HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING IS A FILTHY BUSINESS. AT IT’S VERY BASELINE IT IS BUILT UPON THE IDEAS OF EXPLOITIVE LABOR, CORRUPT AND GREEDY GOVERNMENT PROCESSES, LOWEST-DENOMINATOR ECONOMICS, OPPORTUNISTIC TOURISM & SHALLOW SOCIAL REWARDS. WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE WE HAVE COME THROUGH IT, SEEN IT AT IT’S WORST, AND WALKED AWAY KNOWING WE HAD BURNT ANY BRIDGES TO GO BACK. WE KNOW THAT THIS VERY WEBSITE GETS SOME CIRCULATION IN BASECAMPS, AND THE STUFF THAT IS SEEN HERE IS DERIDED BY THOSE WHO DEFEND OPPOSING THOUGHTS.
WE ARE PROUD NOT TO FIT IN WITH THE INDUSTRIAL CLIMBING COMMUNITY, THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR EVERYONE AND THEY CAN CLUSTER ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE HIMALAYAN DIVIDE ALL THEY WANT, JUST LEAVE THE NORTH SIDE TO US. FOR THOSE HAPPY WITH THE CIRCUS OF THE ALREADY OVER-STRETCHED ENVIRONMENTS OF NEPAL AND PAKISTAN WE HAVE NO ISSUE, BUT COME OVER TO THE PRISTINE WILDERNESS AND HIGH ALPINE STANDARDS WHERE WE OPERATE AND WE WILL DEFEND IT.
BIG WORDS? FOR SURE. BECAUSE WHAT WE ARE CONCERNED WITH IS A MIX OF THE LAST GREAT HIGH ALTITUDE WILDRENESSES, THE LAST CHANCES FOR TRULY EXPLORATORY 8000m ASCENTS, AND THE LAST CHANCE TO RUN THINGS PROPERLY WITHOUT THE BAGGAGE OF A DINOSAUR INDUSTRY DRAGGING THINGS DOWN. WE THINK IT’S A GAUNTLET THAT NEEDS THROWING DOWN AND WE HAVE THE POSITION TO DO IT, AND WE HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL MINDSET TO ORIENT THINGS BY WHICH ANY DESCENT INTO OVER-COMMERCIALISM OR CORRUPTION CAN BE GAUGED.
ETHICS
NO SUPPLEMENTARY OXYGEN
NO ROUTE FIXING
NO GUIDING
NO ESTABLISHED CAMPS
NO TRASH LEFT ANYWHERE
NO FAKE ACCLIMATION
NO GUARANTEES
NO EXPLOITATION
NO BULLSHIT
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THESE ETHICS SOUND RADICAL SOMEWHERE LIKE THE KHUMBU OR BALTORO WHERE THE OPPOSITE IS THE ESTABLISHED NORM, BUT WHERE WE GO WHERE NONE OF IT HAS EVER EXISTED IT SIMPLY MEANS JUST NOT STARTING IN THAT DIRECTION. WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN THE REAL WORLD IS WELL PREPARED CLIMBERS SHOWING UP TO CLIMB BY FAIR MEANS, MORE CONCERNED WITH THE BIG PICTURE THAN OBSESSED WITH BAGGING A PEAK. IT’S A MIX OF THE OLD STYLES, FROM THE ERAS OF GUYS LIKE SHIPTON, EKENSTEIN & KUKUCZKA, COMBINED WITH THE LATEST TECH AND INSIGHTS THAT LET THINGS BE DONE BY EVER-SMALLER AND LIGHTER TEAMS.
OTHER ETHICS WE HOLD ARE;
PROTECT AND DEFEND THE WILDERNESS WE CLIMB IN
SUPPORT THE CULTURES WE TRAVEL AMONGST
CONTRIBUTE TO EXPLORATION & RESEARCH
ACHEIVE THINGS QUIETLY, WITH MINIMAL HYPE AND WHITENOISE
MINIMIZE BUREAUCRACY
PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT
CALL BULLSHIT WHEN WE SEE IT
OUR ETHICS ARE NOT FOR ARMCHAIR OR INTELLECTUAL CONSUMPTION, THEY ARE FOR REAL-WORLD APPLICATION IN THE HEADY MIX OF CONTEMPORARY CHINA AND THE WORLDS HIGHEST PLACES. WE KNOW FULL WELL THE IMPLICATIONS THAT GOES WITH THESE THINGS, WHERE WE OPERATE WITHOUT ANY BUFFER OF A TOURIST INDUSTRY OR COMMERCIAL SECTOR. THESE ETHICS ARE NOT DERIVED FROM SOME WISHY WASHY LIBERAL AGENDA, INSTEAD THEY COME FROM THE COLD, HARD WORLD OF WORKING INTERNATIONALLY RIGHT ACROSS A REGION KNOWN FOR VOLATILITY, UNREST, AND CONFRONTING FACTORS. 1% FOR THE PLANET IS NICE AS A FEEL-GOOD MEME ON A HOMEPAGE, BUT IT’S NOT WHAT WILL FIX THE PROBLEMS OF THE PLACES WE GO TO.
OUR ETHICS REALLY ONLY MATTER WHEN WE ARE OUT THERE, BECAUSE WE HAVE NO GREATER INDUSTRY TO GET LOST IN OR EXPLAIN AWAY THE THINGS WE DO WRONG. THE WOEFUL SANITATION AND CLIMBING STANDARDS OF COMMECIAL 8000m CLIMBING ARE EASILY DISMISSED IN THE BIGGER PICTURE OF DECADES OF MALPRACTICE, BUT IN THE PRISTINE PLACES WE GO TO ANYTHING WRONG IS GLARINGLY OUR RESPONSIBILITY.
