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Wed 28 May, 2003 09:41 am
First there is a mountain
Then there is no mountain
Then there is
First there is a mountain
Then there is no mountain
Then there is
Oh Juanita
Oh Juanita
Oh Juanita . . . I call your name . . .
-- D. Leitch
Tomorrow morning is the fiftieth anniversary of an event which was very significant then, even if it now would seem to be no out of the ordinary. In the hours just before dawn, two men in a tent in Nepal found it difficult to sleep, so they began to get their gear in order. When there was enough light to move safely, they began to climb the slopes above their humble camp. At 11:30 a.m., local time, on May 29th, Tensing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, both a little giddy from the thin air, and excited by the scope of their accomplishment, smiled for the camera from "the roof of the world." Everest had been conquered. Today, although the mountain still kills the unwary or the improvident, reaching that summit is more a commonplace-to the point that there is a litter problem on the slopes of Everest. But in 1953, that world was still pristine, and, perhaps one could say our world was more innocent. The quiet, smiling Sherpa guide and the shy, humorous Kiwi adventurer were improbable heroes, but heroes they were-the first to have conquered what many then saw as the ultimate challenge of our planet.
Nice to know that both the Kiwi and the Sherpa are being acknowledged--and sad that Mt. Everest has become a notch in the belts for filthy rich world travellers.
And posting that Donovan song was a stroke of genius, Setanta! I doff my tam...
Cheers, Boss, thank you . . .
Don't want to rain on your parade, but I think it would be a tactful thing to also use the Nepalese name for the mountain "Sagamatha" occasionally too.
On a lighter note:
The Nepalese for "Stop that yak!" is "Tyo yak roknuhos!".
Well (and with all due respect), according to Tashi Tenzing, whose grandfather was Hillary's partner 50 years ago, the Sherpas call the mountain Chomolungma. This from a guest column in today's NY Times.
The mountain came much, much, later. c.i.
Local father and son summit Everest.
5.21.03: JESS ROSKELLEY BECOMES YOUNGEST AMERICAN TO SUMMIT WORLD'S TALLEST MOUNTAIN
Word has just been received via Iridium satellite phone that at 7:30 am on May 21 (NEPAL TIME), American climbing legend John Roskelley, 54, and his son Jess, a college student and mountain guide, reached the 29,035 foot summit of Mount Everest. Jess at 20 years old is now the youngest American to ever climb the mountain. Their final ascent day was very difficult with snow and heavy winds all the way up. They spent a short time on the summit and were returning to high camp at 27,500 feet when they called at 9:30 PDT this evening. The return to base camp will take a few days, depending on conditions, and they expect to leave the mountain and return to the U.S. by the end of the month.
There were three generations of climbers on this expedition... John and Jess are the second and third. The first generation included Dick Bass, 73, trying to be the oldest person to climb the mountain, and Jim Wickwire, 62, the first American to climb K2 the world's second tallest mountain. Bass, who was the first person to climb the world's Seven Summits (the highest peak on each of the seven continents) and Wickwire gave up their chances at the summit last week after nagging physical problems forced the team to determine that the Roskelley's had the best chance at summiting. The two experienced climbers pooled their resources for the Roskelley's summit attempt and left the mountain to return home to the U.S.
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