THE ATTACK ON MOUNT EVEREST

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 202, 23 May 1936, Page 8

THE ATTACK ON MOUNT EVEREST

Apart from the scientific interest attached to the expedition, the attack on Mount Everest by Mr. Hugh Ruttjedge qnd his party is a sporting event that must command world attention. According to a message to-day the climbers have deemed it advisable to withdraw to Camp One, on a lower level, owing to unfavourable weather. The leader adds: “Owing to our good acclimatisation it W’U P e possible to reach the summit in eight days from Camp One. The problem of acclimatisation is fundamental. There have been lon' previous attempts on the mountain —in 1921, 1922, 1924 and. 1933 and the failure of each has been due to the difficulty of solving that problem. The ascent itself is difficult and perilous,, but from the mountaineering point of view, not more so than in certain heights of lower altitudes that have been successfully scaled. Dangerous storms are encountered, but that also is an experience associated with attacks on other mountain peaks. Ihe difficulty peculiar to Everest, which marks it as a problem apart, is the rarified atmosphere in its lofty altitudes, which has a crippling effect on the physique of the climbers, retards the speed of their movements, and is actually a danger to life. It has been demonstrated that the most distressing symptoms arise from the lack of oxygen, and that tbe best means of combating this handicap is by a process of acclimatisation spread over a period spent at high altitudes before the attack on the summit is attempted. This was done during part of last year. It is one of the paraooxes of the Mount Everest heights that in order . to keep warm the climber must go slow. Exertion produces a diminution of strength that threatens a collapse of the lungs. Special respirators designed to overcome this are liable to become choked with ice.

Another difficulty is that the process of acclimatisation is accompanied by a deterioration of stamina, this has been described by a medical officer in a previous expedition as being analogous to a drunkard’s increasing toleration of alcohol, accompanied by an undermining of his general health. Furthermore, there is a deterioration of mental alertness as well as of physique. I hat is a serious handicap to the mountain climber, who must be able to think and act. quickly in a sudden emergency. Pace is all-important, lhe minimum to be assured of success is two hundred and fifty feet an hour, and improved methods have raised hopes that this may be increased to four or five hundred feet an hour for the final dash. What are the, chances of success? Mr. Shipton, who was in charge of last years reconnaissance expedition, puts the odds against at fifty to one, but Mr. Ruttledge, the leader of the present attack, optimistically places the odds at five to one. The attack must be launched within the next few days, otherwise the advent of the monsoon will compel its abandonment for the present year. . . Why do people want to climb mountains? 1 robably tor the same reason that moves men to challenge the other difficulties or life. Columbus crossed the Atlantic; bridge engineers have spanned mighty rivers; Arctic and Antarctic explorers have penetrated the secrets of the Poles; Kingsford Smith and Ulm flew the Pacific; and as the result of these and other enterprises something of value has been harvested for civilisation. The knowledge to be gamed ft.om the conquest of Everest may not be of much use to civilisation, but the adventurous mountaineers, if they succeed, will be able to shake hands with themselves, and to say, amid the applause of a watching world, “Well, we’ve done it,’ Good luck to them.