Hi All-

First - THANK YOU to all who showed up and supported this project. Your support and encouragement over the past 6 weeks has meant a great deal to me.

Second - While disappointed that I didn't raise the funding that would allow me to go back to Pakistan this summer, please know that I see the project as anything but unsuccessful.  I now have a lot more information and resources now that I ever did at the beginning, and I'm excited to continue the project in the coming months.

At this exact point in time, I don't have a specific timeline that I can share with you, BUT if you would like to receive an occasional update on news, events, and progress on the book and whatever else might surface, please let me know -- I'd be thrilled to include you on that. erin[at]sprackstudio[dot]com 

Again, my heartfelt thanks for your support

Wishing everyone great adventures, wherever they may be!

Hi all-

There are 4 days of fundraising left, special thanks to those who have recently donated! Just a quick update to let you know some more of what has been going on behind the scenes this past week:

I have started to develop some wonderful relationships with the local Pakistani community and international development organizations here in New York. Both have offered to come alongside and offer support as translators, general navigators, and advocates for the project, their enthusiasm has been unexpected and incredibly encouraging. They have given me some great perspective, and I am eager to integrate some of their ideas. 

I have also been in contact with a young designer in Lahore, who also has been a wonderful source of information and insight. In all cases, I am itching to see how we might be able to parlay our efforts going forward.

Thanks, as always, for letting me take up so much space in your inboxes.

-Erin

Hello again! So, we’ve got 9 days left to make this project a reality, and I’m working hard to pull some loose ends together to make this happen! If you know of anyone else who would be excited to support this work, please show them the green button and bring them along!

In the meantime, several updates ago, I began telling you about the tumultuous history of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and how it starts to relate to the work I will be doing… Here’s the next installment in the continuing story:

John Keay, who wrote “The Gilgit Game,” says that the recorded historical exploration of the mountain passes of Baltistan during the latter part of the 19th century is not the usual story of exploration; not the story “of finding a way through the mountains and opening them up.” Rather, the initial exploration of this region was focused on “finding all the possible ways through [the mountains] and closing them. The discovery of independent tribes and unclaimed valleys was cause for anxiety rather than celebration.”

You might not want to read his 600-page book to find out why, so I will tell you:

In 1870, and the years surrounding, Gilgit ceased to be a far-flung outpost of the Maharajas of Kashmir. It became the strategic point where the imperial powers of Britain, India, Tsarist Russia and the “jealously guarded” frontiers of China and soon-to be-Afghanistan met and maneuvered to gain control of Central Asia.   

The territories surrounding Gilgit were not well known or explored and all sides sent spies to investigate, map the territories and report back. Reports from explorers were often sent in code or never formally recorded at all. Some of the most skilled mountaineers were killed before they were able to bring information back. The strategic maneuvering and espionage of these powers was calledThe Great Game. (Chronicled in another book of the same name by Peter Hopkirk)

At stake was the security of India, key to the wealth of the British Empire. The small town of Gilgit - nestled high in these mountain passes became the “hub, the crows-nest, the fulcrum of all of Asia.”

Through this conflict, Gilgit and the Baltistan district of Pakistan, (a remote and seemingly insignificant part of the country that most people still can’t find on a map,) played an enormous role in the creation of the nation of Afghanistan - a place that perhaps resonates more with the Western conscience these days.

There is extreme value in retracing some of these explorer’s steps and telling the stories that are not only worth celebrating, but that also have never been recorded.

Stay tuned, I hope to bring you a few more personal glimpses into these stories over the next 9 days!

I'm back again and very excited to continue telling you about the history of Gilgit-Baltistan - However, before I delve into the espionage, intricacies, political maneuvering, and high-altitude explorations of the late 19th century, I want to talk about some of my favorite things on 4-wheels: Landcruisers.

To the outside eye, this might seem to be an unrelated sliver of information, but after spending numerous hours with the Landcruiser drivers of Pakistan, I came to realize that their value to the region is unparalleled. These drivers are connectors. They are messengers - navigating the most dangerous roads in the world to bring 21st century news and information to their communities. This exchange, was, for me, one of the most ingenious and imaginative things I have seen.

I asked Ahsan and Linda Iqbal - my former rowing coaches, longtime friends, and leaders of our trek - if they would be willing to share their own insights into the lives of these amazing people. Lucky for you, they agreed! Check out their video below and read the stories they have about their own experiences with these incredible people here

Enjoy the weekend and watch out for more news coming your way next week!

Hi All! Lots of exciting things happening around here.

The updates that will be coming your way over the next 2 weeks are the beginning of the story that I will continue to research and tell in the book I will make called The Gilgit Game - Part 2: An Explorer’s Journal, (check the last update if you missed this announcement). Here’s where I am starting: 

I currently have two books in my possession about Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, where I will be going. One is a trekking guide I found in a used bookstore in Thailand written and researched by a mother and son team in 1996. The other is called “The Gilgit Game,” and talks about the first British explorations of these mountain passes in the late 19th century. 

Neither book has been reprinted or updated in the past 15 years, nor do they, in their combined 800 pages, include a first hand narrative account (contemporary or historical) of the people who actually live in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. 

I began asking why these explorers would leave such big holes in the story of the place they set out to discover, and found that their reasons for concealing information about this region of the world was not unlike our 21st century’s reasons: Explorers of the late 19th century were involved in a high-stakes political battle, fighting for strategic position in the Central Asia.

It’s an incredible piece of history that has more and more personal connections to my project than I ever would have imagined. Stay tuned for the next installment.