FINDING WAYS TO CLIMB GREATER ROUTES BY FAIRER MEANS IS NOT CHEATING, IT’S THE NAME OF THE GAME.
THIS OPTION CUTS 14 DAYS FROM THE 65 DAY STANDARD K2 NORTH SIDE ITINERARY – 20% OF THE TIME IT TAKES FOR A TRUE ALPINE ASCENT OF A REMOTE 8000m – YET COMPROMISES NOTHING. CLIMBERS ACCLIMATE AUTHENTICALLY WITH NO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROCESS, THEY LOSE NONE OF THE CULTURAL ASPECTS, THEY MAKE VERY SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE GAINS BY BEGINNING CLIMBING IN MUCH BETTER CONDITION & THEY MAKE THE TIME THEY SPEND IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE NORTHERN KARAKORAM LESS IMPACTFUL.
PRE-ACCLIMATIZATION, OR PRE-ACCLIMATION, HAS ALMOST BECOME A DIRTY WORD IN ALPINISM CIRCLES THESE DAYS. ONCE ASSOCIATED AS A VITAL ELEMENT FOR HARD ROUTES AT HIGH ALTITUDE, NOW IT’S ASSOCIATED WITH OVER-COMMERCIALIZATION, DUBIOUS INDUSTRY PRACTICES & QUESTIONABLE CLAIMS ABOUT EFFICACY – AND BY OFFERING A VERSION OF IT FOR CLIMBERS HEADED TO THE CHINESE SIDE OF K2 FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS HAS BECOME PART OF THE DEBATE.
ORIGINAL PRE-ACCLIMATION WAS PRETTY SIMPLE; CLIMBERS GOING ONTO A HARD ROUTE AT HIGH ALTITUDE (ABOVE ABOUT 6500m) WOULD ASCEND SOMETHING RELATIVELY EASY FIRST SO THEIR BODIES COULD ADAPT TO THE EFFECTS OF ALTITUDE. IT WAS A WELL USED SERIES OF METHODS – STILL USED TODAY – AND PRODUCED SOME OUTSTANDING RESULTS IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE, PARTICULARLY WITH CLIMBERS NOT USING SUPPLEMENTARY OXYGEN. THERE ARE DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT WHAT MAKES THE BEST WAY OF DOING IT, BUT ALL HAVE IN COMMON THAT IT INCREASES EXISTING PERFORMANCE ABILITY, NOT SUBSTITUTES FOR IT.
CURRENT ‘PRE-ACCLIMATION’ IS THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL METHODS, USUALLY AROUND HOME SOMEWHERE FAR FROM THE EFFECTS OF ACTUAL ALTITUDE, TO ATTEMPT TO PRE-ADAPT THE BODY FOR ALTITUDE, THE IDEA USUALLY SO HIGH PEAKS CAN BE CLIMBED IN SHORTER AMOUNTS OF TIME. THE METHODS USED INCLUDE EXERCISING WITH OXYGEN RESTRICTING DEVICES & SPENDING TIME (OFTEN SLEEPING) INSIDE NORMABARIC HYPOXIC TENTS THAT REPLACE SOME OXYGEN WITH NITROGEN. THESE METHODS WORK IN WAYS TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO THE EFFECTS OF ALTITUDE ON THE BODY, AND THOUGH THERE’S LITTLE QUALITY EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THEM, SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF PEOPLE CLAIM IT WORKS. THE CLAIMS EITHER WAY WE LEAVE TO THE BETTER INFORMED PEOPLE WHO PURSUE THESE THINGS.
WHERE THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 & FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS COME INTO IT IS CLIMBERS ASKING IF BOTH OF THESE METHODS CAN BE APPLIED TO OUR TRIPS TO K2’S NORTH RIDGE.
THERE’S SEVERAL ASPECTS TO THIS IDEA THAT MAKES IT LESS THAN STRAIGHTFORWARD, BUT WHICH WE HAVE A SOLUTION FOR.
FIRST OFF, IS THE WAY K2 HAS COME CENTRAL TO THE 8000m CLIMBING SCENE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. OF COURSE IT’S ALWAYS HAD IT’S PLACE AS SOME SORT OF UNDEFINED ‘ULTIMATE’ OBJECTIVE, BUT VERY RAPIDLY IT’S GONE FROM THE PLACE FEW VENTURED TO, TO THE PLACE EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE GOING. AS THE SCENE THAT PURSUES CLIMBING MULTIPLE 8000m PEAKS HAS MATURED, K2 – OFTEN LEFT TO LAST BECAUSE OF IT’S PERCEIVED REPUTATION – HAS CAUGHT UP WITH PEOPLES SCHEDULES WITH NUMBERS ATTEMPTING IT RISING TEN-FOLD IN ABOUT TEN YEARS.
