In the year 2000, Jason “Singer” Smith, John Dickey, Tommy Caldwell, and Beth Rodden went on an expedition to Kyrgyzstan to climb a number of alpine peaks in the Pamir-Alai mountain range. What they didn’t know is that they would be taken hostage by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
I often think back to this story, meeting the characters throughout the years, and seeing how each of them deal with this traumatic event individually. For those who are interested, Jason Singer, or Jason ‘Singer’ Smith talks of his experience here in a podcast by Mysterious Universe. Please scroll to minute 30.28 for Jason’s interview and lasts about an hour. The interview itself is sometimes catered towards a non-climbing crowd but this story is really worth a listen.
