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NEWS: Jon Griffith and Tenji Sherpa to Attempt Everest-Lhotse Traverse

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 UKC News 30 Apr 2018
British alpinist Jon Griffith and Tenji Sherpa are preparing to attempt the elusive first Everest-Lhotse traverse in the coming weeks. The pair have teamed up to complete what was a long-held goal of Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck - a close friend of the pair and Tenji's partner for the ill-fated 2017 attempt, which was abandoned after Steck fell to his death during a solo acclimatisation ascent of Nuptse's north face.

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5
 Patrick Roman 30 Apr 2018
In reply to UKC News:

 

A "3D Virtual Reality Film"? Are you kidding me??!!! And the words supplemental oxygen, Sherpa support and honour all in the same breath. What a sad way to remember someone.

30
 James_Kendal 30 Apr 2018
In reply to Patrick Roman:

I read it more like Tenji will be the one attempting the main challenge in Ueli's style, while Jon will be more focused on the filming of that endeavour. I don't see any dishonour there.

In Jon's words on his Instagram "I’m excited to be shooting Ueli’s climbing partner Sherpa Tenji attempt to finish off what Ueli had started, and in his style".

Good luck to them and I look forward to watching some epic footage.

 Robert Durran 30 Apr 2018
In reply to James_Kendal:

> I read it more like Tenji will be the one attempting the main challenge in Ueli's style, while Jon will be more focused on the filming of that endeavour.

I think one could argue that the very presence of a support team carrying oxygen on "trade routes" equipped with fixed ropes detracts from the style.

And the fact that neither Everest nor Lhotse is actually going to be traversed does seem a bit of a cop out.

At least the true challenge remains intact for whoever takes up Steck's mantle.

But it is what it is and I hope the film is spectacular.

 

1
 Damo 30 Apr 2018
In reply to James_Kendal:

Except this is nothing like what Ueli started, and certainly not 'in his style'.

Ascending and descending the same route on a mountain is not doing a traverse. A mountain traverse goes up one aspect and down another.

You can't claim the prize of the "elusive first Everest-Lhotse Traverse" by just going across the snow slope between their normal routes. That is bullshit.

Poor work UKC.

 accynez 30 Apr 2018
In reply to UKC News:

Already been done by Kenton and Dorje anyway hasn't it?? with Nuptse added on for good measure.

UKC News - Nuptse, Everest and Lhotse for Cool and Gylgen

Post edited at 19:17
4
In reply to accynez:

Yes, I thought Kenton and Dorje had done the genuine article in great style (plus Nuptse, as you say).

2
In reply to Damo:

Didn't Ueli want to summit Everest, descend and then climb Lhotse in one push? Is that not what they are doing now or am I missing something?

 Damo 30 Apr 2018
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

> Yes, I thought Kenton and Dorje had done the genuine article in great style (plus Nuptse, as you say).


Did you? Really?

Fixed ropes, bottled O2, on a Sherpa-made route, using Sherpa-set camps....

 

1
 Damo 30 Apr 2018
In reply to accynez:

> Already been done by Kenton and Dorje anyway hasn't it?? with Nuptse added on for good measure.

No, but thank you for providing an example of why making dubious claims is wrong. It misleads the public and steals the credit from the person who does actually eventually do the thing.

Just like these guys did before:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/ukc/kenton_c_well_on_way_to_nuptse_everes...

#fakenews

The traverse has been held up as a great prize to aim for because of what it entails, what is required to claim it. Reducing those requirements, doing a lesser version, then claiming the prize is dishonest and lame.

You don't ride a motorcycle in the Tour de France, even though it's a 'cycle race'.

You don't claim to have run a marathon when you only did the half-marathon, even though there's 'marathon' in the name.

 

 

1
 guy127917 01 May 2018
In reply to Damo:

>You don't ride a motorcycle in the Tour de France, even though it's a 'cycle race'.

I think that remains to be seen

estivoautumnal 01 May 2018
In reply to Damo:

 

> You don't ride a motorcycle in the Tour de France, even though it's a 'cycle race'.

You do if you are filming it.

 

 Jon Griffith 01 May 2018
In reply to UKC News:

I think it might be best to clear up a few of these queries before anyone loses any more hair over this....

