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| Tuesday, 27 May 2003 |
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Everest extraordinary by Derrick Schokman At 11.30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Sherpa Tensing Norgay and Edmund Hilary stood atop the world's highest mountain peak, Everest in the Himalayas, for the first time, a culmination of nine major expeditions over a 32-year period supported by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club.
From the beginning Everest was a British affair. It was the British who established that Everest was the highest mountain peak and named it after the Indian Surveyor General George Everest. And it was the British who first contemplated climbing it. In 1903 they sent a military mission to secure the Dalai Llama's allegiance for any attempts that would make from Tibet. They had to change their plans to do this from Nepal when China invaded Tibet in 1950. Sri Lanka Although the conquest of Everest was by a British expedition, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) too figures in that final achievement. When Hilary and Tensing standing on top of the world turned on their transistor radio, they were greeted by a blast of pop music from the newly formed Commercial Radio in Colombo, using the sophisticated equipment that had been gifted to them by the South Eastern Asia Command (SEAC) after the Second World War. Reporter James (now Jan) Morris, a member of the 1953 British expedition, was the first to broadcast the news of Hilary and Tensing's success to the world on Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Day. Geology The geology of Everest is very interesting. This 8846 metre mountain once formed the floor of a warm and shallow tropical sea. Its birth occurred in the southern hemisphere when the great continental landmass of Gondwana - a fusion of South America, Africa, India and Antarctica - began to crack and move apart. The Indian plate broke away from Africa, Madagascar and Antarctica 200-150 million years ago (mya). It began drifting northwards across what is now the Indian Ocean at a relatively rapid rate of 15-20 cm a year. About 50 mya when close to the equator it collided with the Asian plate and ploughed about 2,000 km into Asia, crumpling and lifting up the Himalaya and Tibet plateau in the process. Himalaya lies along the northern margin of the Indian plate, which is still being thrust under southern Tibet. Sedimentary rocks, originally laid down below a shallow sea, were raised to a lofty perch when the Indian plate collided with the Asian plate. The rocks at the top are marine limestone that still contain fragments of tiny marine organisms from 505-440 mya. As the convergence continued and the Indian plate thickened, the middle and lower rocks were transposed by heat and pressure into granite. The geological record for Everest goes back 4.4 billion years, but Everest itself has been the highest peak probably only for a few hundred thousand years. It is presently the highest mountain in the planet, but that is only a transient phenomenon. Tectonic forces continue to push Everest upwards by about 45 mm a year. At the same time glaciers, wind and water erosion tear it down. Yet as long as the spreading centres in the Indian ocean continue to push the Indian plate northwards, and India continues to thrust under Himalaya and Tibet, Everest and the Himalaya will continue to rise. Coda With the psychological barrier having been broken by Hilary and Tensing, one would have thought that the thrill of climbing Everest would have slackened. But no, mountaineers keep coming, and now that it is not possible to go any higher, they have turned to other feats. They have begun to climb Everest the hard way. Up the dangerous northface. Without oxygen. Going solo instead of in pairs. The women would not be left out. What makes men and women do these things? The only reason I can think of is that given by George Mallory who lost his life with his companion Irwine almost at the top in an attempt before Hilary and Tensing. When asked why he wanted to climb Everest he replied: "Because it is there". Yes indeed, Everest is still the highest, and as long as it is others will continue to take up the challenge. |
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