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Mountain Unity in Afghanistan - Latest News

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David James - Mountain Unity 24 Mar 2010
premier post photo
This year the Wakhan Corridor in north east Afghanistan is likely to have the largest number of expeditions since the last pre-Soviet season in 1978.

We are very pleased that Mountain Wilderness will be returning as an organisation to train the next cadre of 16 Afghan mountaineers and trekking guides.

The Poles will be back in force with three mountaineering expeditions and we're expecting at least as many from the UK if not more.

Wild Frontiers are running two treks this year and there is a whole host of independent trekking groups coming too.

Thank you to those expeditions who are supporting the Afghan people by coming this year.

We should have our Welcome Centre open for the beginning of the high season so we look forward to having some of you over for tea.

Find out more from: http://www.mountainunity.org/
David James - Mountain Unity 24 Mar 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:

Come and see the award winning film*
Afghanistan; A Small Flame of Hope
As recently shown at the Royal Geographical Society in London

26 March 2010, 7:30pm
Old Parish Centre, Kirk Wynd, Cupar, Fife, KY15 5EQ

This is the last chance to hear David James speak about climbing, trekking and development in the Wakhan before he returns to Afghanistan.

There will also be a drinks reception, light snacks and an auction where you can bid for a training flight in the RAF Tornado fighter jet simulator, a family ticket to the Whisky Experience in Edinburgh and more.

Tickets £8 from http://www.mountainunity.org/ or on the door (would help us if you book online or send us an email for numbers). All proceeds to project work in Afghanistan.


*Best Short Film, Kendal Mountain Festival 2010
David James - Mountain Unity 24 Mar 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:

Below is the list of kit that Mountain Wilderness require to train the next cadre of 16 Afghan mountaineers. If anyone can provide new or GOOD QUALITY used kit please let us know what you can spare. We'll send you an address to send it to. Many thanks to all of you who have donated kit already.

Harness 16
helmet 16
ice tool 16
lock biners 32
crampons 16
gaiters 16
ice pitons 16
head light (torch) 20
tents for trainees 3
sleeping bags 20
mattress 20
descenders 16
rucksack 20
slings,cords (1 for each, 5 m x 16p.= 80 m) 16
sun glasses 20

Clothing
wool cap 20
wind stoppers 20
jackets 20
gloves 20
fleeces 20
t-shirts sleeve/ capilene underware 20
socks 40
snow pants 20
bottoms pants 20
boots (numbers 39-40-41) 20
David James - Mountain Unity 25 Mar 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:
If you would like to donate any clothing please bear in mind that the Wakhi are small in stature so small and medium sizes only please.

Thanks for all the donations so far, very much appreciated. DJ
David James - Mountain Unity 28 Mar 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:

Thanks to those of you who came to the talk in Cupar. We really appreciate the support.

Thanks also for the kit and clothing donations they will make a huge difference to the Afghans learning to climb and getting work as porters.
David James - Mountain Unity 29 Mar 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:

Anyone want to climb in the Wakhan? Buy the mountaineering guide book for the Afghan Hindu Kush written by Carlo Alberto Pinelli of Mountain Wilderness only on our website:

http://www.mountainunity.org/Mountaineering.html
David James - Mountain Unity 11 Apr 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:
We're packing up and getting ready to head back out to the Wakhan. Look forward to seeing some of you later this year.
David James - Mountain Unity 11 May 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:

We are now in Kabul registering Mountain Unity Afghanistan with the Afghan government. This has taken a little longer than expected but we hope to be in the Wakhan by the end of May.

Currently the Mountain Wilderness training course is in doubt due to lack of funding.

Is anyone out there interested in volunteering to train the local Wakhi guides in the basics of mountaineering and improving their commercial trekking guide skills? If you are we'd be interested to hear from you.
medman 13 May 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity: just a quick one. have u made any plans incase you or members of your party get lifted??
David James - Mountain Unity 14 May 2010
In reply to medman: Lifted?? You mean kidnapped? There is very little chance of kidnap in the area as the local population are very supportive of what we are doing and they are a different ethnic group from the rest of Afghanistan so hostile strangers would stand out a mile. Even if someone did manage to kidnap someone there is only one road out which has police check points all the way along. The only other exit is high mountain passes which would take four days to reach by which time the security forces would have caught up with them.

The main risks in the area are sickness and accidents. This is a remote mountain environment so there are the usual problems for evacuation but there are some dirt runways now and an NGO that can fly casualties out.
David James - Mountain Unity 14 May 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity: You can see Joel Fiddes and Chris Philipson making a first ascent in the Wakhan in 2009 by following this link:

youtube.com/watch?v=ViiTovkiBT0&

Thanks to Sam Mansfield for the video footage.
 Skinny Kin 26 May 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:
> Is anyone out there interested in volunteering to train the local Wakhi guides in the basics of mountaineering and improving their commercial trekking guide skills? If you are we'd be interested to hear from you.

To volunteer, what does it entail? I'm very interested in getting into trekking/mountaineering business in Afghanistan. I have a wealth of experience though not much in ways of qualifications apart from a couple of basic ones. Let me know what skills you need for training the locals.

 armus 06 Jun 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:

>> Trained mountaineers are an asset to the armed forces. Why aren't the Afghan climbers being supported by the western forces there? Your list
of kit needed is not long. There must be enough money within in the ISFA budget to cover it.
 FreeloaderJoe 07 Jun 2010
In reply to pyle: LOL! Unlikely. You obviously have never had any contact with the mob.
 armus 09 Jun 2010
In reply to FreeloaderJoe:
> (In reply to pyle) LOL! Unlikely. You obviously have never had any contact with the mob.

