UKC

NEWS: Women's Team Pioneers Pakistani Free Route

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 Michael Ryan 20 Sep 2007
The Anglo-Canadian team of Luisa Giles, Sarah Hart, and Jacqueline Hudson has established a 3,000-foot free route on a 17,000-foot rock spire near the base of Latok III in Pakistan.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/
 Skyfall 21 Sep 2007
In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Good effort.

Didn't Louisa post on here at one point? recall some pics of her on various grit routes iirc
 TobyA 21 Sep 2007
In reply to JonC:

> Didn't Louisa post on here at one point?

Yep - didn't she have an amusingly combative style? There was something slightly controversial about her post anyway... perhaps she just felt E0 was crap and told Fiend so!

A fine effort anyway. It's a great looking line on fine lump of rock. 5.10b - I could even do that.... oh dreams, dreams... they get you through the day.
 Tyler 21 Sep 2007
In reply to TobyA:

> ... perhaps she just felt E0 was crap and told Fiend so!

It did involve Fiend actually but I think it was because she claimed Parallel Piped at E4 (the guide grade) and Fiend called her on it as its really only E2.

I wish I had a memory for useful stuff.
 Skyfall 21 Sep 2007
In reply to TobyA:

Yes she did seem to get into the odd scrape. Something to do with photos of her, or their labels, being somewhat self congratulatory? I have checked and her profile and pics no longer seem to be on UKC. Shame, as some of them were rather inspirational.

Anyway, fine effort in a superb setting.
In reply to JonC:

There's a knack to posting on forums. My first few posts were a disaster too. It's a pity when potentially inspirational people get put off.
 TobyA 21 Sep 2007
In reply to Tyler:

LOL.

> I wish I had a memory for useful stuff.

Don't we all. I could write out the moves on the crux pitch of Vestpillaren in some detail - a route I did in 5 years ago. Yet I've been staring at three pages of text which is meant to be my research proposal/job application for the last week and I still can't work out how to make it less shit.

 Skyfall 21 Sep 2007
In reply to Alison Stockwell:

yes and i seem to recall she was a fairly new climber too, bit of a rising star as it were, who just managed to put people's backs up for no apparent reason.
 Gus 21 Sep 2007
In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Basically she was a lot better climber than most of the folk that were posting, so that wound some folk up!
I think this ascent probably serves as proof of that!
 tobyfk 24 Sep 2007
In reply to TobyA:

> Don't we all. I could write out the moves on the crux pitch of Vestpillaren in some detail

What: layback, layback and layback again? A prodigious memory feat indeed ...
luisa_G 26 Sep 2007
In reply to The post:
Hey folks so to get some concrete recollection the UKC forum front here you go..
So what happened way back when was someone posted some pics of me on the site and wrote the blurbs below saying things such as "luisa styling a particular route" etc. With this a few people including Fiend had a bit of an issue with the style so pulled me up on it. In and amongst these posts was a particular comment of Parallel piped being E2 and not E4 (not that this really matters in the functioning of day to day living). With the biting unrpovoked responses from people regarding the pictures I decided to also have some amusement and commented back on one of fiends pictures of him climbing Joe's arete at the Roaches.
So aside from that there wasnt any other that I can recall.

Anyways the route in Pakistan was PHENOMENAL and I had a great experience so anyone thinking of going drop me a line and I can share some more info.


 TobyA 26 Sep 2007
In reply to luisa_G: Looks brilliant Luisa. How long does it take to get the area where you were climbing?

Where there many other tourists (climbers/trekkers) about? I guess with the political situation at the moment there aren't so many. ALthough that often means the locals are happy to see you!
 duncan 26 Sep 2007
In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

What a &%@$ ing great line!

And at a reasonable grade too. No disrespect to the FAs, as technical difficulty will have been the least of the issues, but it's great to think that there are still possibilities like this that an aging punter can dream about...
luisa giles 26 Sep 2007
In reply to TobyA:
hey toby
so there were alot of people we encountered on the first day hike in as there are alot of people who were heading to K2 base camp. After that we were 1 of 2 parties on the choktoi glacie, the other who were 2 hours up valley of us. So the weeks we spent in base camp were just us.
For 2/3 of us it was our first big trip in a HUGE mountain range and as we are not super psyched on snow and ice we opted for this line as the rock quality was amazing. ALso it wasn't too hard, which for us reduced the amount of risk. Being new to mountaineering etc I was happy to be on a route which we could climb with no technical difficulties and that had low objective hazard.
I cant wait to go back next year though.