[1/2]

This is a project I started with Ueli two years ago, it was something that we worked very closely together on. What I enjoyed about working with Ueli is that whilst he was one of the world's best alpine climbers he was also a businessman and media is part of his business, as it is mine. For me, as a cameraman, I've always wanted to bring people to locations and climbs that they will never be able to get to- its cliché but it is what has driven my work for more than a decade now. When I first dabbled in Virtual Reality I realised it was the most powerful way of bringing people to those exact locations and experiences and I switched to VR capture a while ago because of it. It's really powerful stuff when its done right. However VR is also a niche market and incredibly expensive both in terms of capture as well as post work. So the only climbing based story that is financially viable right now in VR is going to be an Everest one as, whether you like it or not, its the only mainstream mountain we have. I don't really see why shooting a VR piece is offensive as it's just the same as just shooting traditional film, if anything its a hell of a lot more authentic in its capture and a lot harder.

When Ueli discussed with me to go back for the traverse I suggested that we try and capture it in VR. I showed him some VR content and even had a comical 30 mins as I let him play the Everest VR game (a simple game of climbing Everest). Much like everyone who experiences VR for the first time he was really bowled over by it. 

So we set out to try and capture the traverse in Virtual Reality because for me it’s an exciting new medium of capture that has never been done before in the mountains, and for Ueli it was a really cool tool to share his experiences with the world. I think you need to realise that when you go to one of Ueli's lectures, that you may have inspired you so much, that those photos and videos he shows have been a production in themselves to get. He doesn’t just have a drone flying nearby capturing that content- I've spent many weeks of my life capturing those images and videos that you see on the big screen with Ueli. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but I think you also need to understand that professional media that we all enjoy seeing at talks and in news articles are exactly that...professional. And they are planned well in advance. It doesn’t detract from the truth of what you are seeing though and this VR film is no different.

As for the 'traverse' yes I agree that this isn't a real traverse. But the linking up of Everest and Lhotse like this was coined 'the traverse' many years ago and thus why I use that terminology. In any case a proper traverse of Everest is illegal so I can’t see a full Everest-Lhotse traverse ever happening. As for styles and ethics, Everest is not an alpine style mountain - not by any route. There are tracks, camps, people, and fixed lines everywhere. It's not something I hide at all and I think the only way you can really challenge yourself on this mountain is to go without bottled O2. However even that is a bit tenuous as there are hundreds of climbers on the mountain all carrying O2 that are on hand. It is what it is, and we've been very clear about our team because I think it's important to not cunningly omit information. That doesn't mean that I agree with expedition style at all, but it’s not something you can change on this mountain.

Whilst Tenji will not be using bottled oxygen there is no doubt that the whole Everest infrastructure is on hand if he needs it, but there's just no escaping that during the normal Everest season. Having said that the only way that we can actually capture this story and ascent in VR is because of the infrastructure that is on Everest. I accept that and I am using it to my advantage to create powerful content that I couldn’t otherwise create. That’s the draw for me- shooting in VR is incredibly complicated and time consuming. This is like the modern version of the IMAX Everest shoot but a lot more complicated as we capture in all directions meaning that at each shot the scene has to be cleared of all of us. That means finding a stable spot for a 7kgs camera to be left alone on a tripod, setting up the shot and 360 degree audio capture, hitting record, climbing up the ridge to get out of the way, waiting for Tenji to climb past before running back down to the rig packing it away and chasing up after him to shoot the next scene. All at altitude. Remember that Tenji isn't on bottled O2 so I cannot ask him to wait at any point, he has to go at his own pace or risk frostbite. It's so complicated it's crazy but that was exactly why me and Ueli liked the plan in the first place - this will be the most challenging and complicated project I will probably ever work on in the mountains. Given that pretty much every single film piece that has come out of Everest has been about people getting dragged up the normal route up Everest by strong Sherpa teams I was excited to be able to actually create a new and genuine story on this mountain. You can dissect that any way you want and say that the traverse with a film team is not new and genuine and that's fine,  I would accept that, but you have to make compromises in life if you want to also be able to share the experience on the big screen. It still doesn’t detract from the fact that no one has ever tried to film such a story and climb, let alone in such a complicated format.

