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For
anyone who does not know, Andy was a member of the 99
Mallory and Irvine Expedition as well as the 2001
Mallory and Irvine Expedition. In total Andy has been
on 7 Everest Expeditions:
1985 (West Ridge); 1986 (West Ridge); 1988 (Kangshung
Face); 1991 (Tibet, Northeast Ridge, to summit); 1993
(Nepal, South Col); 1999 (Tibet, Northeast Ridge);
2001 ( Tibet, Northeast Ridge). This is his Q&A on
the 2001 Mallory Expedition:
Question:
Do you think Andrew Irvine's body will be found ?
Andy:
I’m sure of it.
Question:
What do you think the chances are that he HAS the
camera?
Andy:
I think it is worth betting a month’s salary on.
Question:
I have a question about the infamous camera that may
hold the answer to the question of who summitted
Everest first. If the camera were found, would the
images be retrievable? And if so, how? I know that
images have been retrieved years later from climbers
who have perished, but none that I know have from this
kind of time span.
Andy:
If you question the professional photo labs, it seems
they all have developed film from 40-50 years ago. The
cold temperature, in this situation, only makes the
film more stable. The Kodak Lab in Rochester, NY has
an impressive group on the job. They have a wise plan
to bring up an image off the film. Their big concern
seems to be condensation on the film in the handling
of the camera. We were directed to do what we could to
bring the camera slowly through temperature changes.
Also, we wanted to avoid too hot (over 90 degrees) and
too cold (dry ice) temperatures. To avoid powerful
x-rays, we needed to hand carry the camera through
airport security.
At
Cord Camera, here in Columbus, we have run a painfully
accurate simulation of a technician opening a similar
camera, to extract the film from a 77-year-old camera.
We wanted to represent field conditions (i.e., outside
the lab, in the office, on the boss’s desk, with
one’s arms shoved into a lightproof tent, with a
video camera going to capture the stresses upon said
technician). Due to this trial run, we realized
beginning the developing process at 6PM on a Friday
night, with a hot date later that evening, with three
people egging him on, with little research allowed
into the chemistry of the scenario caused a little too
much stress on the technician.
Maybe
that’s why Kodak has such a large team on the job?
Still,
Phil Kinstle, lab director at cordcamera.com, one of
my sponsors, took it like a professional. I’m sure
he’ll get those of us present, that put him up to
it, back soon enough.
Question:
I just wondered if the same team would be returning to
"finish what they started" so to speak? In
'02 or '03?
Andy:
There are no plans I have heard of currently.
Question:
What was the most significant find of this year' s
expedition? How did it change what we already know?
Andy:
You would get a better perspective from Jochen. I
would say it to be the location of the 1924 Camp 6.
I can’t speculate how it change’s what we already
know. The clues aren’t earth shattering, rather
subtle insights directing where to look .
More
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