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 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
__________________________________________________
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 ??
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!)
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.
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
Going to the link that shows a series of photos taken of the mountainside and the analysis is really interesting.
Now if they could only persuade a Yeti to go up there and bring the object down or take a pic then we could all rest easy again. This debate has ruined my sleep for years.
Still think of “Into thin air” with shock. Anybody has a chance to read it, fascinating book.
Lot of bodies on the mountain, don’t think too many Sherpa’s. They are the real mountain climbers, they take everyone up and down that thing on a regular basis.
Like Hillary on the mountain, isn’t it funny Hillary Clinton is left behind like a dead body in this administration. So, see; she does have something really to do with Hillary after all...
Neat article.