Aleš Česen & Tom Livingstone climb West Ridge of Gasherbrum III

Climbing alpine style over a period of seven days at the end of July and start of August, Slovenia's Aleš Česen and Britain's Tom Livingstone have completed the coveted first ascent of the huge West Ridge of Gasherbrum III in Pakistan's Karakoram.

Standing 7,952m meters tall, G3 lacks a mere 48 meters to make it an official 8000er, but the mountain first ascended as late as 1975 by Wanda Rutkiewicz, Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz, Janusz Onyszkiewicz and Krzysztof Zdzitowiecki certainly packs a punch. Česen and Livingstone know this all too well, since in summer 2022 they attempted a new route on the mountain but eventually bailed 150m below the summit due to "the cold, weather, fatigue and lack of reasonable options." 

Despite the hardship, their attempt had left them wanting more, their curiosity - of wanting to know whether it is possible to climb a technical, hard alpine route at high altitude - remained unquenched, hence their return to Pakistan's Karakoram in July. True to their ideals, once again they chose to operate as a small, independent, lightweight, alpine-style team. I.e. no supplementary oxygen, no high altitude porters. And once again they had in mind the huge West Ridge, first attempted in 1985 by the Scottish mountaineers Geoffrey Cohen and Desmond Rubens who, after a formidable effort, turned around at 7700m.

42-year-old Česen and 33-year-old Livingstone required seven intense days for their magnificent round-trip to the summit and back. They peaked on the 4th of August and then descended by traversing across to the normal route on Gasherbrum II and following the fixed ropes down. Livingstone described the route as being "... 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." 

Livingstone added "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."

Livingstone and Cesen often climb together and in 2018 they endured 6 bivouacs with Slovenia's Luka Strazar while making the second ascent overall, and first ascent from the north, of the extremely challenging Latok I. Their ascent was awarded with the Piolets d'Or in 2019.