TOUGHEST JOB IN THE WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 22413, 10 August 1936, Page 10

TOUGHEST JOB IN THE WORLD

The ascent of Everest is the world’s toughest job (writes W. T. Palmer, in the ‘ Daily Mail ’). Despite the best specially-adapted clothing and equipment, the personal hardships of an attack on the summit are terrific. The oxygen content of the air diminishes rapidly above 20,000 feet; the strain on heart and lungs is severe, and only men able to pass the most exacting medical test can take part. Frostbite is another great danger, and men suffer terribly from it, no matter how elaborate the precautions. Speed in climbing is a vital consideration.

At 23,000 ft the climber may force his way up to I,oooft of snow at an easy incline in an hour; at 25,000 ft the speed is halved; at 27,000 ft a climb of only 250 ft would be fair progress in the time.

At such an altitude each step becomes a desperate effort and requires a succession of gasping breaths. And every few hundred feet higher the climber goes so does, the strain become greater. Hurricanes represent another formidable peril. In five minutes the wind can rise from almost a dead calm to a blast strong enough to knock a man over.

There are, too, the widest extremes of temperature—heat of 180 deg during the day may be followed by paralysing cold 20deg below zero at night. The period during which high climbing is possible is brief; not more than six hours on a good day—and good days come seldom to Everest. The party must be in their tents before sunset and wait for warm air before they move out in the morning.

Another physical difficulty is that warm food and drink cannot be prepared above 25,000 ft. Water there boils at a temperature so low that fingers can be dipped into it without harm.

The tremendous sun glare- over the snow, too, gives eye trouble. Three days of consecutive fine weather are necessary to make the slabs of rocks dry and comparatively free from snow. Above 25,000 ft the snow scarcely melts at all; at 28,000 ft its consistency is that of caster sugar, giving no support to the feet except when packed by the wind. What good is to be achieved by climbing Everest? The expeditions have led to considerable improvements in camping and mountaineering outfits, in windproof clothing, and in oxygen outfits for use in many industries.

The surveyor will find the exact conditions of the peak, whether it is higher or lower than estimates, whether any higher point or points remain. Medical science will know the effect of high altitudes and low oxygen on the human body, and find how acclimatisation at great heights is carried out.