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Part I of III: The guides' guide - from climber to expedition leader 
“It’s always in my head, all the expeditions.” Ralf can’t seem to get away from them, but on the other hand why should he. He has gone from climbing out of self interest, to guiding just one 8000 meter peak a season, all the way to now offering guide services for 6, 8000m peaks per year.
The guides' guide ExplorersWeb caught up with Ralf Dujmovits whilst he was preparing this upcoming year’s catalogue for his commercial expedition company AMICAL Alpin. Very few 8000-meter guides have the experience and history of summiting 8 of the 14, 8000-meter peaks; and having done several of them multiple times. Ralf is involved with the guiding association IGO 8000, and is one of their most experienced members. Kangchenjunga 2003 Yet somewhere in between running a business, guiding, and taking his family rock-climbing, Ralf still manages to find time to leave everything behind and go to the mountains on his own terms with his own team. For the spring of 2003 he is organizing a Kangchenjunga expedition with some other very experienced climbers. Should he succeed, it will be Ralf’s 9th, 8000-meter summit. His thoughts about going for all fourteen – “I don’t want to talk about 14 before climbing Kangch.” No more Everest Up until 1995 Ralf split his time between personal climbing and guiding. From there on the business began to evolve and he became more consumed with guiding. It was after 1996 that Ralf switched his guiding style. Previously he only offered a couple of 8000-meter peaks, but they were big ones, like Everest and K2. Presently, you won’t see those two mountains in his catalogue, but you will find an offering of 6, 8000ers that AMICAL guides per year. Ralf spent two seasons guiding on Everest. His second time there, the preceding fall season after the tragedy of 1996, Ralf became further convinced, “I can’t help clients when they are that high up. Being above 8000 meters takes a lot out of a good guide and makes it hard enough for them to climb themselves, there isn’t enough left sometimes to help a client – I don’t want to guide a mountain that I can’t guarantee the security of the clients.” Everest politics Ralf also spoke of another issue that comes up on Everest, but not on most other peaks. In regards to fixing ropes and preparing the mountain, “on Everest no one wants to waste their energy helping other teams, this creates politics.” This is, however, not a reason why Ralf stays away from guiding Everest – safety is the main reason. The equipment necessary for Everest is also an issue, “I do not have faith in the oxygen systems, O-rings and regulator problems are common. You can bring up extras, but it is too much to deal with.” Accidents and illness on 8000-meter mountains are inevitable. Guides can take all the steps necessary to prevent them, but if they do happen, a guide must also be able to assist in a rescue. Rescues at high-altitude are dangerous and risky, but at the heights of mountains like Everest and K2 they become too dangerous for Ralf, especially with such variable weather. His views on climbing have changed over the years, as has his business. Part II tomorrow - Ralf's climbing philosophies, private and commercial |