MOUNT EVEREST

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 300, 13 September 1921, Page 5

MOUNT EVEREST

WORK OF EXPLORATION PARTY j — ASCENT FROM EASTERN SIDE IMPOSSIBLE i By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright. London, September 11. Reports from the Mount Everest Expedition, dated Kharta, September 7, show that much interesting exploration has been done in th© eastern valleys, seeking an approach to Everest itself. One party climbed the summit Langmala, 18,000 ft., and, also explored a spur opposite Everest, 19,400 ft. Glorious panoramic voiews were obtained of vast cliffs, gorges, and glaciers, and they met with much flower-decked and grassy country on tho slopes. Their experiences decided the leaders that it is impossible to ascend Everest from the east. They nre now exploring tho valleys round Makalau and Khartatsingpo Valley, which is, clothed, in most luxuriant vegetation. A feature of the district is thS number of lakes, whereas lakes are very rare in the Himalayas.—" Tho Times.”

THE WORLD’S GREATEST ADVENTURE In an article in the "Scientific American" on the ascent of Mount 'Everest as a test for human endurance, Mr. H. Snowden Sinclair, A.M., writes:—T-her© are .few worlds .left to the explorer to conquer. The poles have lost their mystery: there is little sport in tracing the head waters of a mighty or unknown river; but there remains ono more feat to bo accomplished—ths climbing of Mount Everest, "the dome of the world." As wq write, somewhere in the tangled maze of the' southern Himalayan Mountains three parties of British engineers are working their way through unexplored gorges and passes towards the base of Mount‘Everest. They are blazing the way for the expedition that will later attempt to scale the granite walls of Everest and conquer tho highest mountain peak on the globe. Th© first party to leave Darjeeling was 'commanded by Major Morehead, which proceeded up tho Teesta Valley and over wVat is known as the Kangrila route. The other two units, commanded by Colonel Bury, intend to meet the Morshead party at Kliamba Jong, and then t’he combined expedition will strike westward toward th© village of Jong which is about 30 miles north of the Everest group. A permanent base will bo selected near that village, and from it will start the party which will try to reach the; summit of the dominating, peak of th©' range. - Before the actual work of scaling the stupendous slopes of Everest can begin, however, engineers must carefully survey, all approaches to the mountain and try to find the most practicable route jo the top. This reconnaissance work is the chief task assigned the men' now working their way into ,the heart of the mountains. The world’s highest ground—or snow — rises 29,141 feet above sea level, and dominates a-*rast array of mountains which form the national boundary between Nepaul and Tibet. The great, virgin summit is wreathed in eternal snow. Its supporting bastions are sheathed in ice bulwarked by huge’ precipices, wher© monster avalanches thunder and roar, while fierce storms wage unceasing war on th© earth’s uttermost stronghold. , At first sight it seems like a gamble against Fate, with human lif© as the stake, for man to attempt the conquest. Let these grim terrors and the odded difficulties of more existence on the Teal roof of the world but increase the keenness 'of these sporting Britons who hone to plant their flag on. the summit. At the outset the odds will be on the side of tho mountain, but pluck : and skill will prevail. Mr. George D. Abraham, an accomplished writer on Alpine subjects, writing in the "Illustrated London News." fixes five years as the shortest possible time for final ' success but the explorers themselves hep© their efforts will be crowned by suc'cess in-1922. Former Attempts. Up to the present, entry into the Forbidden Land has been impossible, for political reasons;* but the Indian Government has made arrangements, to permit tho passage of the expedition to the base of the mountain. "Jomo Kang Kor,” or “Our Lady of the Snowe," is an object of I reverence and worship by the natives, 'and they may resent the intrusion of white men'on their lofty shrine. The expedition is organised an;l ’ financed by the Alpine Club and' the Royal Geographical .Society, and Sir Francis Younghusband, president of the latter society, has been ‘very much interested in tho subject since his remarkable exhibition to Tibet in 1904.. There have been former expeditions to other parts of tho Himalayas, and most of them have had trouble with tho natives. As long ago as tho years 1854-1858 some very rqmarkabl© climbs were mad© by th© two brothers, Adolf and Robert Sclilagcntweib, who reached a height of 22.259 feqt on th© great peak of Kamet (25,443 feet). After this Adolf crossed the Karakoram Pass, and was murdered at Kashgar. Then, in 1895. tho attack on Nanga Parbat by A. F. Mummery enme to a mysterious end. At tho bn«e of this magnificent icy obelisk the climbers divided. The leader of the party, with two nnlives. was to cross a short pass from the west to the north’side of tho mountain, and meet the main part of tho expedition which had travelled round bv a longer route. After bidding farewell to his-friends, Mummery and his companions- were never seen again. No trace was ever found, says Mr. Abraham. Tho'm. who knew the Skill of the greatest of British mountaineers cannot believe that an avalanche caused disaster. Yet these monster mountain falls .will prove on© of the greatest dangers to ths forthcoming,expedition. Evervtliing is on an immense scale in th© Himalaya. Crevasses are thousands of feet deep. A simple snow slide in Scotland, or nn Alnine avalanche, becomes on the roof of the world n tremendous cataclysm, which shakes tho greatest mountain to its very base, nnd which may he heard, or oven frit, fifty miles away. A more insidious risk' lies in the smaller avalanche started by human' agency. One attempt on Knngchenjpnga (28,150 feet). the third . Tiiriiest known peak, ended in tragedy. From a cnniy 20.343 feet high a section of the pnvtv. decided to descend on account of a difference of opinion. Three amateurs and three coolies were crossing a snow-covered slope when two coolies on the middle of the rone slipped, reeling the loose snow off with them. Tn an instant all wore carried off their feet, ami flung down tho ley slope, a. veritable human avalanche. Two Continental climber, were the only survivors. The four bodies wore not recovered until three days later. Thov were hurled under twelve feet of sqlid snow.

