MT. EVEREST EXPEDITION.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 June 1921, Page 9

MT. EVEREST EXPEDITION.

■ A GREAT ADVENTURE. Mount Everest, though the highest peak in the Himalayas, is not the most difficult of ascent, since there are four other peaks in the same range which are considered absolutely unscalable, owing to their precipitous sides making it impossible to establish a base near enough to the summit. For any last base established must be sufficiently near the summit to make it possible to make the final ascent and descent within twentyioui hour<, and in the case of these four peaks it is thought that this would be an impossibility. But Mount Everest offers difficulties that in the opinion of experienced mountaineers make the feat, of sealing it twenty times more difficult than reaching cither the North or the South Pole. The present expedition will therefore be watched with interest, since it. is attempting what, may be the most difficult, feat, of exploration ijiat man has yet. attempted. 'l’hc first great survey of the Himalayas was completed bv Sir Andrew Waugh, soon after the Mutiny, and he fixed as accurately as was then possible the positions and the heights of seventy-nine mountains in the range. lhe survey was not without perils of its own. and of the 150 officers and assistants on Waugh’s staff, no fewer than forty died from sickness or mishap.. Vaugh named Mount Everest after his old chief, Sir George Everest, whom he had succeeded as SurveyorGeneral of India. Attempts were made to climb the mountain soon after it had been discovered, but political difficulties always stood in the way, most of them coming from the reluctance of the authorities in Tibet to grant the use of their territory for the purpose. These political difficulties have now been overcome, but others remain.

In the first place little or nothing is known, about the approaches to 'the mountain. No one has ever penetrated within fifty miles of it, and Colonel Ryder, the present Surveyor-General, is the only European who has been within sixty miles. Consequently, considerable time is to be spent on a preliminary survey, and at present it is believed thar the best approach will be found from the Tibet side. But all the approaches are to be explored, and it is not expected that any attempts to scale the mountain itself will be possible before next year. The expedition is most completely equipped, and contains experts in almost every branch of science, a new survey of the mountain has just been completed, and the height, is now given as 29,141 feet instead of 29,002 as in the old surveys. It is surmised that the extra height may be due to a variation in the snowcap. Although it is believed that, it will be possible to establish a base sufficiently near the summit, to enable the final ascent to be made within twenty-four hours, yet this is not known for certain, and it is the distance one must, go from the last resting place to the summit, that counts, lhe rarefied atmosphere at the great height of 29,000 feet will offer considerable difficulties, as only climbing with the necessary physical qualifications will be able to avoid distress. It is said that every climber must have a great sense of balance and a slow pulse, and such men are rare. Mr. Turner attributes much of his success to the fact that he has an almost Blondin sense of balance and a pulse that is ten beats below normal. The immense difficulties to be encountered and the important scientific results likely to he achieved, make the expedition one of peculiar interest, since it appeals alike to the lovers of romance and the scientists. Everest is the last great rampart of Nature awaiting conquest, and while some may question the wisdom of spending so much time, energy, and money , on the enterprise, man will never be i 'ftffcwfled until he has subdued it. I