ALPINISM NOT COMMERCIALISM
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WE DEVELOPED OUR IDEAS ABOUT EXPEDITION ALPINISM BY DOING IT, AND RATHER THAN REKINDLING THE IDEAS OF THE GREAT ALPINE ERAS, WE HAVE SIMPLY NEVER STOPPED. FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS WAS BORN IN THE PIRATE CLIMBING ERA IN CHINA & CENTRAL ASIA OF THE LATE 1990’s & EARLY 2000’s. WHILST THE WELL KNOWN LOCATIONS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE HIMALAYA WERE BLOOMING INTO MASS TOURISM DESTINATIONS, ANOTHER SORT OF CLIMBER WAS WRANGLING ACCESS INTO PLACES FORBIDDEN TO OUTSIDERS FOR AT LEAST HALF A CENTURY. SOME PLACES FOREVER.
WHILE THE INTERNET & HELICOPTERS WERE MAKING LIFE AT BASECAMPS ELSEWHERE MORE EASY, NORTH OF THE HIMALAYA IT WAS STILL LONG APPROACHES UNSUPPORTED & WELL OFF THE GRID. AND WHILE IN THE POPULAR PLACES FIXED ROPES WERE CONNECTING LARGE ESTABLISHED CAMPS TO GUARANTEE SAFETY FOR THE EVER-GROWNING NUMBERS THAT WERE TURNING ON TO HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING, NORTH OF THE DIVIDE HAD BECOME THE CENTRE FOR HIGH ALTITUDE ALPINISM, WITH SMALL TEAMS MAKING DIFFICULT ASCENTS USING THE HIGHEST ALPINE ETHICS AND DOING WITHOUT THE MASS ORGANIZATION SOME FELT WAS NECESSARY. ASCENTS THAT A GENERATION BEFORE HAD BEEN ATTEMPTED OVER MONTHS WITH ARMIES OF CREW AND A LARGE FOOTPRINT WERE NOW BEING DONE IN A FEW WEEKS.
WE LIKED THINGS THAT WAY BECAUSE IT WAS WHAT ALPINISM HAD ALWAYS BEEN LEADING UP TO; CLIMBING NEW TERRAIN WITH THE MINIMUM OF STUFF. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY HIGH ALTITUDE FIRST ASCENTS WERE BEING DONE ON UNSEEN PEAKS, BY UNSUPPORTED TEAMS, WITH VIRTUALLY NO IMPACT, AT THE LEADING EDGE OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE. INTERMIXED WITH TRIPS TO 8000m PEAKS INCLUDING THE PAKISTAN SIDE OF K2 WE SAW THERE WAS A THIRST FOR THIS SORT OF THING AMONG OTHERS. THE WELL KNOWN 8000m INDUSTRY WORKS WELL FOR 90% OF THOSE WANTING TO ATTEMPT THE WORLDS HIGHEST PEAKS, BUT A QUIET 10% WERE SEEKING SOMETHING ELSE.
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FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS BRINGS TO YOU THE ESSENCE OF EXPEDITION CLIMBING; STRIPPED DOWN, RETAINING THE SKILLS AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE OLD SCHOOL WITH THE ADVANCEMENTS OF TODAY TO ENHANCE YOUR CLIMBING CAPACITY, NOT REPLACE IT. OUR TRIPS ARE CLIMBERS CLIMBING. FREE OF THE SUPERFLUOUS ELEMENTS NOW NORMAL ON COMMERCIAL TRIPS, WE REPLACE THEM WITH A HIGH RATIO OF CLIMBING DAYS AND A HIGH DEGREE OF AUTHENTIC EXPLORATION. WHERE WE GO MOST OF THE PEAKS ARE STILL UNNAMED, HUMAN IMPACT IS SMALL AND THE CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING NEW IS EVER PRESENT.
WE RESPECT THE GREATER INDUSTRY THAT HAS OPENED UP HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING TO THE WORLD, BUT WE KNOW THAT’S NOT THE ONLY FORM OF HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING TO BE HAD. BEYOND THE BUSY APPROACHES, THE CROWDED BASECAMPS, THE MILES OF FIXED LINES, THE FERRYING OF BOTTLED OXYGEN AND THE EYE OF SOCIAL MEDIA THERE’S THE ALPINE VERSION THAT IS THE REAL FUTURE OF 8000m ASCENTS. AS RESOURCES GET REFINED, CLIMBERS BETTER PREPARED AND IDEAS EVOLVE, SOME CLIMBERS ARE ‘GRADUATING’ FROM THE STANDARD COMMERCIAL EXPERIENCE INTO SOMETHING MORE COMMITTED. WE THINK THE TWO STYLES CAN HAPPILY CO-EXIST, EVEN TO A DEGREE SHARE SOME OVERLAP. WE ALSO THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO RETAIN AND EVOLVE THE SKILLS OF HIGH ALTITUDE ALPINISM FOR THE FUTURE
NORTH OF THE HIMALAYA WE HAVE FOUND JUST HOW FAR WE CAN GO WITH MINIMAL COMMERCIAL IMPACT. THE CONDITIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES HERE MEAN WE CAN RUN THINGS WITH A DEGREE OF EFFICIENCY NOT POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE, WHICH MAKES ALPINE-STYLE ASCENTS MORE FEASIBLE. THIS – COMBINED WITH OUR EXTENSIVE CLIMBING EXPERIENCE – IS WHAT WE BRING TO YOU.
