Tom Livingstone and Aleš Česen have made the first ascent of the West Ridge of Gasherbrum 3.

Their journey from basecamp to the 7952 metre summit and back took seven days, in what was the culmination of a ten year goal to climb 'a hard, technical alpine route at high altitude'. The ascent is only the third complete ascent of Gasherbrum 3.

Tom and Aleš attempted the route in 2022, but were turned around in bad weather. They took three bivies on their way to the summit, at 7100m, 7500m, and 'an open, sitting (snowy!) bivvy' at 7800m.

They then traversed the mountain to Gasherbrum 2's normal route, descended using some of the fixed lines, and made their way back to basecamp. 

Speaking to us earlier this week via email, Tom said:

Edge of Entropy (West Ridge) - Gasherbrum 3 (7958m) - 7 days. 

I've long dreamt of climbing a technical, hard alpine route at high altitude (~8000m). What is the hardest route you can climb, at the highest altitude? How far can you push it? Can you take the difficulty of places like the Alps, Alaska, the Canadian Rockies, then supercharge them to the world's highest mountains? Aleš Česen and I wanted to explore. 

Gasherbrum 3 (7958m) is apparently the world's 15th highest peak.

This year we had a rematch. When we launched for G3, attempted by Scots in '85, we pushed on a door to what we wondered was possible. We became sick in the head and stomach, but still we climbed. Shedding expectations, worries and ideas, we simply moved upwards with an inquisitive mind and a silent, crashing body. Alpinism is such a beautiful trap of what you want and what you need.

We climbed with 'the art of freedom.'

Altitude is a huge challenge. It destroys you. Although I say 'good effort' to those who ascend mountains with supplemental oxygen, a track in the snow, tents in place, Sherpa support, fixed ropes and other teams around… they're a universe apart from our practice of alpinism.

On 4th August we stood on top of Gasherbrum 3 (7958m), just a whisker under 8000m, via the first ascent of the West Ridge. I quite like that this peak is just under 8000m, just out of the spotlight, just around the corner from G4.

The route was one of the more difficult  that I've ever climbed, a culmination of a decade, and even our 3rd bivy, sitting and without a tent at 7800m, will be memorable.

To descend we traversed to G2's normal route and used its fixed ropes, which changed our style a little, but made sense. Interestingly, almost all 8K peaks now have the option of these ropes as a descent from the top.

We returned to base camp on our 7th day. We walked back to civilisation, lighter, tired, but very happy!

We decided to name the route 'Edge of Entropy' since it's a ridge/arete/edge, and I read about entropy during our expedition. Ales, with his PhD in physics and experience working in the industry, was happy to tell me more about the state of 'lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder' which we could also relate to during our ascent, as we got higher!

For more info about the ascent, keep an eye on the UKC news page, where we'll be publishing an interview with Tom in the near future.