Safety

Having a safe climb is our primary focus. Mustagata is a high mountain and for many members this will be their first time at such a high altitude. We take our time acclimatizing, by spending a full day and two nights at beautiful Karakul Lake at the base of Mustagata before walking to base camp. During the expedition we encourage climbers to use our time-tested acclimatization routine that is flexible and tailored to meet most members needs.

We believe that an informed and knowledgeable team member is a safe member. At the beginning of the expedition we go over on-the-mountain safety protocols such as prevention of acute mountain sickness (AMS), basics of high-altitude medicine, how to use the two-way radios, rope-team travel, crevasse rescue, and more.

The route will be put in and checked for crevasses before members go up and the camps are established ahead of time. On Mustagata there are few natural features to show the way. It is thus imperative for safety to mark the route using flagged poles, or wands. In addition, some of the staff and often many of the members carry GPS units. We keep track of where everyone is on the mountain at all times and monitor their condition.

On the mountain there is no solo climbing. If you do not have a climbing partner, do not worry. You will always be climbing with other members and/or the climbing staff. On summit day we make sure that there is at least one staff member with you (Unless requested otherwise).

At base camp we have oxygen, a Portable Altitude Chamber (PAC unit - similar to Gamow bag), Satellite phone, and an extensive medical kit. Each of the three high camps also have medical kits and our staff all carry radios and emergency medicines.

In China there is presently no helicopter rescue. This is unfortunate and requires that evacuations must be performed overland. If there is the need for a rescue, we will refocus all our efforts on the task of evacuating the climber down to base camp where we will transport the climber by camel or donkey to a vehicle. Four-wheel drive jeeps can come relatively close to our base camp and we have a well-established system in place to deal with an evacuation just in case.