Expedition Overview

In 1997, Quinn Simons, along with friend Soren Peters and guide Charlie Fowler, attempted an unclimbed route on the North Face of Gurla Mandhata, a rarely climbed 7,694 meter peak in western Tibet.

Storm-bound for days, the trio finally emerged from their tiny tent at 24,000 feet to begin their descent. A slip on frostbitten feet started a cartwheeling, 1,500 foot fall down the mountain.

Somehow, all three men emerged alive...shaken, but alive.

But Quinn’s life would never be the same.

With extreme, deep-tissue frostbite to his hands and feet, Quinn returned home not to celebration, but to the agony of surgery after surgery, eventually resulting in the loss of both feet and most of his hands.

Eleven years later, Quinn - along with long time friend and expedition leader Jake Norton - will return to Gurla Mandhata to climb the still-unclimbed North Face Direct, and to change lives in the process.

Our journey will begin in one of the most remote regions of Nepal, the Humla district in the far west. Trekking in from the tiny airstrip at Simikot, we’ll journey northward for 7 days along the sacred Karnali River, eventually crossing the 14,000 foot Nara La Pass and entering Tibet. From there, we’ll make the short journey to Gurla Mandhata.

Gurla Mandhata is a unique peak, sitting just south of holy Mount Kailash in remote western Tibet. While it was first attempted in 1905 by Tom Longstaff, the peak was not successfully climbed until 1985. Since that time, it has only seen 13 successful ascents.

Our climbing route will follow a direct line up the dramatic - and still unclimbed - North Face, a 7000 foot sweeping wall of snow, ice, and rock first attempted by Quinn Simons and his team 11 years ago. While we believe we can climb this route, weather and team safety are always both an issue and a concern. With this in mind, we are obtaining a dual permit which will allow us to climb the standard Chaglung’mlungha Glacier route if conditions bar us from attempting the North Face.

While the climb will be a major focus of the overall expedition, we are not going simply as climbers. Along the way we will work actively with partners on the ground in Nepal to change the lives of disabled Nepalis, of which there are many thanks to disease and the 15 year Maoist insurrection. Our goal through these efforts will be to leave the region better than when we came and give disabled Nepalis a new lease on life.

In the US, we will also work with our domestic partners, Challenged Athletes Foundation and Paradox Sports to help share Quinn’s story of triumph and help others realize that there is, indeed, life after disability.