EVEREST CLIMBERS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19451, 28 March 1933, Page 8

EVEREST CLIMBERS

EXPLORERS’ MANY DANGERS. LONDON, March 11. “Will Mount Everest be conquered at last?” asks Sir Percival Phillips in a message to the Daily Mail from Kalimpong, whence Mr. Hugh Rutledge, with his expedition, is to leave the outskirts of civilisation. “The expedition is fortified by the experiences of its three predecessors and has better chances of success, yet the difficulties are so appalling that victory will be short of miraculous,” says Sir Percival. “Even the approach to Mount Everest is an ordeal sufficient to defeat many stout men, for the climbers, before reaching the base of the mountai,must live for weeks on the bleak windswept plateau of Tibet. “From Gangtok the expedition will use mules and ponies to Kampa Dzong (15,000) on the rockbound floor of Tibet, where yak transport will be engaged. The baggage train will consist of at least 300 animals, in addition to numerous porters.

“From Kampa Dzong the climbers will move by easy stages in order to accustom themselves to the air, thus beginning a struggle which will reach its climax during the following month, when they will be exposed to dizziness, “altitude throat.” snow blindness, palpitation, sunstroke and diminished vitality, affecting the brain as well as the body. “Above 25,000 ft they will suffer a dangerous inertia, which will make the slightest movement an effort and will dull the mental processes. “A base camp will be established near the Rongbuk Monatery in the middle of April and the ascent on Mount Everest will begin early in May from six successive camps, the last camp at an altitude of at least 27,000 ft. Watchers below hope to follow with glasses the final efforts of the climbers to reach the summit.