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Feb 1-10th, 2000 Daily Reports
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Daily News: 2/10/2000 Report
Everest Spring 2000
Thrane & Thrane sponsorship of the first all Danish Mount
Everest Expedition
In the Spring of year 2000 the
satellite communication company, Thrane & Thrane, is sponsoring the first all Danish
Mount Everest Expedition. The expedition named ‘BigE – Thrane & Thrane
Danish Everest Expedition 2000’ - will leave for the Himalayas on March 27th and
attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest in May. All eight members of the
BigE-expedition are among the most experienced Danish climbers with significant
mountaineering experience. Leader of the expedition and team doctor is Henrik Jessen
Hansen. Henrik Jessen Hansen has been on five earlier expeditions to the Himalayas,
including one to Mount Everest in 1996. This year was a disastrous year at Mount Everest
with numerous casualties. As a result, Henrik Jessen Hansen had to give up his personal
attempt to reach the summit. Instead Henrik Jessen Hansen established the world highest
located emergency hospital, where he performed important and needed rescue help.
Thrane & Thrane has previously
sponsored other mountaineering expeditions, including expeditions to Mt. Everest in 1996
and Gasherbrum I in Pakistan in 1998. However, the sponsorship of the BigE-expedition is
by far the company’s biggest sponsorship investment. The main objective of the
BigE-sponsorship is to present Thrane & Thrane as a leading-edge satellite
communications company and to demonstrate Thrane & Thrane product superiority and
reliability under extreme conditions. In particular in regard to Thrane &
Thrane’s most recent product innovation within satellite communication, the Capsat
Messenger (the M4 terminal). The BigE-expedition will bring along the Capsat Messenger as
its primary communication unit and Thrane & Thrane is confident that the Capsat
Messenger will perform trouble-free.
On the BigE-expedition Thrane &
Thrane is represented by director Lars Thrane and electronic engineer, Jan
Mathorne. Their participation in the expedition gives Thrane & Thrane a first-hand
experience of the Capsat Messenger’s quality and reliability. In addition, it
demonstrates Thrane & Thrane’s unique company spirit. Thrane & Thrane
attracts some of the best electronic engineers and creative minds in the business and the
people who work at Thrane & Thrane strive to push back the limits and reach new
heights.
EverestNews.com friend Bo Belvedere
Christensen will also be part of this expedition. Bo has been part of many expeditions to
8000 meter peaks including the Everest 1996 Expedition. This expedition is planning a
South Pillar Route see: http://www.tt.dk/everest/hq_rute.html
Graham Hoyland's New
novel is available For Sale in manuscript digital form on www.k2news.com
Available Now. If you would like to order by credit card e-mail us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Frits Vrijlandt and Steven Le
Poole, will attempt to climb Everest via the North ridge. When they succeed, they will be
the first Dutchmen to do so. Joke Groenendaal will keep you updated.
Frits Vrijlandt and Steven Le Poole
will be part of a non-commercial British/Dutch expedition. Steven climbed Cho Oyu in 1997
without oxygen. Frits has 15 years of climbing experience.
Check out their Schedule
Page. Interesting stuff !
Jochen
Hemmleb Interview: We will be finishing his Q&A. Ask now if you have any
Questions: submit to everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Please try to review the questions to date to see if your has been asked already before
submitting.
Graham Hoyland's New
novel is available For Sale in manuscript digital form on www.k2news.com
Available Now. If you would like to order by credit card e-mail us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
EverestNews.com continues to
receive requests for information on Everest clean-up expeditions. There are at least two
major "clean-up" expeditions this year on Everest:
We are Sure they would be glad to
hear from You !. Check them out.
Jochen
Hemmleb Interview: We will be finishing his Q&A. Ask now if you have any
Questions: submit to everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Please try to review the questions to date to see if your has been asked already before
submitting.
