Steve House Talking Gear for Climbing Nanga Parbat via the Rupal Face (2005 climb, 2006 video)

In Spring '06, after Vince and I climbed Nanga Parbat, I was in Ventura for some Patagonia design-work and Tim and Stuart from photo talked me into going through the gear we used for Nanga Parbat. The video was posted to the Patagonia KZbin Channel for a long time but was cleaned out of there in 2018. Here it lives again. Enjoy

[@niftyfiftyphoto]

20 years later and so much is so similar

[@etbrendan]

Holey smokes, the stuff about aluminum pots being more efficient, along with the positioning of the bottle! Knowledge bomb, mind blown.

[@kevingeary1472]

So awesome! Steve you are in the company of greats of all time. You have inspired me with MANY of your climbs and seem like a genuine good guy. I hope I get to meet you in the wilderness one day.

[@HikingNerd]

Thanks for posting! Steve is such an icon.

[@karstenfoerster7509]

yes! I'm so glad this was uploaded again!

[@sqreon9401]

Super interesting point on titanium vs aluminium pots. Nuts how a lot of that kit already looks like ancient relics compared to a lot of modern kit

[@sebastianflynn1746]

So happy to see this since it was taken off patagonias youtube, I'd like to see an update from Steve as to what he'd use these days.

[@vincentkrause7097]

He has a Video about what he packs vor overnight alpine climbing

[@sebastianflynn1746]

@@vincentkrause7097 I know but not quite the same as a multi day alpine style ascent nanga parbat.

[@UphillAthlete]

@@sebastianflynn1746 Honestly not that much has changed. Slight differences in boots, in ropes. The stove, tent, sleeping bag, food, technical gear such as screws and cams, none of that has changed much if at all.

[@sebastianflynn1746]

@@UphillAthlete awesome good to know, this is such a great resource and useful for my own climbing.

[@vincentkrause7097]

Thanks for the reupload!!! This is so helpful and Inspirating!

[@eduardoalonsogil3389]

Very happy to watch it again. Very ilustrative! Thank´s.

[@peterhurley4194]

the grivel slider elastic retention cord broke exactly like that for me on a climb, the tool was bare metal after repeated plunging on the snow descent

[@austinkopp9811]

Love that tidbit about cameras! Oh, how the world has changed!

[@timotheverrette5988]

Most of the climbing equipment feels like it's from another era (Grivels haven't changed a bit tho :P ), it's pretty incredible to see how technology has changed climbing in the last 15 years! Super informative video, wasn't expecting to learn tons about stoves...

[@UphillAthlete]

Grivel hasn't changed? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmKUYXl6Zt51fJI

[@luis.borges]

great video! I remember seeing it some years ago and was mind blown on his fast and light tips. I would love to see a follow up on the gear that he is now using or would use in a similar alpine objective. For sure the ice screw would be aluminium and film camera would be replaced by a compact digital like the sony RX100

[@vincentkrause7097]

Check out the Website of Mountain Equipment there is a Post about what Tom Livingstone had in his 45l Pack on a similar route north Ridge Latok I last year.

[@UphillAthlete]

As I've said before, not much has changed. And with ice screws. Note that aluminum ice screws existed for a very long time (Lowe RATS were popular in the 90s) The problem with them, even the modern versions is that they don't work in very hard, very cold, very old ice like you get on these big faces. So honestly I would still bring steel ice screws with a good coating. You'd never be able to place an aluminum screw in the old and cold ice of a himalayan face.

[@UphillAthlete]

and I'd probably just bring my iphone, still the best camera I've ever had and probably would get reception from higher on the face LOL

[@mpreiss7780]

In terms of style, size, high altitude and difficulty, in my opinion its Definitely one of the great ascents in the history of Alpinism. I cannot understand why 80% of modern Himalayan climbing is done expedition style with bottled oxygen? as alpine style has been proven feasible there since the 1970's with Messner, ect...

[@andrewyi6671]

Steve, great video! Do you normally carry the slings over the shoulder or do you carry them in alpine draw configuration? For rock gear, Ive found that I prefer over the shoulder with just 1 carabiner since the cams have their own racking biner that you climb the sling to. For ice screws, I'm thinking two carabiners are necessary (one to clip to the screw and the other other for the rope end)?

[@UphillAthlete]

I carry slings over my shoulder for alpine/ice climbing with 1 biner each for the reasons you indicate. It takes some work to know how to stay organized with them, but it's better imo than making/undoing alpine draws all the time. I also rack on a sling, not on my harness. This makes transitions WAY faster, just hand the rack to the new leader. I only rack ice screws, free biners, lockers, belay device, cordalette, and quick draws on my harness. Always rack everythign in the same place so you know where things are. For rock climbing, I do things differently, racking much more on my harness.

[@UphillAthlete]

For questions about this video please visit our forum found here: uphillathlete.com/forums/

[@andrewyi6671]

Hey Steve, great videos. Thanks for uploading this! Had a question about crampons. I know that you are grivel athlete. I'm considering getting either the g20 plus or grivel 22 plus for alpine climbs. I got got say the g22 plus crampons and purchased the front section of the g20 plus, do you know if the g20 front section would fit on the g22 gear? I'd like the flexibility of being able to switch out between mono and dual points. Thanks in advance!

[@UphillAthlete]

I dont' have a G22 here to try it, but I think that would work. You should call a shop, like Ouray Mountain Sports in Colorado or The Mountaineer in upstate New York, who employees people intimately familiar with the gear. They'll know best.

[@andrewyi6671]

@@UphillAthlete thanks! I'll do that. Which of the 2 do you prefer?

[@andrewyi6671]

Hey Steve, thanks again for your comments. Quick question... I'm considering getting the g22 plus for both technical mountaineering (glacier travel plus some alpine ice climbing and short mixed sections) as well as water ice cragging. Is the g22 plus ok to walk around on glaciers with? I know that it'll do great on technical portions of alpine climbs but my past experience with more technical crampons is that they can be quite tedious for glacier approaches etc Thanks on advance!

[@themountainknights]

Thankyou for sharing this video. Get a few valuable ideas to include in my climbs. Can you please tell me the name and model of camera 📸?

[@UphillAthlete]

Uff. that was a long time ago. I think it was a Ricoh. We shot slide film because, well, it was 2005!

[@vincentkrause7097]

@Steve House why did you use crampons with a strap Front Part instead of crampons with a clip in binding in the front? Because I was always told that these double clip bindig crampons are better and less flexible for Technical climbing

[@UphillAthlete]

They're significantly lighter. If the crampon is fit properly then it works perfectly. Remember this was 2005 gear, so some things may have changed.

[@benandellie609]

There was another video that came about the time this one was made, where Steve made fun of the golden ice axe that he kept under some shelving, lol. Where's that video??

[@UphillAthlete]

No, that was probably some other interview. Vince Anderson finally took the Piolet d'Or from under a dusty stack of newspapers and hung it on the wall at his house. I was grateful he did so!

[@MrCdrant]

Whips out the piolet at the end, no big deal.