Unclimbed

There are peaks in the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush that nobody has stood on. Some are unclimbed because they are hard. Others because the approach is long and nobody has yet thought them worth the walk.

A first ascent is the one thing we sell where the information does not exist. There is no route description, no established camp sequence, and no photograph of the headwall from the side you will be on. We plan from satellite imagery, from what the people in the valley tell us, and from what the lead guide sees when the face finally comes into view. Expect the objective to change after the reconnaissance, and expect us to say so in writing when it does.

What we can commit to is the chain around it: the permit filed on a calendar rather than in the final fortnight, a liaison officer where one is required, loads and crew sized for a longer approach than a trekking peak needs, satellite comms, and an evacuation plan written for a valley with no road in it.

What we will not commit to is the summit. Peak royalty applies above 6,500 m and is charged per climber, and the current schedule is confirmed before we quote rather than quoted from memory. The lead guide's decision to turn back is final and cannot be overruled by a guest, an agent or the office. Helicopter rescue in the Karakoram is not guaranteed. If we think an objective cannot be run well in the season you have, we will say so instead of selling it to you.