1
 Jon Griffith 01 May 2018
In reply to UKC News:

As for Ueli's style. Ueli had many styles as well all do in the mountains. The above filming style was exactly what we had worked out together. If you've understood all the above then you've understood that you can’t always have everything you want in life and Ueli was psyched to make a film of the traverse. VR or not it would still involve me being in close proximity to him using O2. When we went in 2013 for the first attempt this was also how it was going to be- for Ueli, having me nearby with O2 made no difference to the style given that there are so many other climbers and guides on the route also carrying O2. We are very much doing this entire climb in his style, one that he had dictated in 2013. Like I said we all have different styles for different objectives and the traverse was to be done like so.

Just to dispel any myths as well....Ueli was never going for the Horseshoe traverse (the traverse of Everest Lhotse and Nutpse). This was a suggestion put out by Messner after his death but in no way on his agenda. Ueli always had his eye on two lines. The first was via Hornbein (incorrectly now referred to as the West Ridge traverse even though you barely touch the West Ridge), and the second was via the normal route. We talked extensively about both options and the fact of the matter was that climbing via the Hornbein would leave him an incredibly slim chance of continuing on to Lhotse due to exhaustion, whilst going via the normal route would give him a much better chance of linking the two summits. And Ueli was really drawn to the idea of linking both summits. What interested Ueli was not doing a 'traverse' as such but just linking summits and seeing how far his body could go above 8000m- just look at his alpine enchainment career and it was a natural next step. Everest Lhotse is a relatively safe environment to test yourself in and see what was humanly possible for his body. That was what fascinated Ueli- it wasn’t about doing a route in particular but about seeing how far he could push himself in the high altitude. And linking Everest and Lhotse via their normal routes wasn't something that even he thought he could do, but he wanted to try of course. So this was his challenge. I think you can get a big over complacent sitting in an armchair having read and watched all the Everest films thinking it's easy- it's really not. I honestly cannot imagine ever being able to climb it without O2 and never in my wildest dreams think about enchaining Lhotse on the end of it. 

At the end of the day we're all entitled to our own opinions. I struggled with the 'selling out' aspect of this project for quite a while and anyone that has followed my career over the last decade can attest that I tend to always err on the side of caution as a photographer and cameraman - I dont post much on social media and I dont announce a climb, as so many do, before I've come back from it. And to be honest I would completely agree if you thought it was all 'too much'. But I took a big step in this project and I'm committed to it now and really excited about finishing it off. At the end of the day we're hopefully going to capture a completely new story on Everest and in a really powerful new format- we wont over hype or Hollywood-ise any of the story and it will all be presented to the public in as truthful a way as possible. I can appreciate that it won't resonate with some climbers here but I'm going to be giving it 1000% up there and I expect my brain to implode once we've captured that last VR imagery, and I for sure am going to be proud of what we will hopefully have accomplished.

1
 Arms Cliff 01 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

Hi Jon 

Thanks for taking the time to post, I'm still a little confused by the proposed line and was wondering if you could help clear that up? This article http://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/ueli-steck-and-the-great-e... suggests that Ueli was considering Everest>South Col>Lhotse, is a different approach being taken now? I couldn't see any info on the proposed route in the article.

 joshtee25 01 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

What a project - best of luck to both of you and any other team members! A lot of armchair analysis going on. I can't imagine the scale of the challenge, but your reply has at least given me a sliver of an insight, and I'm blown away. I cannot wait to see this!

Climb safe, and thanks for sharing.

J

 James Gordon 01 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

I really hope the level of honesty reply quietens any naysayers. Good luck. I like your style.

 JuneBob 01 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

Thanks a lot for taking the time to post, and good luck! I look forward to seeing the results.

 Damo 01 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

 

I appreciate the comprehensive posts, Jon. Currently complacent in my armchair, I can't help a few comments though:

 

> As for the 'traverse' yes I agree that this isn't a real traverse.

And you know very well that distinction will be lost in the PR and media. Spruiking this as The Traverse will make it harder for someone to get backing to do it properly in the future and receive the just credit for it.

But the linking up of Everest and Lhotse like this was coined 'the traverse' many years ago and thus why I use that terminology.

When? By who? That doesn't make it either OK or correct.

I think if you explain the difference and say "a true traverse would be up one aspect* and down another but that's just too hard and dangerous right now, so we're doing this version..." the sticklers in the climbing community would be happy and the other 95% of the viewers wouldn't care, consider you very sensible, and honest, and proceed to enjoy the movie.

In any case a proper traverse of Everest is illegal so I can’t see a full Everest-Lhotse traverse ever happening.