Graham Hoyland's New
novel is available For Sale in manuscript digital form on www.k2news.com
Available Now. If you would like to order by credit card e-mail us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Gordon Janow, director of Alpine
Ascents International has told EverestNews.com that Alpine Ascents International has a
2000 Everest team for the Spring.
Alpine Ascents International has a
long history of Everest Expeditions and base camp expedition.
K2 2000:
American Heidi Howkins has
announced she will attempt K2 in 2000. Heidi attempted K2 in 1998 without success.
However, several climbers are expected at K2 in 2000 increasing everyone chances.
Graham Hoyland's New
novel is available For Sale in manuscript digital form on www.k2news.com
Available Now. If you would like to order by credit card e-mail us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Q.) Jochen: Do you think the weight
of the l924 oxygen cylinders would have been a inhibiting factor for Mallory and Irvine
climbing the Second Step?
A.) [Jochen] The whole apparatus
(Irvine's modified version) with three cylinders had a weight of 28 lbs. (13 kg). One full
cylinder had a weight of 8 lbs. (3.7 kg), an empty cylinder 6.5 lbs. (3 kg). By the time
they had reached the Second Step, they would have discarded at least one cylinder (the one
found below the First Step) and used up most of a second cylinder each - so the MAXIMUM
weight they would have had to carry would have been about 19 lbs. (9 kg) if they had taken
three cylinders each, or about 13 lbs. (6 kg) if they had taken two. It's for those who
have been up there to judge whether this would have been an inhibiting factor. Paul
Q.) Hello Jochen Do you know the
names of the Porters who went to Camp 6 with Mallory and Irvine. It seems a shame that
these men have not been given the credit which is their due. Chris
A.) [Jochen] A note Mallory sent
down from Camp V on June 6, 1924, mentions four names: Ang Tenjin, Tewang, Nimija &
Dareda. These are probably the porters who continued the next day to Camp VI. On the list
of provisions for the summit attempt, found on Mallory's body, the names appear again with
the exception of Tewang. In addition appear: Lobsang, Amdo & Mingma. (Mallory's
handwriting is not easy to decipher, so the spelling might be slightly different).
A.) [Jochen] The last statement is
the main flaw of many criticisms, because "Ghosts" NEVER states that Mallory
& Irvine reached the summit - only that they could have done so. Unless someone
clearly proves that they did not make it, or clearly disproves the essence of Odell's
sighting, the possibility still exists that they could have done it - and should be
included in the analysis. In this context, it surprises me with how much conviction some
people say that M & I did not make it - as if this was an established fact. No
criticism is heard that these people would overstate their case. And the critics of
"Ghosts" on the other hand don't have a problem with someone speculating widely
about Mallory's state of mind on his final attempt, about the decisions he made etc. -
of which is no proof either. Fact is that we KNOW very little - the altitude they must have
at least reached (the place where the oxygen bottle was found, at c. 8480 m), that they
died on the descent and that Mallory died of a head injury. However, we can speculate a
lot - and if doing so, we can speculate with reason. There is an underlying logic behind
the chain of evidence, i.e. if you assume or establish one part, you can only draw certain
conclusion, while others will be ruled out as a consequence. One example is Odell's
sighting and Anker's opinion that M & I could not have climbed the Second Step crux.
If you don't believe Odell, basically everything is possible. If you believe him, and
believe Anker at the same time, it could only have been the First Step where he saw them -
and then you have to put up with the problem of the topography in Odell's account (which
matches the First Step the least) and some aspects in the timing of the climb. This is
just to demonstrate the way of thinking behind an analysis of such a case, which is what
historians do - no matter whether certain people like a historian's contribution or not.
If I would change a thing about the conclusions in "Ghosts" now, it would be
only a matter of style - i.e. I would be even more analytical, just laying out each piece
of the puzzle and demonstrating where they fit and where they don't, like I've done in
my latest piece. But I wouldn't change the conclusions. Jochen
For Jochen's entire Q&A see the
home page www.everestnews.com For Questions
submit to everestnews2004@adelphia.net Please try to
review the questions to date to see if your has been asked already before submitting.
