The majority of the expeditions use the South Col route. That is where most of the commercialized excursions take place... and where most of the bodies are.
Posted on 01/28/2010 10:24:39 AM PST by Palter
I edited title to fit into header. Correct title is 'Historical Development:Could a Frozen Camera Dethrone Hillary and Norgay as the First to Summit Everest?'
Wow, so Ms. Clinton could have ended up with the name Mallory or Irvine Clinton instead of Hillary Clinton.
You know, her parents wanted to name her George before they settled on Hillary.
Could a Frozen Camera Dethrone Hillary
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I thought this was about Hillary Clinton
LOL
Meanwhile my g grandmother was an Irvine from Scotland..
Wonder if I’m related to this Irvine ??
I’d think that getting down from the mountain alive would be a requirement for getting credit.
The majority of the expeditions use the South Col route. That is where most of the commercialized excursions take place... and where most of the bodies are.
I just completed reading a book about the youngest-ever climber to reach the summit. His dad owned the climbing company, so he had a lot of help, but the physical torture he put his body through boggles my (8 feet above sea level) brain. Although climbers try to acclimate their bodies to the altitude and thin air, there is a point above which you cannot acclimate and your body starts dying, mostly from edema, I think. Thus, it is a mad dash for the summit, and you gotta observe a strict time limit.
Long story short, the young climber let his also-14-yrs-old Nepalese friend reach the summit while he held the camera below and documented, but did not join him on the summit, because his friend (actually a sherpa-in-training) was very poor and the product endorsements and fame would allow him to support his family.
Knowing what pricks mountain climbers can be, I thought that was a very nice thing to do.
It turns out that the subject of the story was being crassly used by his father to drum up business for his mountaineering company.
Google "Everest corpses" for a look at those that did not make it. Mallory is there, I think. His clothing, blown away by years of wind, exposes his naked back that has been bleached white by the sun. That he made it as high as he did with archaic equipment is all the more awesome (wool socks! tins of sardines!)
Moved to Montana.
watch your mouth! o.k. i know what you mean. ;)
Interesting stuff. Good post.
Ping
Damn. Developing 86 year old film that’s been frozen solid at the top of the world, is going to be an interesting exercise. Assuming of course that they can find it.
one word! ibuprofen (it increases oxygen flow). i lived in a cabin @ 7,750 ft. for two years w/o running water, electricity, or heat while in durango, co.. while i wouldn't do it again, it was one h#ll of a learning experience.
p.s. i've had climbing/spelunking experiences that would make your skin crawl. i watch videos of special forces training in rock climbing and, literally, laugh my @ss off.
i was never world class, but, i've seen grown men drawn to tears facing adversity.
if i were in my 20's again, i would probably be sponsored by red bull. ;)
This story caught my eye because I just finished a book by Anatoli Boukerev, a Russian climber who summitted three times.
I found out this afternoon that there are more than just a few routes to the summit. I also discovered that the Mallory route on the north side has nearly as many fatalities as the more popular South Col route.
Here is an interactive map, with all of the routes and the success/failure on each one. There is also some webcam footage that is very interesting.
http://www.explorersweb.com/webtv/videoconsol_everestarial.htm
A friend of mine gets terrible headaches at higher altitudes and my husband just falls asleep.
I like the corpse they call “Green Boots.”. He’s an Indian officer who died in the late 80s and whose body is used as a landmark. It’s a weird, morbid form of immortality, to be sure, but an oddly fitting end to a mountain climber I would think.
I get that from interacting with them in the Sierra Nevadas and specifically Mt. Whitney when I was a lot younger; It seems like they were always from the L.A. area and wore super bright neon clothing.
Their overriding attitude was "get out of my way. I am awesome." They were rude and arrogant in the parking lot, and rude and arrogant at the top, too. They thought only of themselves in an environment where teamwork and mutual assistance was of utmost importance.
Of course, I am making a generalization and most of those I've met on a trail were very nice folks and tended to be friendlier than the general populace, IMO.
Another word: Gingko Biloba*. There is anecdotal evidence that taking it weeks/months prior to your ascent allows your red blood cells to carry just a little bit more oxygen than they normally would. That little bit more is supposed to be a big bonus at high altitude.
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