A SNOW-CLADGODDESS

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 50, 27 August 1932, Page 18

A SNOW-CLADGODDESS

Assault on Unconquered Namga Parbat is Begun

Though the points farthest north and farthest south on the earth's surface have been reached, the points highest up, the Himalayan giants, still continue to defy man's efforts. Of the "eight thousand meterers," as white men call those peaks above 26,240 feet, there are between ten and twenty known, and none of them has yet been successfully challenged. But now a German-American Himalayan, expedition is in India attacking a mountain higher than any that has as yet been conquered, the goal being Nanga Parbat, 26,630 feet high, the seventh highest known mountain in altitude, and highest in the world from base to summit. It rises north-west of the Vale of Kashmir, the monarch of' the Western Himalayas. On its Indus Valley side, where it towers a clear 23,000 feet of rock and ice, it is called the finest mountain face in existence. "Everest, Kanchenjunga, all the other giants," says an authority, "rise frottn great mountain chains or high tablelands. Nanga Parbat, the incomparable, stands alone, a patent goddess.l" Only once before has the tremfcndous peak been seriously attempted. Then, it avenged itself well and quickly. In 1895, an Englishman, A. F. Mummery, one of the greajtest names in the history of climbjing, reached a height on it of over 2Q,000 feet, before being turned back bfy a porter's illness. A few days latetr he set out with two porters along the side of Nanga Parbat en route to climb a pass. None of the three was ever seen again, nor any trace of them found. All that is certain is that they 'never leached the p"ass. Before he was lost, Mummery told his companions that the rock-climbing on. Nanga Parbat was ' • excessively difficult," comparing it to Aiguilles of Chamonix. He had spoken also of the dangers peculiar to the Himalayas, due to the size of the avalanches. These his companion, Collie, describes as "overwhelming cataclysms, shaking the solid bases of the hills, and capable with their breath alone of sweeping down forests." •■ To attack this. formidable "peak, an unusually strong group of climbers has been gathered togethejr. "Willy Merkl, of Munich, the leadcsr, is well known for his brilliant achievements as leader ~of- an ' expedition) to the Caucasus. Band Herron, of New "York, tho American climbing membeir of the group, has made probably/ more first ascents in the Alps and;' Dolomites than any other American, and has also taken part in successful Snountaineering expeditions to the , Qaucasus and to the High Atlas, and a winter expedition, to Lapland. The achievements of tpie others are also notable. One of th/e first ascents of Fritz Wiessner, of Dresden, an original organiser of tjhe expedition, is generally called the.' most sensationally difficult rock *limb that has even been. made. Peter Aschenbrenner, of Kuf stein, Austria; Fritz Bechtold, of Trostberg, Bavaria, who will act as photographer; Herbert Kunigk, of Munich, and Felix Simon, of Leipzig, all have long lists of first ascents and super-difficult climbs. All except one of the mountaineers are about thirty years old, the best tage for difficult, high-altitude climbing.

There are two non-climbing membexs of the party. One, Dr. Hugo Hamberger, of Kosenheim, Bavaria, has taken over from the Bauer expeditions to Kanchenjunga the studies of the eiffeet of high altitudes on the human system, and will continue their investigations. The other and second American member is the writer, Elizabeth Knowlton, of Springfield, Massachusetts, a former climber, who is acting as correspondent for the London "Times" and the "New York Times" during the expedition. In. spite o£ all the difficulties and ■dangers of Nanga Parbat, good hopes are entertained of success, partly because of the unusual climbing abilities of the party, and partly because Mummery reported that above the point he reached the technical difficulties appeared to grow less, but especially because there is no monsoon. In the Eastern Himalayas the monsoon Units the possible climbing period to about a month, and so defeated the Everest and Kanehenjunga attempts. At the foot of Nanga Parbat the climbers will have about throe months before the winter snows set in. This will give them time to become acclimatised. It will also enable them to lay elaborate siege to the mountain. If one route proves impossible, another and still another can be tried. Should success come quickly, the expedition will then explore and climb among the neighbouring peaks. The base camp will be pitched on one of the glaciers at the foot of the mountain, probably at about the height of the top of Mont Blanc. Provisions and equipment will then be carried higher and a series of four or five higher camps established, tho final one within striking distance of the summit. For this high-altitude porterage the expedition has arranged to bring across India six of the Everest "tigers," those famous coolies who followed their sahibs tirelessly and fearlessly up Everest and Kanchenjunga. The expedition assembled in Munich and shipped from there over a ton of provisions and equipment. The food will include 3001b of sugar and 301b of bonbons, since sweets restore the heat and energy so rapidly consumed at high altitudes. In both food and equipment the expedition is closely following the precedents set by Bauer's to Kanchenjunga, which was considered the most efficiently and economically organised of all the great climbing parties. The members will use small individual tents, and down sleeping bags made on a combination of a German and an American model,, with spongy rubber mats to insulate the sleeping bags from the ice.. The fuel, benzine and meta must all be carried, as even the base camp will be above the timber line. Such mountaineering necessities, of course, as ice-axes, ropes, and crampons will be taken. Temperature conditions are expected to be governed by a combination of arctic air and tropic sun. The clothing, therefore, will be all wool, except for light wind-proof outer garments and leather aviators' helmets for storms. But sun helmets and dark snow glasses will also be needed. Cotton shorts are expected to figure in the tropical heat on the way in.