Climbing and mountaineering books and films often portray a very one sided image of expedition life. It is a picture of hardship, extreme conditions and death.
Whilst there is no doubt that this is true and of course makes compelling viewing and reading.
One only has to think about “Touching the Void” which sent shivers down my spine and had me glued to the book unable to put it down to see the commercial value of such content.
There is however another side to expedition life and that is the sense of fun, camaraderie, excitement and sheer joy of being in the mountains, on a “project” with your mates. Isn’t that really why we do it? Yes we love the challenge, the adventure but when all said and done, it is sharing the moment and experiences with our mates that counts and forms our lasting memories.
Success or failure is rarely the point, it is the smiles, the jokes, the banter, the comic accidents the “epics” that we remember and still discuss and laugh about together years later in the pub.
I came across this fantastic climbing expedition video by 4 French guys who are climbing a Himalayan big wall in Pakistan. What struck me was the sense of fun that the video captures.
I really felt their friendship and sense of fun. It gives a great alternative picture of expedition life. I hope you enjoy ! Don’t miss the credits they are hilarious!
To watch part 1 of this video which focuses more on the route, logistics and technical aspects of this big wall climb please visit www.youtube.com
For more information on this teams Himalayan big wall climbing exploits in Pakistan please visit www.bigwalls.net
Credits for the images used in this article and video about big wall climbing in the Himalayas belong to Yann Mimet, Jean-Yves Fredriksen, Martial Dumas and Sam Beaugey.
Please support CrazyJourneys.com by taking a moment to comment on this film about climbing and mountaineering in Pakistan and also tweet or share it. Help Luke to spread the word. The buttons are below:
brilliant! made me want to climb a mountain:)
I totally agree with you that Expeditions are fun! So much fun! I remember when I was in school, my class had gone on an expedition to Sikkim in India. The trip was for 8 days. One of the days, it had rained so hard and there was so much fog! The guide got lost, some of the students got lost but we all found each other in the end. During that trek, my friend and I almost lost our way. But because it had rained and it was all muddy and everything, we followed the footprints on the ground and found our group!! It was so cool!!