North-South / South-North traverses are currently not allowed, but an ascent of the west ridge (either version) and descent of the south-east ridge is a genuine traverse and is not illegal. Kuriki climbed high on the WR just a few years ago.

As for styles and ethics, Everest is not an alpine style mountain - not by any route.

Eh? It's been climbed alpine-style by at least two different routes - Messner N Ridge 1980, Loretan-Troillet N Face 1986.

There are tracks, camps, people, and fixed lines everywhere. It's not something I hide at all and I think the only way you can really challenge yourself on this mountain is to go without bottled O2. However even that is a bit tenuous as there are hundreds of climbers on the mountain all carrying O2 that are on hand.

Everything you say only applies to two routes on the mountain, out of at least eight major routes. Even in the last twenty years people have at least tried climbing other routes. I think it's unfortunate that the current way is default presented as the only way.

 

As for the filming, media and allegation of so-called 'selling out' I personally have no problem with any of that and I hope you ignore anyone who does.

I wish you the best of luck and look forward to seeing the final product.

 

* 'aspect' in this context being one quadrant of the compass, so up in one quadrant and down in any other one.

 

 Jon Griffith 01 May 2018
In reply to Damo:

Hi Damo apologies I should have said that the modern day Everest is not an alpine style mountain. Of course, as you say, in the past there have been alpine style ascents.

For me alpine style means alpine style from top to bottom. Whilst you can ascend a non-fixed route in alpine style you are going to come down the route of least resistance and that is going to be a normal (fixed) route, which for me negates the alpine style. I know from experience that getting off a mountain can be just as hairy as getting up it, and I also know from experience that having a nice big descent track in place changes the game entirely. On Everest for example you can make it back to Base Camp in a long day with the lines in place. If you summited Mt Everest without a track or fixed line in sight I can easily imagine it taking days to get down - that changes both the commitment as well as the pack size and just about everything really. You cited the West Ridge but this starts up a fixed route up to Camp 2 and the rejoins it once you summit for the descent. Thats not to detract from doing such a route but even the much coveted WR route traverse is not alpine style and it was something Ueli himself was quick to point out.

The only ascent in my recent memory that attempted to carve its own way up the mountain was by Bolotov and Urubko who attempted to climb on the SW face of Everest via a Nuptse approach and thus avoiding the Icefall route. If you look at the logisitics of trying to avoid the fixed routes on Everest for doing any line up and down it's just crazy complicated and you end up having to make life very hard for yourself just to avoid them - much like Bolotov and Urubko were doing. That's why I dont think Alpine Style is applicable to this mountain in the modern day and why it would be incredibly hard and rare for a true alpine style ascent of this mountain to take place in the future. Just my two cents though. It's a shame but in a way I think it opens up other avenues and styles of ascents that otherwise wouldnt be possible and that is at least a small positive.

 

Thanks

J

 

 Patrick Roman 01 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

 

Style matters in climbing. We know this. Words matter too. And it isn't just semantics. Things get distorted otherwise, portrayed to be something they're not. My initial post, blunt as it was, was because of the amount of spin put on this project - and there's really no need for it. 

 

For example, you talked about "bringing the Nepalese climbing community to the main stage." But until Killian Jornet pulled out the only Nepalis you had any intention of having on this project were those hired to haul your gear? Now there's nothing wrong with that but it's a touch grating to hear it put any other way. And if you really want to shine a light on Nepali climbing it might be a good thing from here on to refer to the mountain by its Nepali name.

 

You're in a position with this project to do something positive for a part of the world that continues to be trodden over and misunderstood. Please don't add to it.

16
 Michael Gordon 01 May 2018
In reply to Damo:

Could be wrong, but I recall Kenton Cool seemed to refer to their trip as a link up rather than traverse? 

 Damo 02 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

> Hi Damo apologies I should have said that the modern day Everest is not an alpine style mountain. Of course, as you say, in the past there have been alpine style ascents.

> For me alpine style means alpine style from top to bottom. Whilst you can ascend a non-fixed route in alpine style you are going to come down the route of least resistance and that is going to be a normal (fixed) route, which for me negates the alpine style.

Fair enough. And people think I'M pedantic!

