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Alumni Spotlight: Upper School Alum Completes First-Ever Ascent of Remote Peak
October 3, 2013
If you know where to find Bishkek on a map, that’s pretty impressive.
Now, can you find Point 5318? No?
Well, that’s understandable . . . because, thanks to Upper School alum Austin Lines (’07) and five of his climbing buddies, the 5,318-meter (17,500-foot) peak in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan recently changed names.
On July 23 this year, Austin and his VICE teammates completed the first-ever successful ascent of the ice-capped summit and, in doing so, earned the right to name the mountain. (Despite its name, the VICE team wasn’t up to anything illegal! The acronym refers to Vertical Ice Climbing Enthusiasts, a Boston-based club that is dedicated “to safely pushing the limits of our physical and mental abilities in the context of vertical routes and harsh winter conditions.”)
How did Austin get into this sport? It all started while he was a freshman at the Upper School when his friends introduced him to climbing at a local gym. Then, Austin’s brother Eric (US’04, C’08) found an old climbing harness and shoes left in the basement of a College dorm where Eric was an RA. With this “low initial investment,” Austin was able to take his interest to new heights when he moved on to Tufts University, where he studied mechanical engineering. “Tufts helped me continue climbing cause there’s a gym pretty close, and all the people I knew were in the mountain club and the climbing club,” Austin recalls.
Since graduating in 2011, Austin has been working for KMC Systems in Manchester, New Hampshire, and the company was very supportive of his venture. The employees rallied behind him and raised $1,000 towards the trip, selling t-shirts that read “Take It to the Top.”
In early July, arriving from the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, and both coasts of the United States, the climbing friends met in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. It took several days of acclimatization in surrounding areas, as well as a few days of just waiting around for transport (which included buses, trucks, and a helicopter), to get to Point 5318 base camp. Then they climbed to the advanced base camp. On their first try at the peak, the team was up at 2 a.m., but by noon, the warm sun was loosening the ice pack, making it difficult to get a good grip. Wisely, they decided to turn back and took an extended rest, while waiting for the weather to clear. Three days later, the group set out at 8 p.m., under a full moon and clear skies, climbing during the coldest hours.
They made it to the summit at 9:24 a.m. local time, held up the VICE flag, shot a few photos, and then embarked on the toughest part of the climb—going downhill. The snow had begun to melt and one of the ropes got stuck. But as Austin says, “We kept our heads on straight and got down safe, but exhausted.”
As for Point 5318’s new name? The team named it “After You”—which, Austin says jokingly, was a great way for each of them to be able to tell his girlfriend back home, “We named the mountain after you!” On a more serious note, they also chose the name to honor the many climbers who had previously attempted this mountain.
(A local television station in Manchester, New Hampshire, aired this report on Austin’s accomplishment.)