EVEREST CUMBERS

Evening Star, Issue 22354, 2 June 1936, Page 9

EVEREST CUMBERS

THE MONSOON WEAKENING PREPARATIONS FOR ADVANCE Pres* Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, May 31. Mr Ruttledge, in a wireless message to the ‘ Daily Telegraph ’ from Camp 1, says: “ A report from the meteorologist at Alipore on Friday indicated a temporary weakening of the monsoon. Simultaneously the wind in the Mount Everest region veered strongly to the north-west, and began blowing the snow in great sheets from the mountain. This opportunity must not be missed, and the climbing party on Saturday will resume the advance up the east Ronghuk Glacier.” CHANCES OF SUCCESS LONDON, June I. “It will take two days to climb the last pyramid, but it might be done in one with luck,” said Brigadier Edward Norton, who recalls that the conditions were almost identical with those in 1924, but then there was no wireless, and they could not discover whether there was a monsoon or a local disturbance. He considers that if the liionsoon arrives in earnest while the present climbers are high, things will be black indeed. ALL DEPENDS UPON THE WINDS LONDON, June 1. Experts point out that in the most favourable circumstances it will take the Everest Expedition seven or eight days to reach the summit. They will face a double peril—first, continuance of the north-west winds, in which it has been stated no man can live; second, the return of the monsoon and snows, which bring avalanches and may cut off the climbers from the base. The climbers, therefore, will only succeed if the north-west winds now blowing snow from the mountains drop before they reach the higher ridges and the lull of the monsoon lasts until they have safely descended.