Tengkangpoche 2021

I wrote this blog in response to my initial Instagram post and the questions which followed after Matt Glenn and I climbed the north-east pillar of Tengkangpoche in Nepal.

Quentin Linfield Roberts knew Matt Glenn and I might try to climb Tengkangpoche’s north-east pillar; we repeatedly asked him for beta before our expedition to Nepal, as this mountain and this pillar was one of our many options for our climbing trip. We also considered the east and west face of Tengi Ragu Tau, Kwande and Kongde Ri. Our agent advised us to put Tengkangpoche on the permit as it was the cheapest and easiest option. We had this mountain as one of many ideas, but not as a fixed objective.

Quentin volunteered an enormous amount of beta, for which we were very grateful. I did not realise he was giving this reluctantly. He only mentioned his reservations of another team trying the TKP pillar line when we were already in Nepal. Over three years, Quentin and Jesse Huey have shared lots of information about this mountain, from blogs to podcasts to social media posts, and he therefore knew his publicity would generate some interest in this objective from other teams.

Thanks to all of Quentin’s generous information, and my 15 years worth of alpine climbing experience, Matt and I took plenty of equipment to base camp. This included etriers, jumars and about 15 pitons (more than enough for TKP). It is standard practice to take a surplus amount of gear to base camps. Quentin said he had left a bag of gear on the wall, near the bottom of the mountain, saying ‘it’s got a bunch of food in it that might be bad by now and also has gas cannisters and the stove, quite a bit of other crap too’.

Quentin and I climbed together several times in 2019 and had great experiences. I’ve always been completely honest with him and I said from the very beginning of my plans for a trip to Nepal that I was interested in TKP as a potential objective, amongst other mountains. Since Quentin and Jesse are friends, I assumed Jesse would know all the information and pass on my thanks (for information) before we left for Nepal.

The first time Matt and I attempted TKP we had everything we needed: we had our own etriers, jumars and traxions, pegs, plus all the food and gas we could possibly need. We neither used nor intended to use Quentin and Jesse’s gear. We left their equipment completely alone. Their bag was placed on the wall at the first (of six) bivies, which is not high on the mountain and is relatively easy to access in one moderate day of mostly scrambling.

On our second attempt, Matt and I only used the food (about 10 bars and gels, plus two freeze dried meals), two gas canisters, two pitons and an etrier belonging to Quentin and Jesse because we knew it was there – discarded on the wall. If we borrowed their equipment (instead of taking it up from our base camp) it would save us a little energy and perhaps a couple of kilos in our bags during our very first day of climbing. We could certainly have completed the route without touching their equipment (as we had intended in the first attempt), but we thought we would borrow some of it since we were passing it.

We ate about 10 energy bars and gels from Quentin and Jesse’s pack. In Quentin’s own words, they had ‘gone bad.’ They had expiry dates around summer 2021. We ate two freeze dried meals which had a similar expiry date. The two gas canisters were very rusted and corroded (particularly around the threads, and would likely become dangerous soon, but they seemed to work ok for now). We borrowed two pegs, an etrier (not two) and two jumars. We only ate their food and used their gas for our second and third day, and then ate our own food (and used our own gas) for the rest of the time. This means we ate our own food and used our own gas for the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh days.

We sincerely apologise for using Quentin and Jesse’s out-of-date food and for borrowing their equipment without their permission. On Monday 31 October, as soon as Matt and I were back in WiFi after climbing TKP, I messaged Quentin. I apologised for climbing a project he’d been invested in, I told him exactly what we’d used, and I offered to replace absolutely everything. Again, I always believe it’s best to be honest, immediately.

Matt and I debated at great length the question of whether or not we should use Quentin and Jesse’s equipment on the wall. The ethics and waste created by leaving equipment on mountains is already a major issue in the Himalayas. I know many, many climbers who have left gear on the mountain, promising they’d go back, but have never returned for a multitude of reasons. There’s absolutely no guarantee you’ll come back to tidy up your kit. Around the world, it’s very common to remove or use equipment you find in the mountains.