The expedition to Mount Everest will find .that serious Took-climbing is encountered before tho valleys are left behind, but they, will ho well equipped with akill and knowledge to meet all contingencies,. as'far As humanly possib’e. The real test will come when the 20,n00-foot level is gained. Even before this, that grim enemy, mountain sickness, will have -sorted out tho weaklings, and. gradually, onlj’ the soundest will, remain at tho loftier camps. Physiological Difficulties. Regarding the physiological difficulties the expedition will meet, Professor J. N. Collie, a. well-qualified expert, wrote in the "Alpine Journal” in March Inst:— "It is tho physiological difficulties, however, that play far tho largest prohibitive part in high oscents. Wo yet have much to learn pbout them. The

lack of oxygon and tho effect of intense cold aro the two chief difficulties to bo conquered. Th© lack of'oxygen at 'high altitudes, is of course, duo to tho rarefied air. During respiration, tho body gets its oxygen through tho ultimate ramifications of tho lungs—tho alveoli; and it is through them that the blood becomes oxygenated before it returns to tho heart, ultimately to do the work .of oxidation of the tissues of tho body. Should there be a deficiency of oxygen tho natural processes of the body are at once interfered with. If ono takes an engine, and in one hour burns in it a hundredweight of coal, we get a certain amount of energy produced. But if for one hour we cut off the supply of air sb that only one-third of the coal is burnt wo naturally only get one-third of the energy. “On the summit of Mount Everest one is supplied with only one-third, of t)ie I usual amount of oxygen. The question is : Can the ; human engine do much work with this limited supply’ Fortunately the body can acclimatise itself to a considerable extent to changed conditions. For’ instance, people who ascend Pike’s Peak, 14,109 feet, in the United. States, by railway suffer from fainting, sickness, and blueness of the lips and cheeks, breathlessness, and general lassitude. Their blood is unacclimatiscd to the deficiency of oxygen. Yet on the Pamirs at 15,000 feet and above people live their lives comfortably and do hard work; they are acclimatised. The chief effort of tho body to counteract the' deficiency of oxygen is to increase rapidly the number of blood corpuscles. These corpuscles are th© carriers of oxygen from th© air to th© interior of the body. Double the number of these littlq carriers in one drop of blood, and that drop will carry twice as much oxygen to the tissues for available energy and life. . “The number of such corpulscles in a cubic millimeter of th© bicod of a person at sea level is usually less than 5,009,000. The average coiint. of a native of the Pamirs is over 8,000,000. On the Pamirs [there is only about half as much oxygen in a cubic foot of air as at sea level. People who make rapid ascents to high altitudes in balloons and aeroplanes are'unacclimatised. Tissandier in a balloon ascent fainted at 28,500 feet, and on regaining consciousness found both his companions dead. Yet on the other hand, the Duke of tho Abruzzi at 24,583 feet, and Rubenson and Mourad Aas at 24,015 feet, were not only capable of living, but; doing work as well. They were acclimatised by living for some time at tho reduced pressure. Another factor that favours the trained mountaineer' is that ,& trained man needs much loss oxygen during work than an untrained man.' He is an engine working .with the maximum e'eoj nomy. 1 '

"The effect of intense cold on the human system is to lower the vitality, and there no doubt that the cold! at altitudes above 20,000 feet, with a wind, becomes almost paralysing. Longstaff, Meade, Rubensou, a-U suffered from it. Yet Henry Brochercl after three nights out, the third spent in a hole in th© snow at 23,000 feet, was able and anxious to continue climbing. ' There is little doubt that with acclimatised climbers in first-rate , training a greater height will be reached than 25,000 feet. But it only Itvill be done under th© most favourable conditions.

