EVEREST UNCONQUERED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21993, 30 June 1933, Page 6

EVEREST UNCONQUERED

The wisdom of the decision of the sponsors to recall the expedition which has been attempting the ascent of Mount Everest will be recognised by everyone except, perhaps, the climbers themselves. They will naturally be extremely reluctant to abandon an attack on the impregnable mountain since they had very nearly achieved success, A camp was, in fact, established at 27,700 feet at the base of the sharp ridge leading to the summit. The climbers had to ascend from that camp 1740 feet on a final dash. It would be a child’s adventure to experienced mountaineers, if attempted from near sea level, but the photo•graphs taken by the Houston-Everest expedition, and the graphic descriptions of previous climbers, have made people aware that the world’s highest mountain has unique forces to resist the onslaughts of adventurers upon it. The expedition which undertook the memorable assault on Everest in 1924 succeeded in reaching a height of 28,130 feet without oxygen, and Messrs Mallory and Irvine,, two of its members, established a camp above that altitude. They were undoubtedly only a few hundred feet from the summit when watchers lost sight of them, but Everest guarded its secrets too closely. It is not known even whether the two climbers reached the top: they did not return. If the expedition led by Mr Ruttledge has failed to achieve more definite results than those of 1924, it has not accomplished less and no lives have been wasted. Although life is not counted too dearly, sometimes, by those who embark in hazardous ventures, the loss of lives in heroic endeavour has of itself no special virtue. It is always to the credit of the leaders of such an essay if no life is needlessly spent. Everest remains unconquered by man, but not inviolate. The Houston-Everest expedition secured remarkable photographs, and made a general survey of the mountain region, and it is probable that the Ruttledge expedition will be able to add something to man’s knowledge of the forbidden region.