Photo by Savanah Cummins courtesy The North Face
In the heart of the Karakoram, where the incredible density of high mountains is indisputable but the political borders between countries aren't, the Trango Towers manage to stand out. Of these stark granite spikes rising out of the tangle of mountains and valleys, the 20,623-foot Great Trango Tower is most prominent. Ascending to its summit has long been a dream coveted by climbers; it was first accomplished in 1977 and has been returned to many times since. But until a few weeks ago, nobody had ever skied it. Many hadn't even thought about it.
Then on 9 May 2024 alpinists Jim Morrison, Christina "Lusti" Lustenberger, and Chantel Astorga achieved the first ever ski descent of the Great Trango Tower. Supported by a small team and The North Face, the feat makes history and proves once again the boundaries of ski mountaineering are always blurry.
A long time in the making, Lustenberger and Morrison first attempted to nab the first ski descent down Great Trango in 2023 with skier Nick McNutt but were turned away 500 meters below the summit by an impassable crevasse. Determined that their line could be drawn in that high snow, the two returned to Pakistan this year with a new team and found success—despite visa issues, health problems, and foul weather that kept them base camp-bound for weeks.
Recently, we caught up with the trio via email to find out how they pulled it off. Turns out, better beta on the mountains, plenty of good ol' fashioned teamwork, and the Monopoly Deal card game all had parts to play. Read on for the full interview with Morrison, Lustenberger, and Astorga.
How did you learn about the Great Trango Tower and when did it become a goal to ski it?
Jim Morrison:
I have been reading about Trango Tower and seeing photos of it my whole life as a climber. It’s a storied mountain that some of the world's best climbers have pushed the limits of high altitude climbing on for decades. In 2020 I was climbing with my friend Andres Marin in Indian Creek and talking about his expedition to climb Great Trango and Nameless. My whole life I’ve wanted to go to these wild Karakorum mountains and talking with him and Anna Pfaff about Trango I asked them if they thought I could climb it. They responded enthusiastically, 'You could ski it!'
Years later Lusti was asking me to go to Snow Lake in Pakistan on a ski expedition she was trying to make happen and I agreed with the caveat that we take three days during the trip to walk to the Trango Towers and see if it looked skiable. Over the coming weeks we researched photos and pretty quickly the Snow Lake part was dropped as we just got determined to try Trango instead.
Can you describe your Great Trango Tower route? What does the crux look like?
Christina Lustenberger:
Base camp sits at just over 4000 meters [elevation], leaving camp you turn up the Nameless Gully, the same approach used to climb the Nameless Tower. From here it's straightforward to high camp. High camp is 5000m under a huge boulder, somewhat protected from avalanche and rock fall hazards. When leaving highcamp we trend climbers right ascending towards the ramp system, and a beautiful line that leads to the upper part of the mountain. While this is still exposed, compared to the rest of the upper mountain it feels quite mellow. About halfway up the ramp there is a 5.9 rock step. We only had summer beta on our first attempt. In 2023 I led this pitch, and fixed a line for the crew to ascend. The rope was still there, and we used it again in 2024.
Once you reach the last rock stance it's time to traverse onto the big glacier face. From the traverse, you continue up right to the narrow arm that eventually leads to a large horizontal crevasse pretty much spanning the entire face. This shut us down in 2023. In 2024, I was belayed across the crevasse protecting with three ice screws and eventually building an anchor for the rest of the group to follow. In 2024, once across the crevasse I knew we would summit.
/div>View this post on InstagramAbove the crevasse it's mostly snow walking, avoiding big crevasses and assessing the snow on the steeper slope. The summit ridge was steeper and was protected by a schrund. We belayed Jim across and watched him climb to the summit. Watching him reach the summit was pretty amazing, his last big trip ended in tragedy, and it was uplifting to see him stand on top after so much hard behind him. We followed to the summit, and all stood up there together. On descent Chantel rappelled the steep section, while Jim and I chose to ski it. The ski descent was amazing. I built a V thread above the crevasse and the group rappelled through it. We continued skiing down with one more rappel through the mixed step.
What's unique about climbing in Pakistan compared to other places?
Chantel Astorga:
It’s a much more wild environment than climbing in places like India and Nepal, everything takes longer to get to. Pakistan doesn’t have the infrastructure set in place that these other Himalayan countries have developed for tourism/trekking. It’s still “behind the scenes” so to speak.
