The Journey

In 2006 Dave Cowell zoomed in from Google Earth and noticed this incredible high altitude series of glaciers in NW Tibet. And the idea was born.

The Central Kun Lun is the highest area of continuous snow and ice in the world and offers huge challenges for the team. Just getting to the snow-line is an epic in itself. The team will assemble in the fabled Silk Road town of Kashgar in far western China. From here we will take jeeps for 5 days or so up onto the lonely Tibetan Plateau. The track passes no closer than 100 km to the planned start point but it is hoped that with rivers and ground still frozen, the jeeps can make some progress cross country toward the mountains (of course, they may get nowhere!). From as close as we can get, we will then start ferrying loads to the glaciers using pulks on wheels.

Before even attempting to get up onto the mountains we will spend some weeks acclimatising with some shorter forays in mountains between Kashgar and our objective. It will be vitally important to be well acclimatised before we start hauling sleds loaded with gear and food for a month.

Because of the totally unknown nature of the route, the difficulties of continually skiing with heavy loads at altitudes between 6000 - 6500 metres and the possibility of bad weather, a month has been allowed for the actual skiing portion of the expedition (some 200 km) and 2 months in total. Should we reach our goal, then we will need to find a way off the glaciers and make our way to some point where we hope to be able to meet the jeeps (previously alerted by Satellite phone). Again this could be up to 100 km from the snows.

The Expedition represents a major exploratory journey and a significant physical challenge. It will be unusual in spending such an extended period of time and continuous effort above 6000 metres. This is unlike a typical high altitude mountaineering expedition which generally involves short periods ay much higher altitudes, interspersed with periods of rest and recuperation at lower levels.

Rough Itinerary for Ski the Roof of the World

  1. 7 March          Sydney-Beijing
  2. 8 March          Beijing-Urumqi-Kashgar
  3. 9-11 March    Kashgar
  4. 12-13 March  Drive to acclimatization area
  5. 14-19 March  Acclimatization
  6. 20-22 March  Drive to Start Point
  7. 23-24 March  Sort Gear
  8. 25 March       Contingency Day
  9. 26 March - 30 April     Skiing the Roof of the World
  10. 1-4 May         Rendezvous with drivers and return to Kashgar
  11. 5-6 May         Contingency Days
  12. 7-9 May         Kashgar
  13. 10 May          Fly Kashgar-Urumqi
  14. 11 May          Fly Urumqi-Beijing
  15. 14 May          Beijing-Sydney
  16. 15 May          Arrive Sydney