SWISS ATTEMPT ON EVEREST

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26856, 8 October 1952, Page 9

SWISS ATTEMPT ON EVEREST

PARTY BEGINS ATTACK ON SUMMIT

NEW DELHI, October 6. Swiss mountain climbers toiled up the bleak slopes of unconquered Mount Everest today for, the final struggle towards the snow-covered summit. It was the second attempt this year for the Swiss party. One of the team, Raymond Lambert, a guide, climbed to within 900 ft of the summit on May 28 before fierce storms drove him back. The six men left their base camp, 12.200 ft up in the Himalayas, yesterday. Two men will be chosen at the last advance camp to make the final effort to reach the top. Their success or failure is likely to remain unknown to the world for at least three weeks. After the final climb towards the Summit, their only communication is by special runners from the base camp to Katmandu, Nepal’s capital, 170 miles away. Himalayan experts say that the possibility of victory depends on Nature, which, at this time of the year, is not too kind. They will find high winds, a bitter sub-zero cold, and deep snow waiting to bar their way. The captain of the team, Dr. Gabriel Chevalley, a surgeon, who makes mountain climbing his hobby, is confident that they will not fail. “We know our way this time,” he said. “Unless Nature has played us a bad trick and filled the route with snow, we have a good chance to make it.”