Towards the end of the Karakoram climbing season, British alpinist Tom Livingstone and Slovenia’s Ales Cesen achieved an incredible feat by establishing a brand-new route on the West Ridge of the towering 7,958-meter Gasherbrum III. Now safely back home, the duo has begun sharing their reflections and experiences from this challenging expedition.
Embarking on a strenuous seven-day journey in true alpine style, Tom and Ales pushed the limits to carve out their route, which they’ve aptly named “Edge of Entropy.” Remarkably, this accomplishment marks only the third complete ascent of Gasherbrum III, highlighting both the rarity and difficulty of their achievement.
The Real Mountain Challenge
Both climbers have earned their stripes on some of the most technically demanding routes on big mountains around the world. But for Tom Livingstone, there was always a deeper, more personal challenge simmering beneath the surface—a vision of combining that extreme level of difficulty with the unforgiving realities of 8,000-meter peaks, all while staying true to the purest form of alpine climbing.
This dream often led Tom to reflect, “What’s the most challenging route you can take on at the highest altitude? How far can you push yourself before you reach the breaking point?”
As he explains:
“Altitude is a relentless force. It strips you down to your core. I have respect for those who climb with supplemental oxygen, following a well-trodden path in the snow, with tents prepped, Sherpa support, fixed ropes, and other teams nearby… but that’s a completely different universe from the kind of alpinism we practice. It’s not just about reaching the summit; it’s about how you get there.”
Gasherbrum III might fall just 42 meters short of the coveted 8,000-meter club, but as Tom Livingstone rightly points out, it still ranks as the 15th highest peak on Earth—a fact that’s often overlooked. Those missing meters, however, mean it’s frequently passed over by climbers who are focused on the more famous giants. Combine that with its technical challenges and the treacherous approach through the Gasherbrum Glacier, and it’s easy to see why GIII doesn’t get much foot traffic.
But for two driven alpinists like Livingstone and Ales Cesen, these factors made it the perfect challenge. After an initial attempt in 2022, they returned this summer with one clear objective: to finally conquer this overlooked giant.
(*NOTE: Altitude rankings can vary depending on the criteria used. For instance, Eberhard Jurgalski’s 8000ers.com classifies Gasherbrum III as a subpeak of Gasherbrum II rather than a separate mountain, due to its insufficient prominence to stand on its own.)
Livingstone’s Toughest Climb Yet
The climbers tackled Gasherbrum III’s West Ridge, a formidable route first attempted by a Scottish team in 1985 but never before conquered. They completed the climb in a single push, reaching the summit on August 4.
Reflecting on the climb, Livingstone said, “We really stretched the limits of what we believed was achievable, letting go of all expectations, worries, and preconceived notions. Alpinism is such a beautiful paradox of desiring something versus what you actually need.”
For a glimpse of their epic journey, check out this Instagram post.
Livingstone described the route as one of the most challenging he has ever faced, marking the culmination of a decade of intense climbing. Although a full report is still in the works, he fondly remembered their third bivy at 7,800 meters, where they had to huddle together without a tent, as a particularly striking moment of their adventure.
Alpine-style purists might have some reservations about the climbers’ descent, as they chose to traverse over to Gasherbrum II’s standard route and relied on fixed ropes.
Livingstone commented on this, “It did alter our approach slightly, but it was a practical decision that made sense for the situation.”
During their descent via the standard route, Livingstone and Cesen chose to leave their tent at Camp 1 on the Gasherbrum Glacier for the last remaining team—a Russian group led by Sergey Nilov. Nilov was in the area to recover the body of Dmitry Golovchenko, who had tragically lost his life the previous year while attempting a new route on Gasherbrum IV, renowned as the most technical peak in the region.
