Is The Search for Irvine’s Camera On?

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.

Victor Vescovo climbing with AAI  notes the delay in today’s post:

Well, today was supposed to be our last rest day at Base Camp before our second “rotation” up the mountain to Camps 1, 2, and 3. It seems a high-pressure system came over the mountain last night and on the good side, warmd up the air by maybe 5-10 degrees but on the downside brought very high winds.

So the plan is one more rest day tomorrow here at Base Camp. with a 4 AM departure up to Camp 1 the day after tomorrow. Needless to say, after five rest days, the team is getting a bit antsy to get on with climbing the mountain. The thing is, after we finish this six day, five-night rotation to tag Camp 3, all we have left to do is an extended rest and refit (which of course is easy) and then the summit assault itself. So obviously, the team is eager to put this last acclimatization/training climb behind us so that all that remains is the assault for the summit itself. Which is what we all came here for.

The wind forecast looks for them to relax a bit so look for teams to resume climbing on the south. On the north, most teams are pausing while the route to the North Col is fixed and evaluated based on yesterday’s avalanche but they should resume quickly. Again, multiple teams are commenting on the dry conditions for Everest this year. This is not the scenario, similar to a heavy snow year is also not the for climbers.

Both extremes create danger – low snow years allow loose rocks to move and/or large snow and ice formations to shift plus snow bridges to give way. Heavy snow years obviously create avalanche danger. If Everest receives a heavy snowfall in the next few weeks, teams may be looking at a significant delay while the new snow consoldates on top of the rock and ice. But there is still plenty of time with most climbers well ahead of traditional schedules.

So with the fickle weather, teams on the south rest back at base camp, those on the north are looking  for a few nights above ABC in spite of the avalanche. But one team may be looking for more.

A mystery team 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.

If you are lost, here is a brief review. The first attempt of Everest was by a British team in 1921. Another attempt in 1924 was led by George Mallory and a small team including Sandy Irvine. It was reported that Irvine carried a Kodak vest pocket camera to document their summit victory. However, both climbers died a mysterious death with no evidence they summited. Mallory’s body was found in 1999 but Irvine, and the camera, is still somewhere on the high flanks of Everest’s north side. Proof of their summit would rewrite climbing history putting the first summit of Everest 29 years before Tenzing and Hillary.

Holzel tried to put together a search for 2010 even appealing to a fictitious Saudi Price to put up the $250K he thought it would take. But no funding was available. In a noble gesture, he has made this offer to anyone who finds the camera:

We have offered the services of the original Eastman-Kodak experts to develope the film to anyone who can get the camera to the US for no charge. And will return the developed film to whoever found it in complete confidence.

I have a feeling if they find the camera, we may not hear about it immediately – more mystery!

As a follow-on to my previous comment on Ms Eun-Sun Oh, she summited Annapurna becoming the first woman to summit all 14 8000m mountains. A sincere congratulations to Ms. Oh on her achievement.

Everest Potpourri
For those looking for the Discovery Channel’s Everest: Beyond the Limit Season 3. It is now available for pre-order on DVD from the Discovery store. They are not filming on Everest in 2010.

Also Eberhard Jurgalski has updated his research website with the latest climbing statistics for Everest and the other 8000m mountains. He list 4,559 total Everest summits including 448 in 2009.

Climb On!

Alan