‘An Expedition Deep into a Forbidden Land’

Posted 2/25/16

This would be an old-school expedition, to a remote place still largely unexplored.

“For some place to be truly remote, I guess I would define it as some place you still have to walk to, not some place you can drive or fly to,” said …

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‘An Expedition Deep into a Forbidden Land’

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National Geographic writer, adventurer to share about experiences in Burma

Soon after summiting Mount Everest, Mark Jenkins and his climbing partners sought their next adventure — but not just any adventure.

This would be an old-school expedition, to a remote place still largely unexplored.

“For some place to be truly remote, I guess I would define it as some place you still have to walk to, not some place you can drive or fly to,” said Jenkins.

To get to their destination — a remote mountain in Burma — Jenkins and his teammates hiked for two weeks through a jungle rife with snakes and spiders.

“We were constantly tearing leeches off of our feet and legs and arms, dealing with poisonous snakes and cobwebs that are the size of a room,” Jenkins said. “It was a very different sort of expedition.”

Jenkins will share about the expedition next week (see related story below).

“This is a story about hardship, a story about hubris,” he said. “It’s a tale of an old-school adventure haunted by the ghosts of lost friends.”

Friends old and new

The mountain Hkakabo Razi is suspected to be the highest peak in Burma at roughly 19,300 feet. Along with a team of North Face athletes, Jenkins set out in October 2014 to scale its highest summit and take a GPS reading to determine the mountain’s exact elevation.

It wasn’t the first time Jenkins attempted to climb Hkakabo Razi.

The mountain beckoned Jenkins in 1993. Joined by his Wyoming climbing buddies Keith Spencer, Mike Moe and Steve Babits, Jenkins tried to make the first ascent of the mountain. Only he and Keith made the climb, but had to descend after running out of food on the Hkakabo’s north side.

The friends hoped to return someday.

“But it was not to be,” Jenkins later wrote.

Mike died in 1995 during an expedition in the Arctic Ocean. Keith was killed in an avalanche while ice climbing on the South Fork in 2009.

When Jenkins returned to Hkakabo, he carried a photo of Mike and Keith.

“I guess in some ways it was a bit of a memorial trip for me, to try to honor their love of the outdoors and their commitment to the outdoors,” he said.

He called the trip back to Hkakabo a “20-year odyssey for me.”

“This one was in the back of my mind this whole time, that maybe I should return there,” Jenkins said.

However, it wasn’t possible until the country of Burma (now known as Myanmar) opened up a bit to foreign travelers, he said.

Jenkins and his team traveled across the country in buses, trains, boats and motorcycles before making the two-week trek through the jungle.

“I think we were somewhat weakened, actually, by the time we got to the base of the mountain,” he said.

The trip tested the team, causing friction in friendships.

“This is not unusual for a long, difficult expedition, for things to start to unravel,” Jenkins said.

You’re at your worst — hungry, tired, thirsty, cold, stressed — and your life is on the line.

The five-member team had to determine the safest way to climb the mountain. Ultimately, that meant the expedition leader, Hilaree O’Neill, wouldn’t attempt the summit.

Three team members — Jenkins, photographer Cory Richards and videographer Renan Ozturk — set out for the ascent.

Hkakabo isn’t the world’s tallest mountain or the hardest one to climb. But it does evoke fear among the most experienced climbers.

“Keep in mind that you’re so remote, there’s no possibility of any kind of rescue at all,” Jenkins said. “It would take days and days for a helicopter to get there.”

That means nothing can go wrong.

With this type of mountaineering, there aren’t many places to anchor a rope, he said. The climbers were tied to one another without protection, without anchoring to the mountain.

“If one person falls, you’re all plucked right off the mountain,” he said.

In the end, they were forced to turn back before reaching the summit.

Quoting the famous climber Ed Viesturs, Jenkins said: “Getting to the top is optional. Getting back home is mandatory.”

Sharing stories in Wyoming

Over the years, Jenkins’ expeditions have taken him around the world as he’s written about land mines in Cambodia, global warming in Greenland, gorillas in Eastern Congo and climbing Everest in Nepal.

“Every three or four months, I go off on assignment,” he said. “That’s my job — to kind of explore the world and bring the stories back home.”

As the writer-in-residence at the University of Wyoming, Jenkins loves visiting communities in the state, sharing stories of the places he’s seen and the people he’s met.

After more than 35 years of climbing and traveling around the world, Jenkins looks forward to the next adventure.

“I’m just fascinated by the planet we live on, and I’m curious,” he said. “And I want to go out and explore it.”

National Geographic writer Mark Jenkins will present “Burma’s Resurrection: An Expedition Deep into a Forbidden Land” in Powell and Cody next week. Jenkins’ account of this unrivaled expedition in Myanmar is spiced with stories of hardship and hilarity, bear hunters and Buddhist monks, fear, failure and freedom.

His program in Powell begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 3, in the Yellowstone Building Conference Center at Northwest College. He also will speak on Friday, March 4, in Cody, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Coe Auditorium.

Jenkins wrote about the expedition in the National Geographic story “Point of No Return,” published in September 2015. It also will be featured in the documentary “Down to Nothing” by filmmaker and climber Renan Ozturk, to be aired in May.

Jenkins’ writing has won numerous awards, and he’s the author of four books. His work has appeared in dozens of national and international magazines.

Jenkins is the writer-in-residence at the University of Wyoming. He lives in Laramie with his wife, Sue Ibarra, and they have two daughters, Addi and Teal. Ibarra is from Powell and is the daughter of Phyllis and Manuel Ibarra.

Jenkins’ tour across the state is part of the University of Wyoming’s World to Wyoming Lecture Series. The series is sponsored by the UW Center for Global Studies, the UW Global and Area Studies Program, and the Wyoming Humanities Council.

Jenkins’ presentation in Powell is sponsored by the Northwest College International Studies Program and Social Science and Education Division, and by the UW Outreach School.

Read more about the expedition at adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/author/markjenkins.

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