUMING HUNDREDS OF LITERS OF FUEL THAT LITERALLY GOES TO NOTHING. THE ADVENT OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES, COMBINED WITH HIGHER QUALITY ROADS IN THESE AREAS, NEGATES THIS ISSUE.