ASSAULT ON EVEREST.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 752, 4 May 1933, Page 1

ASSAULT ON EVEREST.

Good Progress Made by Party of Climbers. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, May 3. The special correspondent of the “ Daily Mail ” at Gangtok says that Mr Hugo Ruttledge and the expedition climbing Mount Everest have reached Camp 4 on the north col, 23,000 feet tip. They are sheltered by the great ice wall while waiting for the weather to improve before beginning the increasingly precipitous climb to the summit, which is at present obliterated by a raging blizzard. Two higher camps will be essential before the climbers get to the north ridge from which will be made the final assault on the last most perilous 2000 ft, which must be covered in one day, as to remain for the night without shelter would be certain death at that altitude if caught by snow. Mr Ruttledge, in a wireless message from the base camp, via Gangtok, dated Rongbuk, Tuesday, describes the movements of the expedition since setting off on April 2. He refers to the arrival in the Rongbuk Valley, with its desolate scenery. They camped at the monastery, where the head Lama, who was very friendly, blessed the entire personnel of the expedition. The Lama had been extremely sympathetic towards previous expeditions. “ We arrived at the base camp on Easter Monday (April 17),” says Mr Ruttledge. “ Mount Everest was only twelve miles away. All the members were in the best of spirits, and the weather, except for a few days, has been better than that encountered by previous expeditions, although travelling earlier in the year. “ We are now beside a frozen lake. The neighbourhood is devoid of life except for a hermit existing in solitude on the moraine behind the camp. He has been here for two years, and intends to stay for the rest of his life. The memorial cairn built in 1924 to the memory of the three previous expeditions is now in ruins, but we managed to piece together part of the inscription.

* The personnel is now busy sorting rations, overhauling tents and tending the wireless apparatus.”