Lustenberger:
Very little skiing has happened in Pakistan and most that has is exploratory, so it really adds an element of wild adventure!
Christina, you wrote on Instagram, "It’s hard to explain the constant obsession of a mountain." How does obsession and this being a second attempt affect the mindset of a climb?
Lustenberger:
In some ways this goal has been the only constant in my life the last two years. So much has rocked me, and climbing and skiing this mountain has kept me out of the ditch. It's interesting being on the other side of such a huge goal and project. Over two seasons of putting energy into it and now it's completed. I think there was a short lived feeling of pride, followed by a 'what's next?'
What were the differences this year? Was it simply cooperative weather?
Morrison:
This year it was mostly just finding a balance between weather, health of team members and good effort to make it to the top. The crevasse we were turned around by last year had moved downslope and was more easily passed which made the real crux of the expedition come down to weather and health of the team.
Were there any unexpected obstacles or moments of doubt or fear?
Lustenberger:
I think the first week on the second trip. I was really sick, I had HAPE symptoms as well as other sickness. This drains you so much and makes you question everything.
Astorga:
The only moment that I felt some discomfort was when I was breaking trail up the upper headwall. It was a 45-50 degree slope and the snow was waist deep and felt a bit hollow at the interface of the snowpack/glacier ice. All things leading up to this point would suggest that the existing snowpack had had enough time to adjust to the new snowfall and wind loading, but I had a gut feeling that was disagreeing with the facts. In the end I listed out the facts and suppressed the gut feeling and everything worked out fine.
What does your summit attempt equipment setup look like for an effort like this? (Snacks included!)
Astorga:
Skis, boots, crampons, two pairs of light gloves, one warm pair and a pair of mittens, puffy pants, belay coat, headlamp, harness, seven ice screws, one beak, three nuts, seven draws, two 45-meter ropes. Seven bars, two gels, some salami and cheese, a handful of hard candies, and two liters of water for the day. Coming from an alpine climbing background, a long day out in the mountains to ski involves a lighter and paired down kit than I’m used to.
What does the weather look like in this region of Pakistan?
Astorga:
We dealt with a lot of dirty weather meaning we weren’t getting any strong high-pressure systems, but the low pressure systems rolling through weren’t that strong either. Personally I feel this is the hardest weather pattern to deal with in big mountains because it’s generally not that bad and you could conceivably climb in it. This weather pattern often causes decision making fatigue because you’re stuck in the gray zone for weeks on end, but in the end we had the strong high pressure and beautiful weather.
What did you do for all those weeks at base camp?
Morrison:
We spent the time playing Monopoly Deal in our dining tent and had lots of time in our personal tents to read, watch shows on a phone, and reflect on life.
Lustenberger:
Lots of daily hiking around basecamp, stretching, trying to keep the mind and body motivated while waiting. It's challenging for sure.
Astorga:
Being stuck at basecamp just involves patience. There was a lot of socializing, card games, stretching, walking, reading, watching movies, and dreaming about eating good food.
What are the necessary ingredients needed to draft a team attempting a feat like what you've just pulled off?
Morrison:
Leadership, communication, teamwork and compassion. Leo [Hoorn] led the creative side exceptionally well and we all worked together. We ultimately climbed as a team of four and everyone shared in leading the pitches and doing the hard work.
Astorga:
Ideally a group that rounds each other out from each individual's past experiences. Also, people that bring positivity and psych to the trip.
Describe the thoughts and feelings you had upon completing this goal, more than two years in the making and now finally achieved.
Astorga:
Summits are always a powerful place to be and being on top of the Great Trango looking around at all the mountains I’ve been reading about for many years was a wonderful experience for me. It was special to share it with Jim and Lusti and I know it was powerful for them for various reasons including their efforts to get there from the past couple seasons.
Lustenberger:
I honestly don't think it has set in yet. For sure that day was incredible and an experience that I want to cherish for a long time. That’s why I wanted to go back. The experience, feeling the exposure and the mountain fall away on all aspects. It's a wild line, and to be up there in a flow state climbing and skiing was really a beautiful moment.
Morrison:
Standing on the summit of this iconic mountain was an emotional moment I will appreciate for a long, long time. Being able to ski this tower of granite that has such a rich history in climbing felt really gratifying. It took us a really long time to pull it off over two years and in the end the juice was worth the squeeze, as they say.
Published 06-06-2024