Graham Hoyland's New
novel is available For Sale in manuscript digital form on www.k2news.com
Available Now. If you would like to order by credit card e-mail us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Saeed has his own Independent
Expedition to Everest in Spring 2000, supported by http://www.asian-trekking.com/. EverestNews.com,
frankly knew little to nothing about this climber. Therefore, we asked other and himself.
Here is what he told us:
"I was born in Tehran/Iran
in 1959. I started my climbing activities when I was 14 years old in the North of
Tehran. Started college in Iran in 1979. Government closed down universities in
1982. Left Iran in 1983 to come to the US to continue my education. Completed
my BS in Computer Science at West Chester University in 1988. Started to work in
the field and completed my MS in Software Engineering at Penn State University in 1991.
Got back in to climbing again in 1993. My full climbing background is on my site
under Experience summary page. " I started my climbing activities when I was 14 years old in the North of
Tehran. Started college in Iran in 1979. Government closed down universities in
1982. Left Iran in 1983 to come to the US to continue my education. Completed
my BS in Computer Science at West Chester University in 1988. Started to work in
the field and completed my MS in Software Engineering at Penn State University in 1991.
Got back in to climbing again in 1993. My full climbing background is on my site
under Experience summary page. " I started my climbing activities when I was 14 years old in the North of
Tehran. Started college in Iran in 1979. Government closed down universities in
1982. Left Iran in 1983 to come to the US to continue my education. Completed
my BS in Computer Science at West Chester University in 1988. Started to work in
the field and completed my MS in Software Engineering at Penn State University in 1991.
Got back in to climbing again in 1993. My full climbing background is on my site
under Experience summary page. "
I do live in Washington D.C.
Northern Virginia area and work as a Network Engineer.
Much more about Saeed Toossi is
on his web site: www.everestdream.com. And much
more about Saeed assuming he makes it to Everest !
K2 2000: EverestNews.com plans to
provide K2 coverage again this year with attempts at the Summit planned in the July-Sept
range. For 1999 K2 Coverage see www.k2news.com.
At least two climbers who have
reached the Summit of K2 will be on Everest in Spring 2000. One as a guide and one as a
Expedition Leader. We hope to have the more news on them next week. All the climbers who
have reached the Summit of K2 are listed on www.k2news.com
.
Insider
News has started. We hope it will take a huge step from 1999. Have You JOINED YET ?? Join EverestNews.com Insider News today . We would like to thank those who have joined for their support of
EverestNews.com and for the many nice letters and notes You have sent in. THANK YOU !
Graham Hoyland's New
novel is available For Sale in manuscript digital form on www.k2news.com
Available Now. If you would like to order by credit card e-mail us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Q.) From reading Tilman and
Shipton, I gather that the first Westerners to ever set foot in the Everest region of
Nepal were Tilman and Houston and their group in 1950. But the Lonely Planet guide
"Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya" makes reference to Jimmy Roberts being the
first, although they don't give a date.
Can you clear this up for me?
Were Tilman and Houston the first foreigners to see Namche Bazaar and the Khumbu
region? If not, who was? Thanks,
A.) [Jochen] Walt Unsworth's
history of Everest notes that the Anglo-American Reconnaissance of 1950, including
H.W.
Tilman and C. Houston (not E. Shipton), was the first party to be allowed access to the
Solo Khmbu region. Shipton was leader of the British/New Zealand Reconnaissance (including
Hillary) the next year.
Q.) Hi Jochen
Obviously the main aim of the
next search will be to find Irvine, but do you also have any other objectives,
e.g. investigating the old camps 5 and 6, looking for more oxygen cylinders,
searching Mallory's fall line or anything else that you think might provide
useful information.
A.) [Jochen] I very much hope that
we can make this a full-scale historical/archaeological expedition. There is interesting
stuff at the various Camp 5 and Camp 6 sites to reconstruct the pioneers' attempts, as
well as a number of other research objectives regarding the Mallory & Irvine climb.
