MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall / Winter 2017

FALL/WINTER 2017 MLCM 99 process in Karakol was notoriously primitive and slow. Rather than leave us with no guide or translator, Kas managed to recruit one of his friends, Marat, to drive our crew three days South and join us on our expedition into the Pamirs. Marat spoke Russian and very little English or Kyrgyz, which would cause some confusion in the predominantly Kyr- gyz-speaking southern part of the country. In the small village of Saray Mogul, our final stop before hiking into the Pamirs, we enjoyed the traditional architecture (clay structures, open hole toilets) mixed with contemporary culture (the younger children ac- centuate their traditional clothing with Chicago Bulls hats and/or FBI hoodies). Our main focus however, was a beautiful spine wall across the plateau. Guarded by giant peaks with huge hanging seracs in the distance, it looked like it belonged more in Alaska than Kyrgyzstan. But here it was, hooking us in, and we needed to figure out how to get to the top of that ridge and ride those lines. ABOVE Cinematographer Seth Gillis finds glory on the other side of the lens. RIGHT The always ambitious Rafael "Rafa" Pease.