Mount Everest and the Quest for Its Summit

Reach for the summit in all that you do.

Gilgamesh was our earliest Sumerian literary character who set out alone on a perilous journey in his grief over the death of a friend seeking immortality itself. What causes a man like Icarus of Greek mythology to try to fashion wings and fly to the sun and to risk almost certain death? Is it hubris and a mortal desire to be with or like a god? What drives a man into arctic temperatures to reach the North Pole? Is it just a magnetic attraction to reach a goal or a vanity for fame and fortune?

Navigators like the Viking Leif Ericson and the Irish Monk Brendan the Navigator set sail for distant shores with an urge for exploration in the face of great danger and fear. Columbus and Magellan sought to discover better trade routes and claim new lands in the name of their monarchs. Many others followed driven by such concrete material goals and with expectation of financial rewards.

It was not until the twentieth century that men dared to risk their lives to climb and reach the summit of Mount Everest. Courage carried the first intrepid pair of Mallory and Irvine to their deaths in 1924. George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine were two English mountaineers who died trying. Both disappeared somewhere high on the North-East ridge during the final stage of their ascent ( or maybe during their descent). The pair were last sighted few hundred yards from the summit. Mallory's body was finally discovered in 1999. The knowledge of whether or not the pair reached the acme of their quest was buried in their frozen graves. I believe they succeeded and paid the ultimate price for their immortality.

Sir Edmund Hillary and his expedition assaulted the summit and conquered Mount Everest for England and the "glory" of the British Empire in 1953. This was also the year that the reigning Queen of England was crowned.

Early on access to Everest was barred through Nepal and gained through Tibet. Eleven expeditions tried and failed between 1924 and 1952. Postwar the approach from the south through Nepal opened. An important reconnaissance mission was led by Shipton who discovered the western valley high on Everest and mapped and recorded his findings.

Colonel John Hunt was selected to plan and arrange the expedition. Technology had advanced with cold-weather clothing materials and windproof tents and other equipment. Research in high altitude oxygen limitations and breathing apparatus were keys to the success of the expedition.

There were no roads into Nepal and hundreds of tons of supplies were transported to Katmandu by sky cable systems. The march from Katmandu to the base of Everest was 175 miles and moved from an elevation of 4000 feet above sea level at Katmandu to 14000 feet above sea level at the base camp. The march crossed many ridges and gorges. Nearly 400 Sherpa carriers were employed for the task.

Mount Everest is five and a half miles high. The full length movie of the actual Hillary expedition is in the adjacent video capsule which displays the details of the first successful climb to the summit of Mt. Everest.

The quest to reach the summit of Mount Everest was not the achievement of an individual. It was the result of the  concerted effort of many over the course of time.

Despite the advances in technology and the numerous successful expeditions to the summit of Everest lives are lost in the effort.  There was a particularly costly disaster in 1996 that is described in detail by the expedition physician which describes feats of heroism courage and fortitude.  Man versus the elements.

Scaling Everest

Summit concealed from view below

By clouds of fear and doubt

Plummet and fall and fail to rise

Ice shrouds the team turned out;

ooOOoo

Vomit gags the bravest throat

Dry heaves wrench seasoned frame

Homage paid to ghastly descents

Snow drifts douse fearless flame;

ooOOoo

Terror engulfs the gallant heart

Lungs gasping for thin air

Mirror image deflects the strength

Sheer cliffs still grasp despair;

ooOOoo

Death ascends Goliath mountain

Spiked climbing boots will tread

Epitaph ends fatal dreamscape

Daring deeds mount to dread;

ooOOoo

Hope hurries to spirits’ rescue

Lifting heart to new heights

Slopes slipping from the stalwart

Assailed again at first light.

ooOOoo

© 2011 Gerry Gilligan,

pseudonym- sligobay

All photos, poems and articles © 2011 Gerry Gilligan