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ATTITUDE
HUNTER S THOMPSON SAID THAT “YOU WON’T FIND REASONABLE MEN ON THE TOP OF TALL MOUNTAINS”, AND THAT PRETTY MUCH SUMS UP THE MINDSET WE BRING TO OUR TRIPS. NOT BEING REASONABLE DOESN’T MAKE US UNREASONABLE, IT SIMPLY MEANS WE PUSH REASON TO MATCH THE DEMANDS WE ARE WORKING WITH.
OUR ATTITUDE IS THAT OF THE OUTSIDER OR MISFIT, WHERE OUR PLACE IN THE SCENE IS THAT OF PIRATE OR CLOWN. WE DON’T HAVE ANY INTENT OR INTEREST TO PLAY ALONG WITH THE BIG GUYS, AND CHOOSE TO DISTANCE OURSELVES FROM WHAT WE SEE AS UNHEALTHY AND CORRUPT. THE LAST THING WE WANT IS ANYONE ASSOCIATING US WITH WHAT HAPPENS ELSEWHERE, THINKING THEY WILL GET THE SAME THING FROM OUR TRIPS THAT THEY DO SOUTH OF THE DIVIDE. WE FILTER HARD SO THERE IS NO ILLUSION WHICH SOME PERCEIVE AS ARROGANCE, ELITISM, OR SNOBBERY, BUT TO THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING AT THEY FIND THEMSELVES A NEW HOME.
WE MAKE NO PRETENCE OF BEING OTHER THAN PRICKLY, OPINIONATED, ASSERTIVE, AND ANNOYING – WE DO A HARD JOB IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES WITH REAL THINGS AT RISK, SO HAVE HAD TO BECOME VERY DYNAMIC AT INTERFACING AUTHORITIES THAT DISMISS THINGS LIKE POLITENESS AS A WEAKNESS. OTHER INDUSTRY PEERS ALSO HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT SNIPING AT US, SO OUR ATTITUDE IS AS MUCH IGGY POP AS IT IS ATHLETE, EXPLORER, OR CAPTAIN.
OUR GOAL ALWAYS IS TO ENTER THESE UNIQUE WILDERNESS AREAS, TO CLIMB THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ROUTES, TO ENJOY IT, AND TO PASS THROUGH LEAVING NO TRACE. SUCCESSFUL SUMMITS OF COURSE ARE GREAT, BUT FROM A COMPANY PERSPECTIVE, WE VALUE JUST AS MUCH PULLING OFF A GOOD TRIP THAT IS SAFE, INTERESTING, CONTRIBUTING, AND UNIQUE – THINGS THAT DEMAND A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE TO JUST BEING PHOTOGRAPHED ON THE SUMMIT.
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REASONS
WE DO ALL THIS HALF OUT OF NECESSITY AND HALF OUT OF GUILE. DECADES NOW OF HAVING NO INDUSTRY AND LITTLE HELP FROM THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT MEANS WE HAVE EVOLVED OUR OWN METHODS, AND OVER TIME INCHED THEM TOWARDS THE HIGHEST PEAKS OF THE KARAKORAM AND REMOTEST PEAKS EVERYWHERE ELSE, ENJOYING THE FREEDOM OF HAVING TO DO IT ALL BY OURSELVES.
THE LACK OF INTERFERENCE FROM THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES BEYOND THE PERMITTING MEANS WE COULD ADAPT AND EXPERIMENT, AND WITH THIS COMES A DISTINCTLY PUNK ATTITUDE FOR ‘DO IT YOURSELF’ IN THE FACE OF THE COMMERCIAL JUGGERNAUT THAT IS INDUSTRIAL CLIMBING. IT ISN’T ENOUGH TO JUST DISMISS INDUSTRIAL METHODS QUIETLY WHEN WE CAN ALL SEE THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM OF THE DAMAGE THEY ARE DOING, AND BECAUSE WHAT WE DO WORKS WE HAVE BOTH THE POSITION AND IMPETUS TO SAY SOMETHING.
EVEN IF SOME COMPANIES ON THE SOUTH SIDE DO WANT TO DO THINGS BETTER, THE RISK TO THEIR BUSINESS BY THOSE HAPPY TO UNDERCUT THEM PREVENTS THEM. BUT NOT FOR US. WE KNOW OUR REPUTATION SPEAKS FOR ITSELF, AND IF IT GIVES SOME SOLIDARITY TO THOSE ELSEWHERE WISHING TO PUSH BACK AGAINST THE MACHINE, THEN WE ARE HAPPY TO BE THE EXAMPLE OF HOW THINGS CAN BE DONE PROPERLY.
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WE CAN CHANGE THINGS, SO WE DO. AND ANYBODY WHO THINKS ABOUT THESE THINGS KNOW THAT CHANGES ARE NECESSARY. WE MAKE NO INVITATIONS TO OTHER COMPANIES TO JOIN US BUT ARE HAPPY TO BE THE EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN BE ADAPTED FOR ELSEWHERE. WE GIVE A FUCK BECAUSE WE HAVE TO, WHAT WE DO AND WHERE WE DO IT MEANS WE HAVE TO. THE LAST GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO CLIMB THE WORLDS HIGHEST PEAKS UNDER TRUE WILDERNESS CONDITIONS IS UPON US, AND IF WE DON’T THINGS RIGHT THEN THE MOMENT WILL SLIP BY AND WE HAVE ALL FAILED.
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