ISNOW AND WIND

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 50, 27 August 1924, Page 3

ISNOW AND WIND

GODS GUARDING EVEREST

HARDSHIPS AND OF THE ASCENT i • 0. .. \

LOSS OP MALLORY AND lEVINE.

It is the love and pursuit of adventure that keeps the world young and ■virile.' Their' 'fellowTCOuntrymeri lament the loss of Mr. Mallory and Mr. Irvine, but aTe sadly proud. to number them amongst that gallant and immortal host of explorers, seekers .after. the i almost unattainable, who have given up, 'arjir lives in the struggle rather than accept defeat and to whose strivings aad sacrifices Great Britain owes so much. . . The idea has been impressed upon rrfe that the man in the street is inclined to the belief that the conquest of Mount Everest does not present any formidable difficulties or outstanding dangers' and that the hardships to be endured are little more than ordinary, writes Captain Finch, who was one of a party o£ three . (Mr: Mallory and Mr;. .Somerville being the_ others),- who made the final assault on Everest in 1922, in the' * "Manchester Guardian.1" ■ He thinks that it is all a matter of weather"; given a few days of windless sunshine .and success it' will be' easy.> If the' weather be bad then there-is nothing to be done but loaf iri luxurious idleness at the base camp and-wait till the sun once more' comes out and the -storm-; winds die down: Nothing could be? farther from the truth. AYe now know enough 'about Everest's climate to realise that fine weather cannot be counted upon as an ally, i ': \During the period from Ist May to sth June, 1922,. there - w£re only: two .days when.the weather\was bright and more or-less- Vvindless, and. these-two. days succeeded snowstorms which had: thickly powdered the rocks and ridges of the mountain with fresh snow, thereby seriously impeding the progress of the climber. Apart from these two days, the weather was never .'really (inc. from, the mountaineering, point of view Cloudless skies-'.there were, it .is true but the huge streamers of .Avind r driven enow-dust, torn awayvfrom theridges, ■testified,to the-existence" of the fierce and. bitter gales, against which .'the mountaineer _ would ha ye to. battle. Again, Snowstorms borne on winds of almost incredible ferocity are not infrequent. During the" 1922. campaign there were four such storms lasting from but a single night, to three days and three .nights. ; ■ „ , Thus the would-be • conqueror of Mount Everest, goes forth1 - ready to face and struggle through bad weather of. a. type.that would leave the man in the^ street dumbfounded. 7 There'isi nothing .of fair weather in the 'cold,', hard, yellow Tays of a. sun beating down from a ■ cloudless sky when a ragin*' wind lashes up suffocating clouds of snow-dust and ; drives 'the very spicules against' the skin with. such, force . that the._blood^s drawn, > 'Even the blinding fury of a snowstrom may have to-be faced when measures of safety demand' ■leoieaU. ■■ ■,'i' ... .' ; ■"■ ■. . ■-■ ,

THREE STAGES OF THE ASCENT. '!

■Buithere are other aspects of the problem, and.-a consideration o£ these may help to shed, a faint light on the recent sad disaster. -The ascent*of Mount Everest may. be .divided - into .three fe,.^ first,from the .base camp' (22 000 ft) below, tlie. North Col;, the sec■■S^mSSSS 1 to the North Col (^,OGOft); the third and final stage from, the North 'Col. to the summits . -' $ Disregarding for the' moment all question of the peculiar difficulties and dangers connected with mere altitude we know that the first stage is devoid of serious climbing difficulties and. unavoidable dangers. ' Despite this happy "state of affairs, however, there is little enough comfort. Indeed, the hardships of life even at the base camp, with all its resources, are not to be despised, ancl as one mounts higher and higher up-the mountain the. hardships increase in a sort of geometrical progression until life would /be almost unsu'pportable were it not. for the merciful.' anaesthesia that long-endured pain brings in its train . The second stage .of - ; the ascent pre^cents to th 0 mountaineer a formidable problem enough. -.Though this section represents no more than lOOOftj, in Altitude, its series, of' abrupt ice cliffs, interrupted by steep snow slopes, constitute an obstacle the overcoming of whJch' will tax the resources of the most skTil- ■ ed mountaineer. It is riot a; question of merely finding a way'up these slopes, but of how to find a'perfectly safe way, for here there lie dangers that', sometimes cannot be avoided and , against which man is helpless to prevail. .These slopes are liable to be-swept by avalanches, and such is the treacherous nature of Himalayan snow that this peril.is seldom, if ever, absent. A line of ascent can, however, be selected which avoids for the most part those places where the avalanche risks : are greatest, but in doing so the already considerable difficulties 'of .this stage are enormously increased, even to merging on the almost impossible.* But do.what he will, it is doubtful if even the most skilled and' experienced mountaineer ■can keep wholly clear of-this risk from avalanches. ' '.- ' .

On-the third stage of the <climb from the North Col to. the summit the way leads o\jer more or less well-defined ridges, generally rock, where the going,"with the exception of two .or three great' steps, is over tlie highest point, straightforward, and devoid of exceptional difficulty. V !.. ; ■ •■-. :. BLAST m MOUNTAIN WINDS. Were-this all the-mountaineer'had-to deal with, Everest would 'have''been climbed ere this. But on this last stage fresh difficulties and dangers beset him In the ascent to the North Col bad weather undoubtedly increases the climber's difficulties, but does not render theiir- ( insuperable, nor a-dd- very materially to the dangers, beyond perhaps increasing : the-risk of avalanches on the slopes below the' Col. But on the great final ridges of the mountain the climber is expc.Ved to the unimpeded ' blast of the prevailing westerly,gales and the .frequent snow-storms, often breaking witlT little or no warning, for which Mount Everest is notorious. . " „

When we.consider that in addition the effects of the highly rarefied atmosphere now begin to mak's," themselves'severely felt,' we . cannot fail to' realise what, tremendous obstacles have to lie overcome. The lack of oxygen in the air can and must be made good to a certain" extent, hut-.only, at the expense of burd'enin^ tho cli.-Mbei-.with a bulky and -heavy ap"paratiu. But, tliis extra load must be' shouldered, for without sufficient oxy-' gen faculties become dull,, energies flag, and the will to conquer is weakened Oxygen is also, needed to assist food, and skilfully designed clothing to comlfat the fierce cold, which.is felt far more se'vere-ly-at these heigliLs Uian.'at" sea level owing to the-rate of. evapqtation of moisture from the body, 'and hence the Joss of animal .heat, being far-greater. .Nevertheless, despite this formidable array of difficulties, • only one danger threatens the climber on the last stage of the aeceal-that 'L v euddeu storm.

Caught within about 1700 ft of the summit by a bad storm ■ the mountaineer , might be overwlfelmed; below that k?iW Si- eT y Pr°sPecfc that the-really •S lsafet^ mber C°uld fisht ;■ fnvrh" the f Y m& we know- noH»ng x ™Ti /^ last. tragic'accident beyond what is contained in Colonel Nor\v?l f tele Sram. .- But of this much' we can b e assured: unless, surprised and ■ w?W I .b^- a sno^-^orni whilst ■sMtmn a short distance of the summit' 'ov2T talv^ °f Mr- extrfc oidinary abihty, presence of mind, and courage,, could come to no .serious-harm rout^M^n^^re^ 11^01^^ And now the ma . n in the. street may - stl perhaps as k what is the use c ; it w It Th°se., wno fleep amid the white wastes of the Jolar regions and their ' brothers on the icebound slopes of Mount Everest.knew, the good of the spirit r of adventure. In keeping-it alive