Norwich bulletin., 1921-05-14
READY TO CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST

ridge will prove at all possible. because I do not think anybody can live at such enormous elevations for such long time as would be necessary. was privil- | eged last year. by very kind permis- sion of the authorities of India and | Nepal, to make a recoana:ssancC of | Kangehenjungs and I think in studying | passages and probable conditions we cal. to large extent, depend upon anaISsv Great snow mountains are great encw mountains the world over.
 These two great constelIations of | peaks, Everest and Kangchenpunga, at | no great distance apart, are separated by an enormous river valleys, the Arun. | but probably conditions are very much the same. think 1t very unfortunate indeed that for political reasons alone We are preciuded from taking the easi- est route from the south. We must find some sheltered face route, and I believe that the northeast will lbe the most fa- vorahle, for this reason: that the north
 west is probably much sleeper and i'
 has the cold aspect. Now altitude and
 cold are the two great things we have
 to struggle against. If we can ge. on
 the northeastern side We shall he much
 more likely to have sun early in the
 morning As regards the actual m.ur-
 taineering, everything will depend upon
 the training of the coo!ies, for I do net believe that Europeans cal carry at these heights. Above 21,000 feet one has
 to have really well trained and young
 active men and support them i.. every way"
 c. F. Meade, member of the ecT1n,it- tee on stores and equipment, said that he considered the most important enemy to be combatted was the sun.
 The sun at high attitudes IS a very formidable enemy indeed. To rope with this we are having sunproof material to put ov1/ the tents. and we are using | Whymper tents, wit ha double fly, which l have been proved to be the best tent | for high attitudes. Another great diff l culty is that at the same time you are | suffering as it were, from chonic sun l stroke you are undergoing danger If | frostbite, and the boots, therefore, are | by no means the least important item | in the equipment The pattern of ski boot is the best, as it gives plenty of 1 room for the feet and for circulation. | Covers are used over the bocts 70 pre- vent them from comag into direct tcn- tact with the snow.
 "One of the most encouraging pieces ! of news is the account of Caothin Mcrs- i head and Dr. Kellls, who reached the
 saddle of 23,500 feet on Kamet this year
 without any suffering whatever and with
 normal appetite and pulses. The Bho- 1 tias are certainly some of the finest 1 climbing material in the world. Unfor- 1 tunately they are not Buddists but very strict Hindus and are limited by I their religious prejudices about diet, | which makes them difficult to cater for | on the mountain. The question of food l for the coolies is very important. In | valid diet is the best way to feed them l diet suitable for .convalescence, nour- ] ishing and appetizing."
 | H;po oh OP The p1ir1hiO = 1 committee, said that Ion this expedition remarkable difficulties are not likely to | be met with below 20.000 feet. The l ascent however. of the remaining 9,OOO | feet to the summit of Everest will, if at l all, be carried out in ten days or even less, and 1t seems to me those days will
 be replete with concentrated effort and strain such as no other expedition has ever demanded. I do not fear our in ability to piece out an ultimate route I'D the mountain. The question Is | whether the conditions will allow us to follow the route selected to the summit On a mountain of such an enormous scale We shall be able to avoid difficult
 rock climbing. But I think every one
 of us will have to call up all he ever
 knew about snow conditions. '"rhese, to my mind, will prove one Of
 our main difficulties. I do not mean We need fear avalanches coming down on us for m good mountaineer recklessly ven
 lures in their path. The great danger
 will be that at attitudes such as we hope to reach we may meet with conditions
 of snow such as none of us have ever
 seen, of such a dry and powdery' nature
 that all our previous experience of the angle at which snow may be ascended
 still less crossed diagonally, may go fol nothing. As to the question of altitude
 MT. Meade actually camped at 23,eoo. "Dr. Kellas has recently carried out valuable series of temperature ooserya.
 lions at attitudes varying from 15,O0C to 22,O00 feet. By process Of extra
 nolation one can calculate from these data. that temperatures of-60 degree: Fahrenheit are quite likely, indeed high , lly probable on the summit of Mount Ev crest In other words, the cold on thi' expedition will in all probability be arcti' , l in it's intensity. That in itself may no l at first be considered very serious mat Ter but it must be borne in mind tha
 lat high attitudes which must be attalnet : the rate of evaporation of moisture anC f the loss of heat from the human bodI s will be far greater than at sea level. r One other question, and one which. a!
 far as I am aware, was hrst recognized bv MT. Meade, is of great importance g and that is the effect of the exposure oi :, the body to ultraviolet light. At higf : attitudes there are large quantities Of ul . traviolet light not kept back by the at
 mosphere At low sea level we are pro tected. Ultraviolet rays impigning upol the skin literally burn 1t, and the burn , ing is followed by feverish condition . which hardly seem to me to be con
 ducive to health and well being"