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“Addictions can be very, very bad but addiction itself is not bad.
It’s a case of what you’re addicted to.
You better live each day like it’s your last, ‘cos one day you’re going to be right”.
Ray Charles.
Link tip a friend
- BAD China! TS in hot tub and pissed off at Chinese cyber attacks on his site.
Boil things right down, these are perhaps the 2 fundamental questions that need answering:
Why should I believe this guy?
What does his business do?
So, here are some answers:
Tom is a Swede, as in a born in Sweden type Swede. In terms of natural resources, Sweden doesn’t really have much but it does have a serious and diligent population and is a country that makes things such as the SAAB JAS-39 Gripen jet fighter which is very cool and SAAB cars, which are less so.
- Nepal field testing.
Sweden is not known as being a country of crazy, flaky people, so this is also looking positive, however if the owner of this type of business hasn’t also been in the field himself, there’s potentially a problem with “cultural fit” as it were.
This is not a problem in this case and a couple of highlights of TS’s are that he’s summited Everest, sledded to the North and South Poles back to back and unsupported and sailed the Atlantic; in other words you’d be hard pressed to find anyone with more experience in the expedition technology business.
Some of the most typical technical mistakes made regarding using this type of technology can be avoided by asking yourself: what do you want to do and why do you want to do it.
Not answering these questions before you start can lead to huge foul-ups and disappointments but these pitfalls can be avoided by asking these simple questions right at the beginning of the planning stage.
- TS holding the Holzel Chemox Rebreather closed-circuit oxygen system on the North side of Everest at Advanced Base Camp at 21,000' in 1986.
Then, after you’ve decided on what you want from the technology, these next 4 points should be kept in mind, as they’re the primary reasons why technology fails:
1. Not testing enough before the expedition.
2. Inadequate protection of electronics or rough handling.
3. Lack of backups.
4. Not asking for support.
In addition to the gear which is on the Products page which is able to be either bought or hired, what HET also provides is a lot of tech support. They’ve spent serious time creating user manuals that are easy to use and also HET is keen to eliminate potential problems by encouraging clients to get in contact early to make sure things are going smoothly.
Expedition technology users understandably want Smaller, Lighter and More Simple, even though what’s available right now are ultra-light packages capable of updating text, images and even video live from the summit of an 8000 metre peak and all from equipment that weighs around half a kilo.
HET has assembled more than 700 major hardware and software combinations and many more sat phone and solar panel packages and they’ll ship anywhere outside the US and have never had a package go missing.
So there you have it for this page, check out the Products for just a snapshot of their gear, the HET site is obviously the place to get the full info but this will give some ideas of what’s on offer.
A reasonable question that may be asked at this point is: “Why are you pumping these guys so hard?”
And actually that’s the easiest thing to answer.
Have a look at the next 2 videos. In the middle of the first one of French team on a new route on Trango Pulpit in Pakistan. Have a listen to the raw emotion and exaltation in both the flyers’ voice and the climber in yellow who is left behind on the ledge; it’s just fantastic. That stuff is the absolute essence of what’s gnawing away inside some people and to have technology fail to capture it and maybe even broadcast this madness, would be tragic.
The second video is of the Belgian Alpine Club’s climbing team on Asgard which is brilliant in the same vein; massive granite towers, first ascents, fucking giant whippers and just a great crew enjoying it all.
That’s why we’re giving Tom and HET a big wrap; his is a niche business that understands that these missions are all unique and are way too special to not be able to be shared by a wider audience if you’re the sharing kind.
(And clip 3 is when you don’t call him ….. ha ha and go here for the Products overview page).