MT. KINCHINJUNGA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 261, 18 August 1930, Page 5

MT. KINCHINJUNGA.

INTERNATIONAL EXPEDITION. _/ POLITICAL PREJUDICES. (United Press Association —Copyright.l LONDON,' August 16. . Mr Smythe, summing up his experiences of the Kinchinjunga expedition, declared that when political prejudices and difficulties were overcome, northern and north-eastern Nepal would be a most interesting field for an explorer and mountaineer. There was indisputable evidence of a former ice age in the huge terraces in the Lhonak Valley. He pointed out that the expedition made several mistakes. It did not give sufficiently long notice of its departure in order to recruit the best coolies from the remote villages, and foolishly split into three separate parties, causing great difficulty in maintaining communications. It would have done better to have started after the monsoon and so have avoided the winds, which lower the vitality and demoralise the climbers. Among the technical lessons the most important was that several layers of light clothing were preferable to' heavy suits and boots should not be too heavy and should be sparsely nailed. Sugary foods were the most suitable diet. "The men who will force their way to the summits of Everest and Kinchinjunga," he said, "will be capable of disciplined minds as well as bodies. They will be genuine philosophers who experience in mountaineering something far greater and finer than the mere physical joy of struggling with an inanimate object."