BEHIND ALL OF THIS IS AN INDUSTRY TOO THAT HAS GONE FROM SEASONAL & OBSCURE TO BEING YEAR-ROUND & BIG DOLLAR, AND WITH THAT HAS COME BOTH THE POTENTIAL & INCENTIVE TO PUT MORE PEOPLE ON MORE TRIPS WITH GREATER LEVELS OF SAFETY & SUCCESS. THIS IS AN ENVIRONMENT IDEAL FOR IDEAS ABOUT PRE-ACCLIMATION MAKING SHORTER TRIPS.
TO BE CLEAR HERE, ‘K2’ TO 99% OF PEOPLE INCLUDING CLIMBERS MEANS THE PAKISTAN SIDE, WITH MANY CLIMBERS NOT ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AN IMAGE OF IT TAKEN FROM THE CHINESE NORTHERN SIDE EVEN THOUGH THE PAKISTAN SIDE IS AMONG THE MOST ICONIC OF MOUNTAIN IMAGES. THE NORTHERN CHINESE SIDE HAS SEEN NONE OF THIS, AND WHILST MOST OTHER 8000m PEAKS HAVE BECOME HEMMED IN BY MORE AND MORE PEOPLE SPENDING MORE AND MORE TIME ON & AROUND THEM, THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 HAS SEEN ALMOST NO HUMAN PRESENCE FOR A DECADE.
THE REASONS FOR K2’S CHINESE SIDE’S ABSENCE OF PRESENCE ARE MULTIPLE, BUT A MAJOR ONE IS IT HAS NO STRAIGHTFORWARD WAY TO NATURALLY PRE-ACCLIMATE. FOR CLIMBERS APPROACHING K2 ON THE PAKISTAN SIDE THERE IS AN EVENLY GRADUAL ASCENT TO BASECAMP, RELATIVELY EASY NEARBY PEAKS WITH AFFORDABLE PERMITS & A LARGE NON-STOP LOGISTICAL CHAIN TO SWIFTLY GET PEOPLE & SUPPLIES UP THE MOUNTAIN. THE SAME COMPANIES THAT STREAMLINED THE ASCENT PACKAGES FOR EVEREST BOUGHT THE MODEL TO PAKISTAN, OVERWRITING THE EXISTING INDIGENOUS SYSTEM OF SEMI-INDEPENDANT, LOW KEY LOGISTICS WITH THE SHERPA-RUN INDUSTRY THAT WAS PUTTING +300 PEOPLE ON TOP OF EVEREST OVER 4 DAYS.
THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 HAS EXACTLY NONE OF THAT.
WHEN FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS BEGAN ORGANIZING TRIPS TO THE CHINESE SIDE OF K2, IT WAS WITH THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF ALPINISM AROUND IT. OUR OWN HISTORY OF CLIMBING IN TIBET WAS THE BASELINE FOR THIS, AS WAS THE ETHIC OF OUR EARLY TRIPS TO CLIMB K2 FROM THE PAKISTAN SIDE & OUR FRIENDS SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITIONS TO K2’S NORTH SIDE THAT PROVED IT WAS HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE. ON TOP OF ALL THIS, OUR DISCUSSIONS WITH THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION IMPRESSED ON US THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES HAD NO INTENTIONS OF ALLOWING INDUSTRIAL TOURISM OUT THERE, AND THAT INCLUDED ALL THE LOGISTICS & HUMAN RESOURCES THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO TURN THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 INTO ANYTHING LIKE THE SOUTH. THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT SUITED US JUST FINE. BUT STILL, AS K2’S ENIGMA HAS EXPANDED, INCLUDING HIGH PROFILE ASCENTS THAT MAKE THE POPULAR MEDIA, THERE’S BEEN A MODICUM OF TRICKLE DOWN FOR THE NORTH SIDE.
