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"Because it's there."

trysail said:

...The holy city itself, stripped of the radiance of the Potala and the Jokhang Temple, appeared to the invaders as decrepit, medieval in aspect. In the streets hungry dogs lay abandoned as children in rags smoked wild rhubarb and tobacco. In the shops were bundles of scented soaps that had been on the shelves for decades. The people bathed once a year. They had prayer wheels but no wheeled transport. They called guns "fire arrows." They took it as a given that the world was flat. They allowed women to marry more than one man, and men to embrace in matrimony any number of women. Refusing to kill an insect or harm a blade of grass, they enforced the most ruthless of sanctions, the gouging of eyes, the severance of limbs for petty theft. In religious services, they played music with trumpets carved from human thighbones, and drank offerings from chalices made of human skulls...


...The chances of emerging unscathed were slim. Indeed, in 1914, the chances of any British boy aged thirteen through twenty-four surviving the war were one in three. Schools, on average, lost five years' worth of students. The student body at Eton numbered 1,100; in the war, 1,157 Old Etonians would perish. Wellington, a school of only 500, would sacrifice 699. Uppingham would lose 447, Winchester 500, Harrow 600, Marlborough 733, and Charterhouse 686. The Public Schools Club of London lost over 800 members, forcing it to close for lack of numbers. Of the thousands of public school boys who entered the war, one in five would perish. The lucky ones served on staff positions behind the line. Of those young officers who fought in the trenches, half would die...


...Anker's reservations are several. First, there is the matter of clothing and equipment. Mallory and Irvine had primitive crampons, but they could not use them at high elevations as the leather straps impaired their circulation and increased the risk of frostbite. On his summit climb Anker found crampons essential; he never removed them, even on the rock face of the Second Step...

​


-Wade Davis
Into The Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest
New York, N.Y. 2011.




Americans, by and large, remain absolutely and utterly oblivious to the unbelievable bloodletting that occurred in World War I.

The average U.S. citizen has no idea how many French, British, German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Austrian, Russian, Italian, South African, Ottoman, Belgian, Colonial and other troops were slaughtered in the insanity.

French deaths were 1,357,000 (with 4.3 million wounded). The death toll for the British Empire was 908,371 (with 2.0 million wounded). Russian deaths were 1,700,000 with 5 million wounded.

For comparison's sake, U.S. battle deaths in World War II were 292,100 with 371,822 wounded.

Wade Davis' book is going to appeal to anyone with an interest in climbing, the history of the Himalayan region and the Age of Exploration. It is thoroughly researched and well-written— though (obviously) far-ranging. It is possible to question the wisdom of the attempt to conjoin a survey of Britain's experience in World War I with a history of Everest. At 573 pages plus an annotated bibliography, it's not a book for an afternoon's diversion.
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Davis is among my top five favorite writers. Got the book for Christmas and haven't delved yet. I'm thinking of saving it for a reading vacation week sometime, when I can just immerse in it for a few days.
 
Peregrinator said:
I can only imagine the jokes those guys make about hikers.
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A Blackhawk flew over last evening about 7-ish. I assumed it was headed out on a SAR mission. Even though it's light (of some sort) all night, most after 6pm sorties are SAR or just R missions.
 
Developing: Denali National Park officials say four Japanese climbers are presumed dead after an avalanche.
 
thør said:
Developing: Denali National Park officials say four Japanese climbers are presumed dead after an avalanche.
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From the NPS:

"Four of five members of a Japanese team are presumed dead on Mount McKinley in Denali National Park after an avalanche swept over them as they descended the West Buttress.

The avalanche hit about 2 a.m. Thursday as the team was moving down Motorcycle Hill near 11,800 feet on the mountain, park officials said Saturday.

The five-member Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition was traveling as one rope team, although the rope broke during the avalanche, said Denali spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin.

"One team member survived the event. Hitoshi Ogi, age 69 of Miyagi Prefecture, was swept into a crevasse and subsequently climbed out with minor injuries," she said in a release. "Ogi was unable to locate his teammates in the avalanche debris. Throughout the day, Ogi descended solo to the Kahiltna Basecamp at 7,200 feet, where he reported the accident shortly after 4 p.m."

Two park rangers flew to the avalanche path in the park’s A-Star B3 helicopter to conduct an aerial hasty search. There was no sign of the missing climbers or their gear in the avalanche debris. In light of the time elapsed, it is presumed that the four perished in the accident, said Ms. McLaughlin.

NPS rangers and volunteers began probing the debris zone on Friday to look for signs of the climbers. The four missing climbers include Mr. Yoshiaki Kato, age 64; Ms. Masako Suda, age 50; Ms. Michiko Suzuki, age 56; and Mr. Tamao Suzuki, age 63. All are from Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

It was not mentioned whether the group had summited McKinley.

As of June 16, there were 395 mountaineers attempting routes on Mt. McKinley, the majority on the West Buttress route. Out of the 630 climbers that have already returned from expeditions this season, 234, or 37 percent, reported reaching the summit.

Substantial snowfall and windy conditions in recent weeks have kept most climbers from reaching the top."
 
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/545471_332807206801978_885536608_n.jpg

Preikestolen ( Pulpit Rock )

Preikestolen or Prekestolen, also known by the English translations of Preacher's Pulpit or Pulpit Rock, and by the old local name Hyvlatonnå (“the carpenter-plane’s blade”), is a massive cliff 604 metres (1982 feet) above Lysefjorden, opposite the Kjerag plateau, in Forsand, Ryfylke, Norway. The top of the cliff is approximately 25 by 25 metres (82 by 82 feet) square, almost flat, and is a famous tourist attraction in Norway.

During the four summer months of 2009, approximately 130,000 people took the 3.8 km (2.4 mi.) hike to Preikestolen, making it one of the most visited natural tourist attractions in Norway
 
Peregrinator said:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/545471_332807206801978_885536608_n.jpg

Preikestolen ( Pulpit Rock )

Preikestolen or Prekestolen, also known by the English translations of Preacher's Pulpit or Pulpit Rock, and by the old local name Hyvlatonnå (“the carpenter-plane’s blade”), is a massive cliff 604 metres (1982 feet) above Lysefjorden, opposite the Kjerag plateau, in Forsand, Ryfylke, Norway. The top of the cliff is approximately 25 by 25 metres (82 by 82 feet) square, almost flat, and is a famous tourist attraction in Norway.

During the four summer months of 2009, approximately 130,000 people took the 3.8 km (2.4 mi.) hike to Preikestolen, making it one of the most visited natural tourist attractions in Norway
Click to expand...


The obvious question is who was the first lunatic to jump/glide/parachute off the damn thing. The next question is how many Darwin Awards have been posthumously awarded?


That thing has to be essentially irresistable to the extremists .


 
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