Mountaineering Association Selects Blazepoint
WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2011
For the past 53 years the AMA (Army Mountaineering Association) has been responsible for sending
mountaineers all over the World, following a military mountaineering tradition that can be traced back to
the 19th Century. Recently an 11 strong expedition called TIGER KARAKORAM continued this custom.
The AMA expedition commenced in October 2010 when the team travelled to India - their aim was to
conduct exploratory mountaineering in the Himachal Pradesh region and sumit several unexplored
peaks. Major Matt Hing, the expedition leader stated 'The Himachal Pradesh area of northern India offers
a vast amount of mountaineering opportunities. There are tens if not hundreds of unclimbed peaks and
unexplored glaciers that would all make excellent mountaineering expeditions. This is a fantastic area'.
In preparation for the expedition and to minimize the teams impact on the surrounding environment and
terrain, which is an ethic the team try to abide by at all times, the intention was that they would be
equipped and prepared to climb 'alpine style' throughout. This style of climbing requires the mountaineer
to move light and fast and being the Himalaya's, it also requires competency, confidence and mental
commitment. Due to this expedition being the first trip for many of the team, both to the Himalaya's and
at this level of altitude, the training and selection process was intense - ensuring that they developed the
physical skills to deal with the mountaineering challenges and the mental skills required to deal with the
other challenges likely to face them during the ascent.
Unfortunately as they say with the best laid plans, the expedition did hit some stumbling blocks and
constant adjustments were needed to meet the ever changing circumstances, such as the unexpected
and un-seasonal snow storms together with the expeditions ill equipped porters, both of which gave rise
to additional challenges for the team. Notwithstanding this, 3 members of the expedition made a first-
ascent of Peak 5900 and named the peak, 'Sher Khan' early in the campaign. However, not all ascents
were quite so successful, as demonstrated by an attempt on an unclimbed 6030m peak. One of the
climbing teams was forced to turn back at 5922m when they encountered increasingly technical terrain
and an unexpected snow storm. The unseasonal storm deposited a foot of snow over the area making
the climbing conditions too dangerous for the team to continue and another storm was also forecast,
which raised concerns over the team being trapped at Base Camp, consequently they moved south to a
different climbing area where the expedition successfully climbed a 5928m high peak and named it
'Hanuman Tibba'.
In summarising the expedition and his personal experience, Sergeant Mark Dowland said that, 'As a
developing mountaineer this Expedition was an invaluable experience and insight into the world of high-
altitude mountaineering. As soldiers we are taught to prepare for the unexpected, but exploratory
mountaineering provided us all with extreme physical and mental challenges. It definitely pushed all of
the Expedition members beyond their comfort zones'.
During the duration of the TIGER KARAKORAM expedition, the team experienced extremely harsh
conditions, such as living at 4600m+, the unseasonal weather and temperatures dropping to minus 13
degrees C in the team's tent at night. All of these challenges combined to test the members both
mentally and physically and to ensure success dynamic risk assessments were required along with
strong leadership skills and teamwork.
Equipment was a fundamental part of the planning process and key to the Expeditions success was a
robust communications plan. This enabled the team to remain in constant contact during the expedition
and also provided them with a failsafe in the event of an emergency. In addition to this an Indian based
company called RIMO Expeditions provided support and this proved successful due to both the added
security it gave the team and allowing the expedition to support an Indian based company ensuring that
any fees paid would benefit the local economy.
The expeditions' communications plan utilised many pieces of equipment designed specifically for use
in rugged terrain and harsh environments. This equipment was supplied by Blazepoint and included
BGAN Satellite Antenna's in conjunction with Blazepoint's ndura RUGGED laptop, which facilitated the
team having access to the internet allowing them access to e-mail, blogs and weather updates. Thales
UK gave free air time allowing the antenna's to provide outstanding performance to the team and it is
hoped that given the experiences of this latest expedition, all future camp sites or base camps will
undergo a communications recce to fully establish whether the antenna can 'hit' the satellites in a geo-
stationary orbit over the equator.
The expedition leader Major Matt Hing said that "The rugged laptops provided by Blazepoint, sustained
plenty of knocks and unavoidable ill-treatment during transit and on the mountain. The laptops handled
the trauma with ease. They continued to perform to an optimal level in temperatures as low as -20°C for
over 5 weeks, providing a quality service for internet access, word processing and information exchange.
Exercise TIGER KARAKORAM chose this particular rugged laptop brand, based on robustness,
endurance and the ability to perform in an arduous environment, they did not disappoint."
Blazepoint specialise in rugged technology, such as the rugged laptops used in these mountains. For
more information visit Blazepoint at http://www.blazepoint.co.uk
Source: www.24-7pressrelease.com
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