NOT EVERYONE ASKING ABOUT THE CHINESE SIDE OF K2 IS A SEASONED HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBER WHO HAS A GRASP ON THE WAY THESE THINGS WORK. MANY ARE CLIMBERS SIMPLY LOOKING FOR THE MOST INTERESTING BIG ASCENT THAT’S OUT THERE, AND THE FIRST THING THEY ARE SURPRISED BY IS THE ITINERARY FOR TRIPS TO THE NORTH SIDE OF K2. ASIDE FROM MENTIONING THINGS LIKE CITIES THEY’VE NEVER HEARD OF, CAMELS CROSSING HUGE RIVERS & BASECAMPS WITH NO ONE ELSE AT THEM, THE STANDARD ITINERARY FOR AN EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH SIDE OF K2 IS AROUND 65 DAYS – SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER THAN MANY OTHER 8000m TRIPS.
THE INCENTIVE TO MAKE A TRIP TO K2’S NORTH SIDE APPEARED OBVIOUS BUT IT WAS TEMPERED BY TWO THINGS; THE INHERENT FACTORS WITH THE APPROACH, AND THE FACT THAT FOR MANY CLIMBERS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A REMOTE TRIP ACROSS CENTRAL ASIA’S HIGHEST WILDERNESS WERE SIMPLY PART OF IT ALL TO ADJUST TO THE SURROUNDINGS & ACCLIMATE NATURALLY AS PER THE ETHICS OF ALPINISM. PUT ANOTHER WAY, EVEN IF A WAY TO SHORTEN IT COULD BE FOUND, IT WOULD COMPROMISE WHY CLIMBERS WANTED TO GO TO THE NORTH SIDE AT ALL.
WHAT WAS NEEDED WAS A RELIABLE METHOD OF GENUINELY PRE-ACCLIMATING SO THE REGULAR APPROACH COULD BE STILL BE DONE, BUT WITHOUT THE INTENTIONALLY SLOWED ITINERARY THAT LET’S TEAM MEMBERS ACCLIMATE TO CROSS THE HIGH PASSES AND THE FINAL APPROACH TO WHERE THE CLIMBING BEGINS, BOTH AT AROUND 5000m. ON THE MAP THE DISTANCE ISN’T ANY MORE THAN THE APPROACH TO THE PAKISTAN SIDE – ABOUT 85kms – BUT THE UPS & DOWNS OF THE ALTITUDES AND THE DISTANCES & THE LOW ALTITUDES OF THE CITIES THE TRIPS BEGIN AT, MEANT THAT THE BLEND OF PRE-ACCLIMATION & APPROACH LOGISTICS WOULD NEED TO BE EXTREMELY EFFICACIOUS.
WE KNEW THE METHODS OF ARTIFICIAL PRE-ACCLIMATION DIDN’T FIT THE NORTH SIDE OF K2. ASIDE FROM NOT ACTUALLY ADDRESSING ALTITUDE AT ALL, ANY BENEFITS OF IT SEEMED TO EVAPORATE WITH THE TIME & ALTITUDE PROFILE APPROACHING K2’S NORTH SIDE HAD. SIMPLY PUT THOSE USING THESE TECHNIQUES HAD MAYBE ADAPTED TO REDUCED OXYGEN SUPPLY, WHICH MIGHT BE OF BENEFIT AT LOW ALTITUDE, BUT THEY WOULDN’T HAVE ADAPTED TO REDUCED ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE (WHAT THE EFFECTS OF ALTITUDE ARE CAUSED BY) WHICH IS WHAT ASCENTS INTO ALTITUDE REQUIRE AND CAN ONLY BE DERIVED BY SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIVE TIME AT ALTITUDE THRESHOLDS FOR ACTIVITY & REST (THE BANDWIDTH OF HEART RATE).
SOMETHING ELSE WE KNEW FROM PREVIOUS EXPEDITIONS IN XINJIANG WAS THAT ACCLIMATING ON ANOTHER PEAK NEARBY HAD MULTIPLE PROBLEMS WITH THE IDEA. THERE WERE NO PEAKS THAT EASY ENOUGH TO CLIMB WITHOUT NEEDING EXTENSIVE RECOVERY, ARE SUSTAINABLE ENOUGH TO SPEND ENOUGH TIME ON TO GET THE BENEFITS OF ACCLIMATION OR ARE QUICK ENOUGH TO GET TO TO SAVE ANY TIME.
THE GIST OF THIS ARTICLE IS THAT WE ARRIVED AT A SOLUTION UNIQUE TO FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS. WE TOSSED AROUND THE IDEAS FOR RELIABLE, AUTHENTIC PRE-ACCLIMATION THAT COULD SHORTEN THE ITINERARY BUT NOT LEAVE OUT THE INHERENT CHARACTER OF THE TRIP, AND WORKED WITH ESTABLISHED METHODS FOR PRE-ACCLIMATION THAT WE HAD BEEN USING FOR YEARS WITH GREAT SUCCESS.
