Latok 1 [Full Film]
The film of Tom Livingstone, Luka Stražar, Aleš Česen's second ascent of Latok 1---and the first from the north side---in 2018.
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In 2018, British climber Tom Livingstone, along with the Slovenian climbers Aleš Česen and Luka Stražar, made the second ever confirmed ascent of Latok 1, and the first ever ascent from the north. They were the first party to summit from the north after 40 years of attempts, largely focused on the north ridge. Earlier in the summer, the Russian duo of Alexander Gukov and Sergey Glazunov set a new highpoint on the ridge, but retreated before the summit proper. Glazunov died on the descent.
For their ascent of Latok 1, Tom Livingstone, Luka Stražar, Aleš Česen won a Piolet d’Or in 2019.
[Also Read A Peek Into the Piolets d’Or: Catching Up With the 2019 Winners in Poland]
After the ascent, Tom Livingstone told Rock and Ice all about the climb:
The route itself was pretty sustained moderate climbing. It was enjoyable and we were quite pleased with how quickly we moved through everything. We were either simul-climbing or pitching it out quickly.
There were of course the usual pitches of steep rotten ice and not much gear, but that’s to be expected on an alpine route. Otherwise it was generally moderate ground.
We were base camp to base camp in seven days. Five up, two down. We reversed the route coming down.
Abseling forever and ever is the part of climbing I enjoy least. So we were quite strategic when we were climbing. I was quite pleased with how we climbed at the right times and rested when it was unsafe, if that makes sense.
So as an example, when we descended we rapped through the night, and that was because it was safest since everything was frozen. So we went from about three-quarters height all the way down to the rocky start. We did that because it was safest.
Camera: Tom Livingstone, Luka Stražar, Aleš Česen, Urška Pribošič, Jure Niedorfer
Editing: Urška Pribošič
Final tweaking: Jure Niedorfer