Livingstone and Česen make first ascent of West Ridge of Gasherbrum III
- Sunday 18th August 2024
Tom Livingstone and his Slovenian climbing partner Aleš Česen have made the first ascent of the West Ridge of Gasherbrum III, a rarely climbed sub-8k peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram.
Having come painfully close to success on the West Ridge in 2022 – they retreated some 150m below the summit – Tom Livingstone and Aleš Česen have returned and successfully completed the difficult West Ridge on Gasherbrum III. Livingstone and Česen climbed the route in alpine-style over a seven day period in late July/early August. Livingstone and Česen called their new route Edge of Entropy.
Just 48metres short of the allusive 8000m mark, Gasherbrum III is off the beaten track in terms of “popular” peaks. The technical difficulties of the West Ridge, coupled with the high altitude, sets the Livingstone and Česen route and style of ascent firmly aside from the more usual 8000m mountaineering style adopted by commercial expeditions.
Livingstone and Česen started out on their route in late July; finally, after seven days of arduous climbing, the pair summited on August 4th. They then traversed over to the “normal route” on Gasherbrum II which they descended via the fixed ropes on that route.
Described their dream as well as their first ascent of Edge of Entropy on-line, Livingstone said;
“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? @alescesen and I wanted to explore.
Gasherbrum 3 (7958m) is apparently the world’s 15th highest peak. We tried in ‘22 and returned for a rematch this summer.
When we launched for G3’s west ridge, attempted by Scots in ‘85, we pushed on a door to what we wondered was possible. Shedding expectations, worries and ideas, we simply moved upwards with an inquisitive mind and a silent, crashing body. Sick in the head and stomach, we slowed. Alpinism is such a beautiful trap of what you want and what you need.
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 8K, 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. Our trek back to civilisation was filled with life.”
Like many successful partnerships, Livingstone and Cesen have climbed together previously. Their most noticeable ascent, when they accompanied by another Slovenian Luka Strazar, they made the second ascent – the first from the north - of the extremely difficult Latok I. Their 2018 ascent, which was accomplished with six bivouacs, was awarded with the Piolets d'Or in 2019.
The West Ridge route on Gasherbrum III was originally attempted in 1985 by Scottish team comprising Geoffrey Cohen and Desmond Rubens; their audacious attempt however ended some 250m below the summit. Gasherbrum III itself was originally climbed in 1975 by Wanda Rutkiewicz, Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz, Janusz Onyszkiewicz and Krzysztof Zdzitowiecki.