PRE-ACCLIMATING FOR K2 IN TIBET
BECAUSE WE CAN DRIVE SO HIGH AND PEOPLE THEREFORE ALSO LIVE SO HIGH, IN TIBET ACCLIMATING FOR EVEN TECHNICAL ASCENTS OF 6000m PEAKS IS ACHEIVABLE IN SURPRISINGLY SHORT TIME FRAMES. THIS REQUIRES NO ARTIFICIAL MEANS, SIMPLY INFORMED LOGISTICS SO WE CAN GAIN & LOSE ALTITUDE SUSTAINABLY IN WAYS THAT LET THE BODY ADJUST PROPERLY. USING INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOPOGRAPHY, ROADS & AND TRAILS WE FOLLOW AN ASCENT SCHEDULE AT A VERY RELAXED PACE THAT WE HAVE SEEN PRODUCE SURPRISING RESULTS, INCLUDING THINGS LIKE HEAVY LOAD CARRIES TO ABOVE 5000m, SLEEPING ABOVE 5000m & COMMITTED ALPINE CLIMBING TO WELL ABOVE 5500m WITHIN A WEEK OF LEAVING SEA LEVEL. RELATIVE TO THE APPROACH TO THE START OF THE NORTH RIDGE OF K2, THAT WILL BE EASY.
NOW NOTE, LIKE THE NORMOBARIC HYPOXIA & RESTRICTED OXYGEN METHODS, NONE OF THIS DIRECTLY APPLIES TO BEING ACCLIMATED FOR CLIMBING ON THE NORTH RIDGE OF K2, THIS IS ALL ABOUT REDUCING THE APPROACH ITINERARY, WITH THE ADVANTAGES FOR THE CLIMBING COMING FROM STARTING IN BETTER CONDITION.
THE WAY ARTIFICIAL METHODS SHORTEN THE CLIMBING TIME IS BY STARTING THE USE OF ULTRA-HIGH FLOW BOTTLED OXYGEN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND HAVING ALL THE LOGISTICAL WORK ON THE MOUNTAIN ROUTE PRE-DONE BY WORK TEAMS, INCLUDING ANY CARRYING. WE DON’T DO ANY OF THAT.
COSTS
OF COURSE COSTS ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE EQUATION, AND ANYTHING THAT DELIVERS REAL GAINS WILL COST MORE. BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE OUTRAGEOUS.
K2 NORTH SIDE EXPEDITIONS ALREADY COST IN THE HIGHER THIRD OF 8000m TRIPS BECAUSE THEY BASICALLY BESPOKE. THE LARGE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRY THAT EXISTS IN NEPAL & PAKISTAN DOESNT EXIST AT ALL IN XINJIANG, INCLUDING THE MIGRANT LABOR COSTS & ECONOMIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THERE AND CHINA.
MOST ARTIFICALLY ACCELERATED 8000m TRIPS DOUBLE THE AVERAGE COST OF A NORMAL ONE. THOSE COSTS GO ON REDUCING MOUNTAIN TIME BY SPENDING ON EXTRA LOGISTICS, TECH GEAR, TRANSPORT & THE HOME-BASED FACILITIES USUALLY SUPPLIED BY A SECONDARY COMPANY. THE COSTS ARE NOT NECESSARILY UNDUE – BUT THEY GO TOWARDS BUYING TIME & SUBSTITUTING PERFORMANCE NOT INCREASING PERFORMANCE ON THE OBJECTIVE.