This would also be an ideal field for new investigative techniques by archaeologists,
geologists, geodesists.
Q.) Dear Jochen, A friend and I
have been having a discussion about Odell's sighting of Mallory & Irvine. He believes
that Odell saw two rocks a la Wyn Harris and Wager in 1933, or otherwise had his
perception tricked. I believe that Odell did indeed, see Mallory and Irvine
somewhere high up on the ridgeline. My friend went to a talk by David
Breashears, and David told him afterwards that there are some notes written by
1924 expedition members that indicate that Odell himself wasn't initially too
sure about what he saw. David then went on to say that these notes were left out
of the book "Last Climb" for space considerations. I did discover that there is
a mention in the book of how Odell's fellow climbers from 1924 had "muttered
ungenerously that he became more convinced of what he had seen as the years
passed than he was at the time". Would it be possible to learn more about the
contents of these notes ?
A.) [Jochen] I don't believe that
Odell was mistaken in WHAT he saw, i.e. two moving figures - Odell himself never changed
his opinion about this part of his account, and as Graham Hoyland once said, you wouldn't
keep looking at rocks for five or ten minutes without realizing it. As for WHERE Odell had
seen them, I have a new piece out, discussing this at length. I haven't
seen or heard of the notes mentioned - and if they were crucial to the validity of Odell's
sighting, it is indeed surprising that they were left out, especially as Breashears has
repeatedly called Odell's sighting "soft evidence". I think the least we
can say is that Odell saw two figures, Mallory & Irvine, climbing SOMETHING on the
upper North-east Ridge. His constant reference to a "great rock-step",
"prominent rock-step" etc. suggest that it was on one of the three Steps where
he saw them. His diary simply notes "nearing the base of the final pyramid",
which fit the Second or Third Step better than the First, especially when you put Andy
Politz's observation from the vicinity of Odell's viewpoint into consideration. The
topography in Odell's account, i.e. climbers moving up a snow crest or slope before
ascending a short rocky section with "alacrity" and appearing on top of the
Step, again fit the Second and Third Step better than the First - and it matches exactly
the Third Step. Just something to be noted...
Q.) Hallo Jochen, leider habe ich
die Sendung im ZDF verpa_t, in der Eure Suche nach Mallory und Irvine und der Fund von
Mallory gezeigt wurde, verpa_t. Nach Angabe des ZDF wird dieser Beitrag , wenn
|berhaupt,
dann jedenfalls nicht so bald wiederholt werden. Wie und wo kann ich diese Sendung doch
noch sehen? Vieln Dank f|r Deine M|he! mfg Barbara
A.) [Jochen] Das Video soll
demnaechst im Handel erhaeltlich sein.
Q.) I am confused, why are Tasker
and Boardman are credited with the first attempt up the North East Ridge of Everest in
1982?
Didn't the Chinese summit from the
North in 1960 and 1975? Wasn't the ladder placed at the second step in 1975? And what is
the reference to the pinnacles? I thought the North east Ridge had the 1st, 2nd and 3rd
step?
Is there a different route from the
North that I am not aware of? Just wondering because I thought I had these routes up
the mountain figured out until I started reading Jochen Hemmleb reports.
Another question, How come no one
does the West Ridge? or if they do, we never really here about it like the North and South
Summits. Thanks for any help you can give me. Todd
A.) [Jochen] Chris Bonington's
expedition made the first attempt of the complete North-east Ridge in 1982, although the
Chinese Research Expedition of 1964 went partway up the ridge from the Rapiu La (probably
reaching around 7000 m/23.000 ft.). The North-east Ridge has a prominent shoulder at 8423
m/27.636 ft., where it is joined by the North Ridge rising from the North Col. The North
Ridge is the route used by the British pre-war expeditions and the Chinese in 1960 &
1975. Today, a last camp is normally established around 8200 m/27.000 on the North Face,
away from the crest of the North Ridge. The route then angles up to reach the crest of the
upper North-east Ridge c. 200 m horizontally NE of the First Step, at c. 8450 m/27.725 ft.
