Peak performance

Tom Hicks is an explorer and conservationist – as well as a Christopher Ward Challenger.
As part of his work for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (a charity partner of CW), Tom spent June and July attempting to climb one 
of the highest peaks in central Asia with the goal of raising awareness for the charity’s snow leopard preservation initiatives. Here, he talks with Loupe about his experience at the top of the world.

Hi Tom! You’ve been on an adventure. Tell us about it!
I’ve been in Kyrgyzstan for the last few weeks, attempting to climb Lenin Peak, one of a chain of five mountains that were the highest in the USSR, and are also the natural habitat of the snow leopard. Thanks to the work the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation is doing in partnership with Christopher Ward, I thought it would be a challenge to see how far we could get up a ‘snow leopard’ mountain to raise awareness and funds. 

How did it begin?
I flew into the capital, Bishkek. From there, I took another flight to Osh, the second city. After that, there was a seven-hour bus ride to the foothills of the Pamir mountain range and the base camp of Lenin Peak. There’s a bronze bust of him at the summit! 

“Some local people said that the mountain didn’t want anyone to climb her: she was fighting back”

What was the purpose of the expedition?
The purpose of this and all the other trips I’ve done is to bring attention to wildlife conservation. Any way I can to raise awareness to species like the snow leopard, I’ll do it – including trying to climb up a 7,000m mountain!

How was your journey?
Brutal. I was initially part of a team of seven climbers attempting to climb Lenin Peak and another nearby mountain. Of the seven, I was the only one who left without injury or illness. Not through skill or toughness, but luck. One guy busted his knee; another had heart problems, and another got early-onset cerebral oedema – brain swelling.

It sounds awful…
The weather was really tough. I was there for June and July, and only three climbers managed to summit Lenin Peak in that time. We had winds of 60mph, plus snow, which meant we were pushing through waist-deep snow in very high winds. There were avalanches, too. Three climbers from another team got caught up in an avalanche, and sadly, one died. 
The mountains bite heavily. Some local people said that the mountain didn’t want anyone to climb her: she was fighting back. As we went up through the glacier, the crevasses were getting wider and wider, and we came across new crevasses we hadn’t seen on the way up. One of the team members fell through an ice bridge. Only because he was attached to a rope could we bring him back up!

Did you conquer the mountain?
Unfortunately not. We were in the mess tent, all the radios were talking about the weather, and we were wondering what to do. Two locals said, “There’s a 10-15 percent chance we’ll summit.” And we could see weather fronts coming in regularly. When we went to Camp 3 at 6,100m, the weather changed and you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The decision to not go to the summit was made then. And it was the right one.

Do you see any snow leopards?
It wasn’t possible this time. The base camp is at 3,700m and Camp 1 is around 4,600m, which is the altitude at which snow leopards live, but sadly, we didn’t see any. However, on the return leg, I met up with our snow leopard conservation team based in Kyrgyzstan. They’d set up some camera traps on a 10-day expedition and were able to identify the specific tracks that snow leopards like to use and scent-marking rocks where they rub their necks. As they’re solitary animals, apart from when mating, it’s their social media!

Did you wear a Christopher Ward watch on the climb?
I wore both the C60 Anthropocene and C60 Atoll – swapping between the two. Both are sturdy, and the lighter dials 
 attracted questions from other climbers, who were wearing digital/GPS watches. I really appreciated the lume, too. We climbed a lot through the night, leaving at 2:30am to avoid the sun melting the ice – it was really cool to see how they 
 glowed in the dark. And thanks to the 
 Anthropocene’s GMT function, I always knew what time it was at home as it was set to British Summer Time.

How are you feeling now?
I’ve been back in the UK for a few weeks, and it’s been a bit of a blur getting back to reality. Three or four weeks sleeping in a tent on the side of a mountain does that to you! I had a culture shock when I went into Sainsbury’s for the first time!