December 02, 2014

"Gear that Survived the Entire Journey"

Over the last couple months, 6 athlete-storytellers made a 240 mile round trip trek to the contested tallest peak in Southeast Asia – Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar – for a National Geographic / The North Face / Camp 4 Collective expedition. It was a harrowing journey, to which the world was able to follow along through the power of a Thuraya IP satellite modem, a solar powered Goal Zero Yeti 400 generator and Instagram.

After a crazy train ride, a wild motorcycle escapade, and a precarious jungle traverse, the crew had to cut over half of their camera and climbing gear due to the lack of trekking infrastructure and personnel. With fast and light in mind, they continued towards their 19,295 foot destination.

Here at Lite Pro Gear, we were aware that Camp 4 Collective’s Renan Ozturk had a Feather Camera Crane, but had no idea if the travel jib had been left behind – that was until November 30th, when Renan posted this picture and caption on Instagram.

photo by Taylor Rees

“After two straight months of predawn starts, it's hard to drag ourselves out of bed at this point. Once on location though, life comes back into our tired bodies quickly, feeding off the beautiful scenes and rich culture of Burma. This morning we shot pre-sunrise lowlight on the @sony A7s with the@liteprogear #feathercrane. It's one of the only pieces of gear that survived the entire journey even when we made the big gear cuts..." Click HERE for full post

We highly recommend checking out Renan’s Instagram account and viewing all the photos and stories from the journey, though here's a taste of his narrative:

“The last 9 days spent ascending Hkakabo have been some of the most challenging of my life. The mountain was incredibly beautiful, complex, and wholly underestimated. We pushed as hard as humanly possibly, but ultimately turned back shy of the summit without the safety margins and resources to take the necessary few days we would have needed. Winds howled, I broke my wrist (and don't even remember how), and we had an adventure unlike any other. Tonight we start the trek out, 12 days of walking.”

“Twisted, tangled, and tired to the core. 120 mile walk in is now the 120 mile crawl out. Like the mountain, Hkakabo itself, the jungle terrain is as hard forward as backward.”

Even though they fell short of their goal ... we think it’s going to make for an incredible story – can’t wait till it’s released!

Stay up to date with special offers, product giveaways, tips from the pros, field stories, and our "Beyond the Boom" newsletter by signing up below!