So the classic route from the North is a combination of the North and North-east Ridges.
The Pinnacles are a cluster of rock
towers in the upper part of the North-east Ridge BEFORE it is joined by the North Ridge,
the point of junction (North-east Shoulder), is sometimes referred to as the "Final
Pinnacle". The First, Second and Third Steps are higher up the ridge, closer to the
summit.
The West Ridge provides some of the
most difficult technical climbing of all Everest ridges and hardly sees any attempts these
days (neither do most of the other lines besides the standard routes). The West Ridge has
been climbed with variations, i.e. approach to the Lho La either from Tibet or Nepal, or
traversing from the ridge into the Hornbein Couloir to avoid the difficulties of the upper
part. The West Ridge intigral, i.e. following the crest for most of the way, has first
been climbed in 1979 and saw one repetition in 1984.
Q.) When do you graduate from
College ? How is your education going ?
A.) [Jochen] Hopefully this year.
How my education is going? Well, guess what is keeping me busy these days... Jochen
For Jochen's entire Q&A see the
home page www.everestnews.com For Questions
submit to everestnews2004@adelphia.net Please try to
review the questions to date to see if your has been asked already before submitting.
The Scouts go to Everest BC: Looks
like a Good Cause.
"Our departure date Vancouver,
BC, Canada is March 9th. We are part of the scouting movement in Canada, and we have made
contact with Nepal Scouting. We will be doing a reforestation project north of
Kathmandu. Since it is the wrong season to plant, we will be prepping the land for
planting, digging holes, making a fence around the area to protect from animals. We
have received $700 US for the sole purpose of aiding this reforestation. We will do
this for a week, and then make our go at the base camp. We just finished this weekend, a
Wilderness first Aid course, so we are all well versed on remote First Aid. But that
was one of the requirements our group layed out early on, to be certified in first
aid. We all had standard first aid, but we had it upgraded to Wilderness.
Also, we're still fundraising like crazy to get some money back into our now cash strapped
pockets as we've made the bulk of our payments just recently. Anyways, that's a quick
overview, and a reminder, the webpage is at www.everest2000.org.
"
Thank you again, Ryan Peachey 1st
Port Moody Venturers and Rovers
So Many climbers appear to be going
to Everest this Year. Frankly, we have never seen so many. As unusual, some plans are not
working on, many still have money to raise. This is going to be a wild year of Everest.
Will Irvine be found ?
Will the camera be found ?
How will all the climbers Summit ?
Who will lead ?
Asian-Trekking has announced that
the Nepal Women Expedition they are assisting are planning to wait until mid May to
attempt the Summit.
Many Famous climbers appear to be
returning this year.
Who will not return ? We know it
will happen the Question is who and how many.
Be safe and careful.
More Answers from Jochen Hemmleb On
Thursday. For his Q&A to date. See the home page www.everestnews.com
For Questions submit to everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Please try to review the questions to date to see if your has been asked already before
submitting.
Graham Hoyland's New
novel is available For Sale in manuscript digital form on www.k2news.com
Available Now. If you would like to order by credit card e-mail us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Juan Oiarzabal's (one of 6 men who
has reached the Summit of all 14 8000 meter peaks) Everest expedition is being sponsored
by Spanish Television. Therefore, one would assume this Expedition will be well equipped
to take a shot at finding Irvine and the camera.
However, Juan while climbing in
South America has developed a problem with one of this feet. Juan has left South America,
and returned home, so he can save himself for the Everest expedition. However, sources
tell EverestNews.com there clearly is concern.
Details are limited, as best.
Everest French Climber Marc Batard
has retired from climbing 8000 meter peaks after surviving an avalanche on Cho Oyu in September.
This was a horrible Autumn (1999)
for climbing in Nepal. The question is: Will the Snow melt ?? or stay ?
