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• The
names of the peaks have an interesting history. Everest was
named after the British Surveyor-General to India. Initially it
had the uninspiring name of Peak XXV. First climbed in 1953 by
Tenzing and Hillary, it lies in the Khumbu Himal range.
• K2 is called so because it was the second peak in the
Karakoram Range of the Himalayas to be measured. K1 goes to
another peak called Masherbrum (7900m) which appeared to be
higher since it was much closer to the surveyor (Montgomerie).
K2 is also named after the English topographer Henry
Godwin-Austen who first explored the region. It was first
climbed in 1954. It is often rated as the hardest 8000m mountain
to climb with 164 successful summitteers and 48 sufferers. Just
like Everest has the very popular South-East ridge route, so
does K2, also called the Abruzzi urge after the Italian duke who
first stepped on the urge in the late 19th century . For a very
brief time in 1986, K2 held the title of the tallest mountain in
the world because a brief, uncertain measurement using GPS gave
it a higher elevation than Everest. This was quickly scattered
by a follow-up expedition led by the same Italian team which
first climbed the mountain in 1954. Amazingly, the measurements
of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in the early and mid
19th century has been verified by current technically advanced
measurements as being accurate to within a few metres !
• Kanchenjunga – In the year1955 nobody is permitted to climb to
the summit of Kanchenjunga since it is a holy mountain. The
closest one can get is about 100m from the summit. Lhotse –
1956, Makalu – 1958, Cho Oyu - 1954. Annapurna was the first of
the 8000 m peaks summited in 1950 by a French team led by
Maurice Herzog. Clearly the 1950's were the golden age of
climbing.
While many of these peaks are not offensively difficult to
climb, the effects of altitude play an important role in
enhancing the risks. Most climbers these days climb with
supplementary bottled oxygen because the air on the top of
Everest is a third as dense than at sea level, which implies
that the amount of oxygen available in each breath is also about
a third. However, when climbing with bottled oxygen one is
subject to the vicissitudes of their equipment - so if oxygen
regulator fails at high altitude your body suddenly has to deal
with reduced oxygen intake. Also if one is trying to be in
harmony with nature or challenge her in any way, it is
aesthetically appealing to do it with as little aid as possible.
Altitude sickness also affects each person differently and at
different altitudes. Common symptoms are headache,
wheezing/gasping for air, weakness and dizziness, inability to
see clearly. Harsh effects of altitude are intellectual and
pulmonary edema where the brain and lungs get filled with water.
The only solution
in these cases is to get down to a lower altitude rapidly
although incarceration in a hyperbaric chamber has also been
shown to be useful. |
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