As a side note I am trying to raise some money to help build a girls school in our guides village in northern Pakistan. If anyone is interested in helping me win a contest feel free to follow the link as if it flicks your switch vote for GIRLS EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL
Link for voting:
http://www.changeeverything.ca/changesomething_finalists
Link for project information:
http://www.changeeverything.ca/change_something_girls_education_internation...
 tobyfk 27 Sep 2007
In reply to luisa giles:

Hi Luisa, if you are still checking this thread, I had a couple of questions. How feasible do you reckon it would be to make a short'ish trip, say two weeks, to the Karakorum and rock climb? (Not on the higher peaks obviously). There are cheap daily flights to Islamabad from where I live in the Gulf and I have pakistani friends here who have offered to help with local travel - so it's an idea I have considered occasionally.

Also, I studied all the links to the GEI site etc and FWIW voted for your project. But at the back of my mind I wondered to what extent there is local enthusiasm for what Heidi and Liz are trying to do there? Do you think there is any risk of it being seen as cultural interference and provoking a backlash against travellers/ climbers? Undoubtedly it's an important objective from many perspectives - in a purely practical sense, leaving morality and equality aside, development economists reckon female education explains a large part of the progress in east Asia vs the muslim world or Africa. But Pakistan seems a very complex place and I know girls schools have been closed down by islamists in parts of the country with weak government control.
luisa in vancouver 27 Sep 2007
Hi there Toby,
So with reference to GEI the local villagers are very much excited about the prospect of a school and do not see it as interference. They are looking forward to having the resources for the girls of their village. Also Lizzy and heidi are very careful about how they handle things with respect to western influence so I think they will oversee that eveything is done in the best possible way.

Now as for a 2 week trip I think it would be too tight. You wouldfly into islamabad then either take a short flight (if there are tickets and the weather is good sometime 3 day wait) or a 2 day bus ride to skardu. From Skardu its a 6 hour jeep ride to askoli (the trail head if you are heading in the K2 area). The jeep ride is usually the day after. The hike in would be 2-4 days depending on where you go and then you have to acclimitise.
There is another option of climbing somewhere like the Hushe valley this is also a 6 hour drive from skardu but I think less approach.
I was in pakistan for 5 week and basecamp for 3 and felt that was too short so I would suggest take the time and enjoy it.
Let me know if you have any more questions
Luisa
In reply to tobyfk:
> (In reply to luisa giles)
>
> Hi Luisa, if you are still checking this thread, I had a couple of questions. How feasible do you reckon it would be to make a short'ish trip, say two weeks, to the Karakorum and rock climb? (Not on the higher peaks obviously). There are cheap daily flights to Islamabad from where I live in the Gulf and I have pakistani friends here who have offered to help with local travel - so it's an idea I have considered occasionally.
>
> Also, I studied all the links to the GEI site etc and FWIW voted for your project. But at the back of my mind I wondered to what extent there is local enthusiasm for what Heidi and Liz are trying to do there? Do you think there is any risk of it being seen as cultural interference and provoking a backlash against travellers/ climbers? Undoubtedly it's an important objective from many perspectives - in a purely practical sense, leaving morality and equality aside, development economists reckon female education explains a large part of the progress in east Asia vs the muslim world or Africa. But Pakistan seems a very complex place and I know girls schools have been closed down by islamists in parts of the country with weak government control.

 tobyfk 27 Sep 2007
In reply to luisa in vancouver:

Thanks. Yes, sounds tight for a short trip. Unfortunately 2 weeks is about the most I can carve out for climbing at one time. I think my pakistani friends reckoned on pre-booking a land cruiser plus driver in Islamabad as the most efficient option - they go trekking up there quite often - but I didn't realise the walk-in element for climbing areas was so long. I'll research Hushe valley.
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