“A Return to Pakistan” by Todd Offenbacher recounts an amazing tale of a climbing epic that includes a broken leg at 5,500 meters, natural disasters, Taliban road blocks, and a mountain culture based on religion, honor, and respect.

Widely known for founding and hosting the Tahoe Adventure Film Festival, a high-energy event in its eighth season that showcases ten-minute clips from the best adventure sports films of the year, Offenbacher is also intensely devoted to rock climbing in some of the world’s most remote and challenging terrain. This passion lead Offenbacher and three other climbers to a remote region of Pakistan to attempt a first ascent on the colossal, unclimbed 5000 ft. granite face of Shingu Sharpa. The expedition was unsuccessful. Undeterred, the climbers journeyed back to the region, one year after a massive land slide had destroyed the nearby village of Kande.

“I believe on a good day in Pakistan you can be served three cups of tea, and on a bad day you may have your head cut off.” – Todd Offenbacher

Recipient of the Mugs Stump Award and the Lyman Spitzer Grant from the American Alpine Club, Offenbacher’s presentation, “A Return to Pakistan” recounts an amazing tale of a climbing epic that includes a broken leg at 5,500 meters, natural disasters, Taliban road blocks, and a mountain culture based on religion, honor, and respect. Long before the world was introduced to the acclaimed book “Three Cups of Tea,” Offenbacher and his fellow companions worked alongside Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute offering aid to the people of Kande whose lives had been ruined by the natural disaster.