First south-to-north traverse of the central Changtang "by fair means", climb of the Zangser Kangri (6551m)
"... A white mule, which had carried no load for the past ten days, was frozen to death. Now I had 27 mules, 27 horses, and 27 servants in the caravan. We had not seen a man for 57 days. Should we all remain together till we fell in with the first nomads? " - This is what the swedisch explorer Sven Hedin wrote during Transhimalaya expedition 1906 bis 1908. He was equipped with hundreds of animals to carry tons of equipment, and support his large crew...
Approximately 90 years after Sven Hedins famous explorations of central Tibet: we, the engineer Stefan Simmerer, and the doctor Frank Kauper plan a traverse of the central Changtang from south to north. By alpine style, on foot and unsupported. No animals, no porters, no depots. Both of us have previously experienced our limits: the one has survived a number of extreme alpine climbs, while the other is competing in triathlon and a long distance trekker.
Some numbers from the Changtang expedition:
62 days above 5000 m altitude 1000 km on foot through rough terrain 45 kg of food taken along 35 days alone with the Changtang, not meeting any other people 20 kg loss of body weight