HIGH ALTITUDE EXPEDITIONS ARE A JUVENILE INDUSTRY, ONLY HAVING EXISTED FOR A FEW DECADES, AND MOST OF THAT BEING A LAISSEZ FAIRE PROCESS UNTIL RECENTLY – OR SOME MAY ARGUE, IT STILL IS.
SPANNING THE BREADTH OF THE INDUSTRY AS IT DOES, FROM DAY TRIPS IN THE ALPS TO EXTENDED TRIPS TO THE POLES, EXPEDREVIEW IS THE ONLY RESOURCE WE KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING IS IN ONE PLACE TO BE COMPARED. EASILY TRIPS CAN BE CATEGORIZED BY ALL SORTS OF VECTORS, AND THE BIG PICTURE OF WHAT THE OVERALL EXPEDITION WORLD LOOKS LIKE CAN BE JUDGED. WE LIKE THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE WHAT HIMALAYAN TRIPS CONSIST OF, AND WE LIKE HOW PEOPLE CAN SEE HOW MUCH OF ALL THAT THERE IS.
MAINLY WE LIKE EXPEDREVIEW BECAUSE IT SHOWS WHERE FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS SITS ALONG THE SCALE OF THINGS, ANS JUST HOW OUTSIDE THE NORMS OUR TRIPS ARE.
FOR OVER A DECADE WE HAVE SPENT A LOT OF ENERGY SHOWING HOW WHAT WE DO IS NOT LIKE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE DOES. WHERE WE GO, HOW WE DO THINGS, WHAT SORT OF CLIMBERS COME WITH US, AND HOW THINGS COST – THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WORK ENTIRELY DIFFERENTLY ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORAM AND IN TIBET.
EXPEDREVIEW GIVES US A WIDE SPAN OF COMPARISON TO USE, THAT BEING INDEPENDANT OF US MEANS PEOPLE CAN CONFIDENTLY SEE FOR THEMSELVES. YES, OUR TRIPS COST THE SAME, BUT THE MONEY DOESN’T BUY THE SAME THING, AND THE BIGGER THE SPECTRUM TO COMPARE TO THE MORE IT MAKES OUR POINT.
WE TOO DO BIG ASCENTS OF PREMIER PEAKS, WITH SPECIALIST PREACCLIMATION, EXPERT CREW, HIGH END RESCUE SUPPORT, AND HIGH SPEC RESOURCES, AND EXPEDREVIEWS PLATFORM OF COMPARISON SHOWS THAT WELL, AGAINST OTHER COMPANIES AT SIMILAR COSTS.
SOMETHING WE ARE SEEING BECOMING MORE AND MORE APPARENT, IS HOW PEOPLE CHOOSE TRIPS BASED ON THINGS LIKE CLIMATE AND ECOLOGICAL IMPACT, SOMETHING THAT BECOMES OF GREATER CONCERN EVERY YEAR AS REPORTS OF THE STATE 8000m ARE BEING LEFT IN REACHES A BIGGER AUDIENCE. OUR TRIPS WITH A ZERO IMPACT POLICY, TO PRISTINE WILDERNESS, USING NATIVE ANIMALS FOR TRANSPORT, AND OUR DEVELOPMENT OF UNIQUE, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCES FOR BASECAMP, SUDDENLY SHOWS JUST HOW FAR AHEAD OF THE REST WE ARE COMPARED TO EVERY OTHER COMPANY OUT THERE.
PERHAPS MOST OVERTLY, WE LIKE THE WAY EXPEDREVIEW SHOWS HOW DIFFERENT WE ARE, AND HOW EVERYTHING WE DO IS UNIQUE AMONG OUR PEERS. NO ONE ELSE GOES TO THE KARAKORAM NORTH SIDE OR DEEPEST TIBET, OR EVEN THINKS ABOUT JAPAN AND TRIPS THAT COMBINE SEVERAL DISCIPLINES TO BE BOTH FIRST ASCENTS AND DESCENTS IN THE ONE EXPEDITION.
EXPEDREVIEW DOES WHAT THEY DO WELL, AND PLAYS A PART IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE INDUSTRY BY ADDRESSING THE INTERFACE. OF COURSE WE ARE ONLY A TINY PART IF IT ALL – AND WILL STAY THAT WAY BECAUSE WE VALUE THINGS LIKE QUIET ACHEIVMENT AND SMALL FOORPTINTS – BUT AS AN INDUSTRY NEVERTHELESS WE LIKE TO HOLD UP OUR END OF IT.
