Category: TRIPS & EXPEDITIONS

ALL THE EXPERIMENTATION, EXPLORATION, AND EXTREMISM OF EXPEDITION CLIMBINGS EXTENSIVE PAST BRINGS US TO THIS WINDOW IN TIME, TO EXTRAPOLATE THE EXAMPLE OF EXEMPLARY EFFORT, AND PULL OFF THE MOST EXCELLENT ASCENTS THAT CAN POSSIBLY EXIST

“YOU DO NOT RISE TO THE LEVEL OF YOUR GOALS, YOU FALL TO THE LEVEL OF YOUR SYSTEMS”.
IT IS EXACTLY 6 MONTHS TILL OUR NEXT HIGH ALTITUDE EXPEDITIONS STEP OFF, AND EVERY DAY DIVERTED FROM PREPARATION WILL BE FELT INTENSLEY WHEN OUT THERE. DAYS NOW DETERMINE ENTIRE WEEKS AND MONTHS LATER IN THE PROCESS, DICTATING THRESHOLDS IN CAPACITY, CONFIDENCE AND FIDELITY OF PLANNING.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

YEARS IN THE MAKING, WE HAVE BEEN GRANTED PERMISSION TO CLIMB IN THE RANGES OF SOUTHERN XINJIANG OVER SUMMER. LONG ONLY OPEN TO ELITE TEAMS, WE HAVE THE GO AHEAD FROM THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION FOR THE BIG NAMES LIKE K2 AND THE GASHRBRUM GROUP, AS WELL AS VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED 6000m TO 7000m FIRST ASCENTS. THESE ARE THE LAST HIGH ALTITUDE AREAS FREE OF THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM, OPEN ONLY TO SMALL TEAMS AND DEDICATED EXPEDITIONS

IN 2024 WE WERE SENT A PROTOTYPE ALPINIST2 ULTRA BY SAMAYA, ALONG WITH OUR OTHER EXPEDITION TENTS FOR A WINTER IN TIBET AND XINJIANG. AS ALWAYS, PROTOS FROM SAMAYA ARE MET WITH HEIGHTENED EXCITEMENT, BEING DRIVERS OF SERIOUS INNOVATION, AND THEIR TAKE ON THE ALPINISTS ARCHETYPAL TENT WE KNEW WOULD BE A BIG EVENT IN THE TIMELINE OF MOUNTAIN TENT DESIGN

THE LAST TWO SEASONS HAS SEEN A PSEUDO-REVOLUTION IN HIMALAYAN CLIMBING, WITH A MODEST SURGE OF ATTEMPTS OF NON-MAINSTREAM 6000m PEAKS BY MODESTLY SUPPORTED COMMERCIAL TEAMS. SUMMIT SUCCESS IS MIDDLING – WHICH WE THINK IS FINE – AND THE HIGH ALTITUDE TABLOIDS ARE FINDING A RARE DISTRACTION FROM THE REALITY SHOWS THAT 8000m HAVE BECOME. THIS MOVEMENT HAS BEEN MOSTLY CONFINED TO THE CROWDED PARTS OF THE 8000m RANGES, WHERE A DWINDLING ARRAY OF +6000m PEAKS STILL EXIST THAT ARE MAPPED AND DOCUMENTED.

THIS IS WHERE WE COME IN

FROM 2025 ALL OUR EXPEDITIONS WILL HAVE UNIQUE BEAN ROASTS, EITHER FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS OWN WICKEDEST ESPRESSO IN THE WORLD! BEANS, OR SOMETHING DONE TO THE TEAMS OWN REQUEST.
IS THIS THE FINAL DESCENT INTO THE ABYSS OF HIPSTERISM, FIRST-WORLD PROBLEMS AND THE INANE? WE DON’T THINK SO. IT COULD BE IF WE WERE TALKING SOMEWHERE ALREADY IN THE GRIPS OF URBAN CHIC LIKE EVEREST, BUT THE CULTURAL JUXTAPOSITION IN AN OFT-MISUNDERSTOOD PLACE LIKE TIBET, WHERE WE GET TO SHOOT ESPRESSOS WITH KHAMPA COWBOYS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM YAK MARKETS, IS POST-MODERN CLIMBING AT ITS BEST

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY GOOD GLOVES AND THE EXPENSE IS ALWAYS JUSTIFIED, AND ANYTHING THAT REDUCES THE CHANCE OF ENDING UP WITH FROSTBITE IS MONEY WELL SPENT. SAVE YOUR DOLLARS ELSEWHERE (TITANIUM SPOONS ARE FOR SUCKERS), BECAUSE FAILING ON A $15K TRIP BECAUSE YOU SCROOGED ON GLOVES IS JUST DUMB. IF YOU MUST HAVE A FETISH, MAKE IT GLOVES

AKSAI QIN IS A REMOTE AND ALIEN FRONTIER ON THE EDGE OF HABITABILITY, WHERE PEOPLE ARE BARELY RELEVANT, ESPECIALLY IN WINTER WHEN THESE IMAGES WERE TAKEN

IN FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS PERSPECTIVE, ‘PUNK ALPINISM’ IS JUST ALPINISM, AND WHAT WE DO IS IN AN UNBROKEN LINE THAT GOES BACK TO CLIMBING’S ORIGINS. LIKE PUNK ROCK, THIS STUFF NEVER WAS MEANT FOR THE MASSES, BEING A SUBCULTURE FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL, THE PRAGMATIC AND THE INDIVIDUAL

THAT MANY BOOTS ARE STILL WED TO THE OLD IDEA OF A RIGID CRAMPON ON A RIGID BOOT WHERE EVERYTHING IS LOCKED INTO IMMOVABLE PLACE, HERE – BY MAKING THE RIGID ELEMENT PRECISE – WE HAVE FREELY ARTICULATING ANKLES ON CRAMPONS THAT HAVE NO RIGID BAR AND THAT CLIMB STEEP STUFF AT EXPEDITION LEVELS. WE THINK THIS IS A BIG DEAL.