>> You're right there, but I have just read "Ground Truth" by Patrick Bishop (non-fiction book) about our forces in Afghanistan who were expected to allow a certain amount of Afghan corruption for political reasons. If you haven't yet read it yet you should, page 47 is a perfect example & funny. Compared to the money this book says we handed out, the list of gear asked for is so tiny.

David James - Mountain Unity 10 Jun 2010
In reply to Skinny Kin: Hi Skinny, we are having some bureaucratic issues at the moment so our training projects are on hold for a while. Send us a couple of paragraphs about any relevant experience and why you'd like to get involved to info@mountainunity.org and we'll be in touch when we get going again.
 drunken monkey 04 Jul 2010
In reply to pyle: somehow i dont think training up mountaineers is very high on the military agenda out there!!
 armus 09 Jul 2010
In reply to drunken monkey:
> (In reply to pyle) somehow i dont think training up mountaineers is very high on the military agenda out there!!

>> Probably not, but as the region has mountains, couldn't trained people be useful?

 Trangia 17 Jul 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:

Are you American? Why biners rather than krabs?
Jason White 23 Aug 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity: Hi David. I am about to start the second year of my degree in Outdoor Leadership, have coaching qualifications in paddlesport and football, and have two years experience as a tour leader in addition to years of other work experience. I, also would be interested in hearing about any volunteer opportunities that may exist? Many thanks. Jason
David James - Mountain Unity 18 Sep 2010
In reply to Trangia: Sorry for the slow reply on this important issue! It was a cut and paste from our Italian friends Elisabetta and Giorgio who have been training the Afghans. I'm British.
David James - Mountain Unity 18 Sep 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity: As some of you may have heard we are currently not in the Wakhan and this year's training did not go ahead for a variety of reasons. We are now in Kabul and watching the situation in the north to see if we'll go back next year.

We ran into some local political issues caused by another group of foreigners that meant we had to leave too. We are also acutely aware that the security in the rest of Badakhshan is beginning to deteriorate so we need to watch that before telling expeditions that the Wakhan is still OK.

I've had to take a 6 day a week job to keep us afloat financially which is why I've not been in touch much recently. We are beginning to get on a more stable footing now and will be communicating more to discuss the potential of the Wakhan and what we need to do to take this project forward for the benefit of the local people.

Thanks for the support of all you interested folk out there. Especially those who have come to visit this year and those who donated kit.

Unfortunately most of the kit is still sitting in boxes in the UK as our transport didn't work out. However we will begin moving it out over this winter in small batches as people come backwards and forwards.

We promise it will get to the Afghan climbers eventually.

Best wishes,

David
 L.A. 19 Sep 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity: Sorry to hear about the problems youve been having this year Its a great project and well worth supporting. Hope it works out and you can get back in to help the Wakhanis generate some revenue and encourage stability in the region.
 Skinny Kin 13 Oct 2010
In reply to David James - Mountain Unity:
Are you doing a talk this year in Kendal Film Festival? I'd be interested in meeting you, David.
David James - Mountain Unity 13 Mar 2011
Hello everyone at UKC - We're still in Afghanistan altough based in Kabul rather than the Wakhan. Despite our own troubles last year 2010 was, as predicted, the most successful year ever for mountaineering and trekking in the Wakhan. We managed to keep all of the trained guides fully employed for the entire season for the first time ever. In fact if we had had four times as many we'd have had enough work for them.

We are still convinced that the Wakhan could be the success story that Afghanistan and the international community desperately needs to be an example of the best way forward for our engagement in the country. However we are mindful that as the counter insurgency effort in the south makes progress the north gets more dangerous. I don't want to get into the politics of it all but the bottom line is that although the Wakhan has still to date remained ENTIRELY trouble free the badness is closer than we'd like.

What we are doing this year, along with some projects in Kabul, is to put together as accurate a picture as possible of the actual and potential economic, social, developmental and political benefits that responsible, experienced international expeditions can bring to an area like the Wakhan. We will then use this evidence to present to a number of donors and agencies to make the strongest possible case for the development of an Afghan lead security and emergency plan and response capability to protect the Wakhan from the threat of insurgency and criminality and to deal with medical emergencies. Due to the terrain, remote location and population we believe it won't take much to develop a robust emergency and security capability.

We still believe the Wakhan to be safe but if you get kidnapped on holiday in Nepal by the Maoists or in Peru by the Shining Path you're unlucky if you fall off the end of your abseil in the Wakhan you're crazy for being in Afghanistan, you can imagine the headlines....

So all that said you can help us out by filling in one of two surveys. If you came to the Wakhan last year we'd really like your feedback. Please put this URL into your browser and complete the survey: http://smallflame.blogspot.com/2011/02/mountain-unity-wakhan-tourism-survey...

If you have been tempted to come to the Wakhan and perhaps even began planning an expedition but got put off for one reason or another please fill in this survey:
http://smallflame.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html

Many thanks,

David


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