THE PRE-ACCLIMATION METHOD WE USE BUYS TIME BY INCREASING EFFICIENCY, WHICH IN THIS CASE MEANS ADAPTING TO ALITUDE USING A GAIN/LOSS/ACTIVITY/REST SCHEDULE SET IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN TIBET. WHILST WE DON’T DO ANY SERIOUS CLIMBING, THE LOCATIONS, CULTURES & LANDSCAPES MAKE THIS AN EXCELLENT TRIP IN IT’S OWN RIGHT. THIS ITINERARY – FAR FROM RELYING ON THE CLAIMS OF UNCONFIRMED PERFORMANCE THEORY – HAPPENS IN REAL TIME, WITH FULL IMMERSION AT ELICITING REAL FEEDBACK WE CAN WORK WITH. THE THRESHOLDS ARE COMPLETELY ADAPTABLE ALLOWING US TO INCREASE OR DECREASE ALTITUDES TO BEST EFFECT, AND RATHER THAN BEING SET ON DIGITALLY MONITORED DEVICES, OCCUR AMONG THE VILLAGES, PASSES, LAKES, PEAKS & RIDGES OF TIBET. ACCLIMATION IS ACHEIVED BY THE TOTAL ACCUMULATION OF TIME SPENT ADAPTING TO IT’S EFFECTS – SOMETHING THAT COMPROMISES THE ARTIFICAL METHODS THAT ALMOST NEVER GENERATE MORE THAN 40% OF ANY 24hr PERIOD IN THE ADAPTION ZONE, AND WHEN THEY DO ARE STILL COMPROMISED BY ANY NON-ADAPTING TIME BEING ALL THE WAY BACK AT NEGLIGIBLE ALTITUDES. IN CONTRAST GENUINE ACCLIMATION IN TIBET ALLOWS US TO SPEND 100% OF THE TIME AT FUNCTIONING ALTITUDE – PUSHING THRESHOLDS SAFELY HIGH THEN RETURNING TO RECOVERY ALTITUDES STILL WITHIN THE BANDWIDTH OF ADAPTION. GENERATIONS OF CLIMBERS HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED THIS PROCESS – THE DIFFERENCE NOW BEING THAT RATHER THAN ACCLIMATING WITH A LOT OF ENERGY SPENT NEARBY, YOU ARE DOING IT USING MUCH LESS ENERGY ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITION’S PRE-ACCLIMATION PROCESS IS EVERY BIT AS TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AS OTHER MEANS – ONLY IT’S ADVANCES IN INFRASTRUCTURE & MEGA-SYSTEMS THAT IT USES. ON THIS ITINERARY YOU GET MORE MOUNTAIN TIME, NOT LESS, AND CHINA’S RAPIDLY ADVANCING INFRASTRUCTURE MEANS AFTER GAINING OPTIMAL ACCLIMATION IN TIBET WE CAN TRANSIT TO XINJIANG TO BE BACK AT ALTITUDE IN THE NORTHERN KARAKORAM MOUNTAINS WITHIN A NORMAL REST CYCLE.
TRANSLATION TO CLIMB PERFORMANCE
THE PERFORMANCE GAINS OF STARTING A MAJOR 8000m ASCENT WITH 2 WEEKS LESS APPROACH WORK IS ENORMOUS, AND SOMETHING UNKNOW IN 8000m CLIMBING BEFORE THIS. BY WHATEVER METHOD OF GENUINE ACCLIMATION USED PREVIOUSLY – SOMETHING THAT CAN BE MEASURED IN KCALS – THIS IS EXPONENTIALLY MORE EFFICIENT. WE FIGURE THE DAILY AVERAGE KCAL EXPENDITURE OF OUR ACCLIMATION SCHEDULE IN EASTERN TIBET TO BE AROUND 2500, THE SAME AS A DAY IN THE OFFICE. THE 7 DAY SCHEDULE, PLUS TRANSIT TO THE TRAIL HEAD AND 5 DAYS OF APPROACH ON FOOT WE CALCULATE THIS ITINERARY TO EXPEND AROUND 35,000-42,000kcals. COMPARE THAT TO THE 170,000-180,000kcals TO ARRIVE AT THE SAME POINT OF OUR REGULAR ITINERARY – A DIFFERENCE OF 139,000kcals. THAT’S THE EQUIVALENT OF 40 3500kcal DAYS. WE INVITE READERS TO DO THE MATH.
FOR THE WELL TRAINED CLIMBER WE THINK THIS IS A BETTER WAY OF APPROACHING THE CLIMBING THAN RELYING ON SUPPLEMENTAL OXYGEN.
IMPACT & SUSTAINABILITY
THE REDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN THE GENUINELY UNTOUCHED WILDERNESS OF THE NORTHERN KARAKORAM IS PROFOUND. THE RAW BIOMETERIC MATH SHOWS THAT 14 LESS DAYS MEANS 14 LESS SOLID TOILET TRIPS, 45 LESS LIQUID TRIPS, 30 LESS DISH WASHES, 4 LESS CLOTHES WASHES & 5 FEWER GAS CANISTERS USED PER PERSON IN A PLACE WHERE HUMAN IMPACT IS ALMOST ABSENT.
WE KNOW WE CAN VISIT THE HIGH ALTITUDE PEAKS OF THE WORLD, CLIMB BY FAIR MEANS AND LEAVE NO TRACE, BUT WE’VE SEEN THAT’S NOT WHAT MOST 8000m EXPEDITIONS CAN CLAIM.
