UNCONQUERED

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 30 June 1924, Page 11

UNCONQUERED

ATTEMPT TO CLIMB EVEREST. FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS. er CABLE PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT Received June 30, 10.30 a.m. LONDON, June 29. ‘‘Only those- who have had experience at mountaineering in these extreme latitudes are able to realise the difficulties in the way of attaining the summit.” This vague declaration, otten appearing in the Everest narratives, is illuminated by Dr. Somervell’s detailed account of the extreme physical sufferings during LieutenantColonel Norton’s and. Dr Somervell's last- attempt prior to the disaster. Th© climb commenced on Alar 30. and they actually attained a heigth of 28,000 feet. Dr. Somervell says they passed the night on June 2 in camp 5, and thereafter plodded wearily on, reaching 26,700 feet on June 3. ’ They pitched their tent on a rocky ridge, “Remembering how in 1922, at a similar altitude, thirst destroyed the stamina of the men. we decided to start the final climb of the morrow with plenty of liquid fuel inside us, so yve cooked a good brew of coffee and soup. \ve got going at sunrise and trudged slowly up panting and slipping frequently and .slopping for breath. Altitude was last beginning to tell on us When we got to 27,50 ft feet there was a sudden change. A little lower down we could walk comfortably, taking three or four breaths each step. Now as many as ten breaths were necessary for every .single step. Even at this slow rate of progress we had to rest a minute or two every twenty or thirty yards. At a love! of somewhere about 28,000 feet I tol t | Lieut.-Colonel Norton that I could not proceed further, as my throat was now intensely sore, and suggested tint Norton slum hi go on alone; luit Norton himself • was almost done Sitting down, 1 watched him slowly rise, but how slowly! After an hour he was barely eight feet above me. He soon returned, and we agreed reluctantly that the game wa s up, so with heavy hearts we retraced our steps, hut slowly, for even downhill movement at this level was hard and breathless work. The view from the topmost point we reached was beyond v\ ords in its extent and magnificence. Some of the .highest mountains in the world were over a thousand feet beneath us One simplv seemed above everything in the world, and it was almost a god’s view of things. We reached camp 4 on the night of June 4 both rather done, with Norton fast developing snow blindness contracted during the climb, hut we had nothing else to complain of. We had a gorgeous day for the climb, almost windless'’ and yet were unable to get to the summit, so we had no excuse. We were beaten in a. fair fight by the height of the mountain and our own shortness of breath.” —Times