Video: Border Country - Climbing In The Tian Shan Mountains

Last summer, mountaineers Mike Libecki, Ethan Pringle, and Liv Sansoz traveled to a very remote region of the world located along the border of China and Kyrgyzstan to climb a new route in the Tian Shan Mountains. The short video below captures some of their experiences there, and gives us a glimpse of what this rugged, largely unexplored, wilderness looks like. A place where adventure still beckons from around every corner.

Border Country from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

China Jam Expedition: Climbing Big Walls In The Tien Shan Range

While most of the attention in the climbing community has been centered on the Himalaya once again this fall, there have been other bold climbing adventures taking place in other parts of the world as well. For example, a team of four big wall climbers traveled to a remote region along the border of China and Kyrgyzstan in search of new challenges to test their skills. They found that challenge in the form of a mountain called Kyzyl Asker, a 5842 meter (19,166 ft) tower with a 1220 meter (4000 ft) face that required two weeks to complete.

In late August,  Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll, Nicolas Favresse, Stéphane Hanssens and Evrard Wendenbaum gathered in China with no specific climbing objective in mind. They had read about a region in the Tien Shan Mountain Range that offered excellent opportunities to tackle unclimbed routes across a wild, rugged region that is seldom visited by outsiders.

After clearing some logistical hurdles and gathering what they though were the right permits, they set out for their destination using camels to shuttle their gear. After setting up Base Camp, they surveyed he area and settled on Kyzl Asker as their target. But they soon discovered that the permit they had been issued was meant for trekking only and not climbing. It also had a number of other restrictions that were problematic to the expedition as well. Luckily they had a Chinese liaison officer with them who helped get the issues resolved so they could proceed.

Once the team had its objective picked out, they began moving their gear to Advanced Base Camp so they could being the ascent. Of course, these types of climbs are never easy and there are always unexpected challenges along the way. The four men had to deal with altitude, cold temperatures, constantly changing weather, illness and a host of other issues. Eventually they did climb the wall, but it took them 14 days to do so, topping out on September 22.


You can read a full account of the China Jam Expedition, as it has come to be known, on the Petzl blog. Evrad also wrote extensively about the climb as well, posting updates to his blog too. Those are in French however, so if that isn't a language you're proficient in, you'll need to run the reports through Google Translate first. I think it'll be worth your effort however, as this sounds like it was quite an experience.

Finally, check out the video below to see how the expedition not only got its name but also what the boys did to pass the time while suspended on Kyzyl Asker's big wall. These guys have quite a career ahead of them when they're done climbing.


China Jam - Portaledge Song from Evrard Wendenbaum on Vimeo.

Video: The Road To Karakol

In 2011,  Kyle Dempster traveled solo to Kyrgyzstan in search of some new places to climb. With little understanding of the language, a vague idea of where he was headed and basic plan, he set out on his mountain bike in search of adventure. That's exactly what he found, but more so in the journey and less in the climbing itself.

Throughout the journey he recorded his escapades, talking to the camera as he went. When he returned home, the footage sat unedited or watched for months, until he turned it over to friend and fellow climber Fitz Cahall, who turned it into an award winning short film. The results of that editing can be seen below and it is 25 minutes of adventure porn that sure to inspire feelings of wanderlust. If you have the time to kill, you're definitely going to enjoy this.

Big tip of the hat to the Adventure Journal for sharing this today. Excellent and inspiring stuff.

Video: Ride The Planet: Kyrgyzstan Whitewater

This past summer, a group of Russian kayakers set out to paddle in a number of beautiful locations across the globe and document their adventures on film. The result is the Ride The Planet project, which already features three great short films from the Caucasus Mountains, Norway and Kyrgyzstan, which can be seen below. All three videos are extremely well done, mixing culture, scenery and fantastic whitewater action into a single experience. I like what I've seen out of these films so far, and I hope there are more to come.

Thanks to my friends over at EpicTV for sharing the Ride The Planet story. Great stuff!

RideThePlanet: Kyrgyzstan Whitewater from Konstantin Galat on Vimeo.