This whole issue strikes me as resentment by Quentin and Jesse. Understandably, they have invested energy into this line. However, people have climbed ‘my’ deeply personal projects in the past and whilst I was upset, I respectfully said, ‘well done.’ If I was in a similar current situation to Quentin and Jesse, I would be disappointed that TKP had been climbed, but would accept it with grace and without starting a smear campaign. I certainly wouldn’t want to attempt to damage another climbers reputation and credibility in order to detract from whatever they had climbed.

Neither Quentin nor Jesse spoke to us publicly or privately to express their thoughts after we had climbed TKP. Instead they’ve gone straight to social media to attack us, whilst also helping to create an inaccurate article. An article which only sought the opinion of individuals who would support their sensationalist headline, and ignored any evidence which would not support their preferred view.

Below are some quotes from this article:

‘Tom and Matt hadn’t brought ascenders, aiders, or pitons’ – this is false. We brought all these things to base camp, and on our first attempt.

‘Tom allegedly asked Quentin about the route without disclosing that he had a permit for it’ – this is false. I spoke to Quentin and expressed our interest in TKP and the region long before we even applied for a permit or set foot in Nepal.

‘If you consider how much seven days worth of food, fuel and climbing gear weighs, it’s the difference between 50 pound packs and 20 pound packs’ – this is false. We saved weight on the second and third days by using 10 bars and energy gels in addition to our own. This is about 1 kilo. 50 pounds roughly equates to 22 kilos, and 20 pounds equates to 9 kilos. The article is about 11 kilos off.

When I published my initial report on Instagram, I found you could only write a limited amount (2,200 characters, as it turns out). Of course, as writer, I’d already begun creating a full and much longer report, including our help from Quentin and Jesse’s equipment, but I was dismayed to find I couldn’t publish it on Instagram. I underestimated how necessary it would be to immediately and specifically mention each aspect of gear we had borrowed or used from Quentin and Jesse to the public – but I wasn’t too concerned since I had already sent this information to Quentin on Monday 31 October.

I decided that since I couldn’t write everything I wanted to say on Instagram, I’d write an honest and complete report on my website in the near future (as I always do after a trip. This website is full of such articles). My report would obviously include all the information regarding Quentin and Jesse’s discarded pack. Again, I had already told Quentin what we’d used and that I’d replace all of it.

It strikes me as unfair of Quentin and Jesse to attack our characters in this way, rather than speaking directly to us. This attack especially speaks about honesty and ethics. Quentin has repeatedly said this mountain shouldn’t be climbed using bolts (“by pure means [no bolts] or not at all.”) Matt and I were therefore dismayed to find a hand drill and bolts in the discarded pack when we looked inside. We debated taking a photo of the bolts as ‘evidence’ but decided against it, as we didn’t want to cause unnecessary controversy.

Leaving gear on the mountain (including bolts) isn’t great. This is part of climbing in the mountain: ethics, integrity, and leaving no trace. When Matt and I bailed on our first attempt on TKP, we took everything down from the mountain, despite knowing we knew we wanted to come back.

In response to comments about entitlement, the idea that investing time and money into a mountain makes it (or any other line) more ‘yours’ seems to be more entitled than anything we’ve done or said.

On a personal note, I find it a bit upsetting that Andrew Bisharat is now calling against a ‘whipped up social media mob’ when he knows full well this is exactly what he’s started. To write a false and sensationalist article on your website and then tell people to calm down and not over-react strikes me as being ‘a little late.’ To say our ascent was ‘poaching’ is ridiculous. Nobody owns this line or this mountain.

Again, Matt and I apologise to Quentin and Jesse for eating some of their food and taking a few items of their equipment without permission. We regret this and, as previously offered, will replace it completely. We wish them the best of luck for Tengkangpoche’s north-east pillar.