I know from experience that getting off a mountain can be just as hairy as getting up it, and I also know from experience that having a nice big descent track in place changes the game entirely. On Everest for example you can make it back to Base Camp in a long day with the lines in place. If you summited Mt Everest without a track or fixed line in sight I can easily imagine it taking days to get down - that changes both the commitment as well as the pack size and just about everything really.

Agreed.

You cited the West Ridge but this starts up a fixed route up to Camp 2 and the rejoins it once you summit for the descent.

If you were worried about style and using the icefall then you'd go from the Lho La. If you did that in alpine-style I think most would forgive you the sin of descending the SE ridge!

> The only ascent in my recent memory that attempted to carve its own way up the mountain was by Bolotov and Urubko who attempted to climb on the SW face of Everest via a Nuptse approach and thus avoiding the Icefall route.

The Russian new route on the north face was 2004, not exactly Roman times...

And it was Bolotov I was thinking of when I wrote about respect for how the traverse has been envisioned. People have died trying.

That's why I dont think Alpine Style is applicable to this mountain in the modern day and why it would be incredibly hard and rare for a true alpine style ascent of this mountain to take place in the future.

Given optimum conditions for the north face are late August - early October then climb the Supercouloir and descend the north ridge when it has no crowds or ropes on it. Simple

However, in reality you are unfortunately correct in that alpine style is basically extinct on Everest, if only for cost, and on the 8000ers in general.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses.

 

 

Deadeye 02 May 2018
In reply to UKC News:

"Jon Griffith and Tenji Sherpa to Attempt Everest-Lhotse Traverse"

Given that they're not traversing anything, it's 100% chance of failure

7
 Jon Griffith 03 May 2018
In reply to Damo:

Hi Damo, yeah as you say it is pretty hard to implement alpine style on 8000ers nowadays- there are of course ways to do it but you end up having to shoot yourself in the foot by taking a more complex route or doing it out of season. I've not got alot of experience at this kind of altitude but it does seem like you want to put all the cards in your favour as best you can! I guess as well that 'fixed' means a different thing for many of the 8000ers- I'm sure that the normal route on Makalu for example is a very sparsely fixed affair compared to Everest?

Re Bolotov: (not that it matters) but they weren't attempting the traverse when he died, they were attempting a new route on the SW Face. But those two are the ultimate purists,  it's inspirational. Not only did they go via Nuptse to avoid the Icefall route but also refused any weather forecasts and eschewed bringing any form of comms/sat phone with them on the route. The ultimate in Alpine Style! Alexey was such a gentle giant, so sad.

 

 

 

 

 

 Jon Griffith 03 May 2018
In reply to Patrick Roman:

Hi Patrick, style does indeed matter. And we've been as honest as possible in everything we've said. I disagree that a lot of 'spin' has been put on the project- we only just announced it the day we left and kept it very much to one Facebook post about it. I dont really think that's considered a lot of spin.

I also think you may be in need of some education before you attack me like that. Kilian did indeed break his leg and I had another team lined up to film on the mountain straight away. However a few days later Tenji messaged me to say that his client for Everest N side had broken his foot and therefore had no work lined up for the season. It was me who decided to change the whole story to Tenji and very much at my own cost- we lost one of our major sponsors due to that change and I put my own money in to the project. So before you judge my motives publicly, just realise that shooting a project about Tenji and about Nepalese climbing came very much at my own financial cost (a very significant cost given the scale of the project and the mountain). Would you have done the same?

 

 

 Patrick Roman 03 May 2018
In reply to Jon Griffith:

 

No you’re right Jon, I apologise. I shouldn’t have said what I said. It just bugs me sometimes when I feel things aren’t being reported honestly, or information is deliberately omitted to paint a better picture. In this case, it was a knee jerk reaction on my part. All the best and stay safe.

 

Removed User 03 May 2018

From my armchair in Australia it's getting into winter time - once it drops to 5 degrees celcius we all say it's "freezing cold".

A bloody amazing project & very inspiring stuff. Reading the comments, you'd think they were shooting a coca-cola commercial with Kayne West?

And as for VR - only 10 years ago iPhones were weird wanker toys you would never take climbing for fear of them breaking. Now they are stock standard part of daily life. This will be a truly remarkable experience and good on you for recognising it & sharing it with the world! I can't wait to see where this goes.

In reply to UKC News:

Any news on how they are getting on?

In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjXe_41FwrD/?taken-by=climber_tenji

Summited Everest but traverse cancelled due to poor weather.


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