MT. EVEREST.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1921, Page 5

MT. EVEREST.

MOVING CAMP. ' A STRENUOUS TASK. FEARSOME GORGES. By Telegraph.—Press Assn—Copyright. London, Sept. 3.

A dispatch from the. Everest expedition, dated August 4, states that after months of reconnoitring the time lias arrived to move camp to the east side of Everest and explore the approaches. It was found that the only hope was to try the east and north-east faces, owing to precipices elsewhere. The party first descended to the Choebuk Monastery in the Rongbuk Valley, thence pushed to Ribu, where a fine view of the northern face of Mt. Everest was obtained. This is apparently unscalable, owing to bands of perpendicular rock. They then climbed to Chongou, over the Doyala stream, where a bridge broke, throwing a bullock into the water. Then they ascended the slopes, went over a pass and through masses of flowers. Across the Doyala they entered a region of new vegetation and a new climate. The hillsides were greener, under the influence of the monsoon, and the vegetation was luxuriant. The party descended the Arum Valley, where they established a base at an altitude of 12,300 feet, above fearsome gorges, in which cliffs descended several thousands of feet sheer into the river.

They found to the southward, st an elevation of 15,000 feet, 14 lakes, all of different hues, from black and green to the lightest turquoise. The weather is now at its worst, and it is a question of waiting for better conditions.