“Probably th© greatest difficulty will b© getting the camps up to tho high altitudes. The record at present is that of Mr. Meade’s coolies,, 23,600 feet-’on Kamet. Given another. 1700 feet and a camp 4008 feet from the summit of Mr. Everest could ba ma<!e. If th© climbs ers in* l this camp were properly warmed and properly fed a push for the summit might b© made. Dr. stafi 'rushed’ Trisul, climbing almost 6000 feet from his camp, and several other climbers have ascended mtmy thousand feet in .one day at very high altitudes. We more or less know that the physical difficulties on .the summit of Mount Everest are not prohibitive, and there is every reason to liope'tliat the physiological ones will also not be great enough to stop a really determined attempt being mad© on the mountain under favourable conditions.”

Mr. Abraham thinks that aeroplanes will not be used by the expedition at the outset. In fact, it is mote than doubtful whether they will\ be of any real use at all. Control for _ landing purposes is impossible in the thin upper air, and as. oxygen cylinders have to to used to sustain the pressure-stricken airmen, on account of th© sudden uprush, it is evident that observation, a difficult undertaking among mountains, will be unreliable. The Plans of the Expedition.

Two of' tho mombeys of the expedition have written interestingly of their plans in ths “Geographical Journal." Colonel Howard Bury, chief of the expedition, writes as follows: — 1 "Part of the expedition may have to live at great heights for a considerable time, and ono has been experimenting with- small details such as primus stoves to burn at over 20,000 feet. You cannot keep fit unless you have good and hot food. It is of tho very greatest importance to have food easily digestible, which, can be easily warmed up at very' great heights. The expedition has b'eem organised by Sir Francis Younghusband, and to him has been practically due the fact that it has been brought into being. His energy here and his work* with the various authorities have brought the expedition into being. The main object of the expedition is the ascent of Everest. But besides that., as Professor Norman Collie has said, there are some very important subsidiary objects to be attained. The whole country to the north of Everest is completely unknown. The maps we have are all very problematical, and wheYe you see a range of mountains marked’in the map yon may find it is a valley or a lake, and as we go’along we shall have to map our way. The Government of India, has very kindly given us the loan of two officers of the Survey of India, both accustomed to mountain survey, and with them we shall have to work and map the whole of that country to the north of Everfst, as well as the Mount Everest group; Ahis 'alone would furnish a full summer’s work. With these officers will be assistant surveyors, and a great deal of 'work has to be done. The Arun Valley is probably quite wrongly mapped, and wo are very doubtful as to the exact position of those ranges of mountains t marked to the north of Everest. The draftsman who compiled the map told me they were put in to fill up.” I “Now Mount Everest is becoming known, like many other places at one time unfamiliar, as the island of Yap came into prominence a few months ago. 1 heard two ladies discussing the expedition recently, and at last one said to the other, ‘And where is Mount Everest?’ ‘Oh, somewhere in Iceland I’ Another remarked to mo, ‘Oh, how very interesting your going to Everest! I hope you may get to tho top. and then you may Bring back a piece of wood from the Ark!’ ’”We have a good botanist and naturalist, and there is every probability of our discovering many new flowers; but that very much depends on how far the monsoon currents penetrate up the Arun Valley. It is extraordinary on those dry plains, which look bo barren in the photographs, what beautiful flowers there are —most lovely rock plants, blue poppies. primulas, nn’d all kinds of delightful flowers. There is also the geological work. Wo are probably getting either an officer or assistants from tho Government of India for making a geological collection. We know there are n large number of animals up there. Yon get Ovis Ammon, ono of the largest sheep in the world; possibly an antelope, certainly a gazelle, and partridges, and there is a groat field for a naturalist. "Tho Government of India is kindly giving ns the loan of 100 mules for the expedition. This will be of the very greatest assistance to ns. and we know now we shall have no difficulties with, the

transport. Lord Ronaldshay, the Governor of Bengal, is extremely interested in the expedition, and we are lucky in having him there. Colonel O’Connor is political agent in Sikkim, and his duties carry him right up into Tibet. He was with Sir Francis Younghusband in the expedition of 1904. “It is therefore a specially favourable time for us to make this expedition with so manv friends who will be quite ready to help' us. There is a very elaborate photographic equipment going out with the expedition, so that wo hope to bring back many records. Unfortunately the camera cannot reproduce the extraordinary beauties of colour there are in Tibet —greens and reds and orange, under & brilliant blue clear sky. It i\a wonder, ful expedition, full of interest of alf kinds, and when we come back I hope wt shall have a very interesting tale to tell you."