Even though the season is over and climbers are back home, the ramifications from 2010 still echos throughout the climbing world. There are two developments – youngest records and the search for proof that Mallory and Irvine summited in 1924. First, the records race. This is precisely what people feared from the 13 year-old Jordan Romero’s summit. According to this article, Sherpa Pemba Dorje wants to find a younger climber to summit in 2011 saying that all Everest records should belong to Nepalese.
History
The weather on both sides is proving difficult even stopping the Sherpas from fixing the route above camp 3 on the Lhotse Face. So most climbers are resting in their -40F sleeping bags, reading or playing cards in the dining tents. The Sherpas continue to carry oxygen bottles to camp 2 in anticipation of further carries to the South Col. IMG reports over 130 and Altitude Junkies 70 already at C2. A strong Austrian team lead by Jochen Hemmleb could be searching for the infamous camera of 1924 British climbers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine. As I reported February 3 this year with my interview with Everest historian Tom Holzel; he had made significant progress in narrowing the search area for the camera. He posted the map and GPS coordinates on his site and the race was on.
Reinhold Messner: Mental Toughness
Everest 2010, History
Comments Off
Feb 272010
Most people, even non-climbers, know the name Reinhold Messner. He is arguably the finest Alpinist of all time. His firsts in climbing are legendary and include the first summit of Everest without supplemental oxygen and then he reported the feat on the North side – solo. He was the first climber to summit all fourteen of the 8000 meter peaks without supplemental oxygen. The Italian climber defined what today we call style with his minimalist approach; climbing without ropes or support staff (porters, Sherpas) when possible. In the attached excellent documentary, he speaks a length on the mental challenge of [continue reading]
Feb 032010
Once again, an Everest expedition is trying to solve the who done it mystery of Everest: did George Mallory and Sandy Irvine summit Mt. Everest in 1924? You see Sandy Irvine, who went missing on Everest’s North side in 1924, had a camera. A plan is emerging for a new search for the missing camera that could solve the mystery once and for all. We have seen this headline but this time is very different – there is a clue and a map! Before we take a look at this effort, a tiny bit of background of the north. The [continue reading]
Recent Comments