DUKEE OF THE ABRUZZI'S FEATS

Grey River Argus, 12 April 1910, Page 4

DUKEE OF THE ABRUZZI'S FEATS

SCIENTIFIC RESULTS

TURIN, Feb. 16

The Duke of Abruzzi delivered a lecture on his expedition in the Himalayas at the T&atro Vittorfo Emanucle here this evening. Narrating the-ex-pedition, his Royal Highness said that, accompanied by the Marquis Negrotto, and fiis orderly officer,, Cavaliere Vittorio Sellt, aiid CavaHere Dotter Filipj>o de FiHppi, and eight Alpine gdides from Courmayeur. he arrived on April 17th, at Srinagar, where he enjoyed the hospitality .of the resident, Sir Francis Younghusband.

Starting from the capital of Kashmir the expedition, after a twenty days' march., reached . Askoleh, 9750 ft, the last village nf tlic Braldoh Valley. Askoleh ho.i ~ ■'"*•■ Ueliind, the catnp was pitched or Mcy 18th, at th© foot of the Balfor.o Glacier. For a period of 67 clnvr M - -V,.: cr , one of tlie largest ■?m -in vni'd . and about 41 mile? !o» r . ,-». t'c of. the expedition. Asronding \\w Baltoro with a folloWM— «f 7 ,,t S?0 native porters, his Royal .H : "'vi-w c tablished a Tjase camp, for jvovi-V"-,^ aU( j p OS t a l purpose at a loenJif-v caJJed Rdokae>s > At •a lio'Kht of 15,074 ft.

OirMay 24th, his Ro.>al Highness arrived in sight of tho mountain K2 (also called. Godwin Ainten) 27,982 ft., which is the second highest peak in the world \ Mount Everest measuring 28,780 ft." On that dVy the party found itself at the confluence of the three glaciers which meet in the Baltoro, viz.. the tJodw'n Austen, the Golden Throne, nnd the Ch. Vigne, forming a rast glacial basin of incomparable Alpine beauty, surrounded by collossnl peaks, several of which ar© more than 25,000 ft high. On the 25th another base camp was pitched at 16,182 ft at ;th© southern foot of K2. From this point his Royal Highness tried three times to climb the mountain by the south-eastern ridge,< but had to desist owing to difficulties, especially of transport. . .

EXPLORING BRIDE PEAK

Exploring other slopes of K2, his Royal Highness, ascending by the western spurs, brought his camp up to an altitude of 18,005 ft, and then on June 7th he climbed a hitherto unexplored lieak 21,664 ft high, to winch he gave the name of Mount Savoia. T?rom this point a solcndid view was obtained far to fhe north and north-east towards the Oprang valley, on the unknown elope towards Tibet. Subsequently the iluko explored the eastern branch of •The Godwin Austen glacier, reaching Windy €k»j? -<SO 3 Ss7f t) oaly touched previously by one expedition, the AngloAustrian.

A>? ths result of those explorations. ♦IjSs Royal Highnoss camo to the concTusion that any attempt to climb K2 by the western, souther^ or eastern slopes was hopeless

On June 26th an attempt was made to climb Staircase Peak, atapid jour/jey behig made to the second terrace of the ridge, a height of 21,450 ft, but a further ascent was prevented by enormous crevasses. The first part of July was spent in explorng Bride Peak (24,872 ft). Notwithstanding the continuous bad weather, a point 24,352 ft high was attained— an altitude never before attained by man in mountain: climbing. The 6ummit, however, oflfy i 487 ft higher, could not be reached owing to the danger from avalanches, the ice cornices, of the bridge and the wonther. On 3ttly"22nd the party reassembled at the Rdoka-sg base 1 camp and was back in- Srinngar on Artgust 11th, getting their last glimpse of the w.'upenctous Karakoram range — already far off — from Mount Boorgila (15,694 ft).

"If the range," said the duke, "did not lef in achieve. aH theftrhrmphs wo dreamed of at the beginning of the journey, it gave us all the excitement of atniKx'o and unforgettable hoars of contemplation, .fir other oxperfitiona, az in tliose to Mount St. Elias and Ruwenzori. the work of my. predecessors allowed me to achievo victory ; this time, however, may my work and my exertions enable others to gather the fruit by climbing in 1113' footsteps tc the magnificent summit of Bride 'Peak." METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. The duke then summed up the scientific result? of the expedition. Af:er givina the result of technical topographical observations (the most important of whiolf is. perhaps", the measurement of Bride Pctik. which was found to have a height of 126,877 foet. being thus tho second highest in the Karakoram range), he proceeded to describe tho climatic conditions of the region. The party, he said,,'; was on the JJaltoro glacier from , May- 18th to July , 23rd, and found June more windy than N July ' a* mild -temperature in June, but gFeat hout in July on sunny days. The south-east monsoon blows very strongly in May. June and Jnlv, but subsides in August and September. ' The meteorological conditions, said his Royal Highness, were very changeable, being doubtle~s influenced by the high cold" peaks and the BXtensiv© glaciers. " An absolute absence of thunder and lightning wa6 observed on the Baltoro due, perhaps, to the lack of moiv ture, and- tbe> peaks noting n$ gigantic lightning conductors. Th© inhabitants of Balistan, from among whom his Royal Highnes3 engaged his porters, were, ho, said, of good disposition and physically very- rDbusVbsing nbl© to endure givaf flltitntles I)ett&> than any Europpans.. The diiko' 'found that all the Jvarakoram peaks aTd'^'ilcult of ascent, e.\fci)t Golden Throne -^nd Bride Peak. Tho abrupt changes of temperature tender the rock very crumbly, the unovr on- the.- slopes dangerous, and the glaoiers impracticable on fiunny days L^^^mvy .flftiidifcinns m Juno were,

RAREFACTION OF THE AIR

With regard to the rarefaction of tho air, none of the party felt any ] inconvenience up to 16.250 feet, but between that height and 20,000 feet there were cases of insomnia, want of appetite and frequency of th© pulse above the normal. But these cases did not stop regular marching. Above 20,500 feet the duke and three guides went for more than a week without suffering inconveniences beyond a quickened pulse. On the gentler slopes up to 22.100 feet inarches of more than an hour could be made without stopping, but above that height, ♦ on the steep ridge of Bride Peak, in -bad snow, only very slow progress could bo made, with rests every quarter of an hour.

It was -observed that the physical strength of the climbers after fifty days, .on -.the Baltoro had certainly diminished, so that if the ascent of Bride Peak had been undertaken just after his arrival in the region better work could have been accomplished. The diminution in strength, the duke attributes to the attitude, and not to the wse of tinned meat, and ho holds that since at 24,275 feet man's organism supports a diminution of pressure about two inches, it can stan3 a further diminution of one per cent, "on the highest summits of the globe. The difficulties of the Himalayas he regards as of the. same kind as those of the Alps, though greater m degree, wAile the biological and climatic conditions, are worse. The high peaks, therefore, can, he thinks, only be accomplished by easy routes.

In conclusion, the lecturer thanked, besides all the members of the! expedition, the British Government. .Sir Francis Younghusband, and the Maharaja of ITie Kashmir for the facilities they afforded to the enterprise. — Renter.