!!!Everest 2

by Ivan Roslyakov,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

20 March 2013

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Nepal is lucky to have so many extraordinary landmarks. Not only that
Nepal is known as the birthplace of Buddha, it also has the majority of
highest mountains in the world: 8 out of 14 8K Peaks are located here.
Among them is Mount Everest, the highest mountain on planet Earth.

It is also known as Chomolungma (or Qomolangma), which is Tibetan for
"Holy Mother." The name "Everest" comes from Sir George Everest, the
Surveyor General of India, a division of the British Raj in India, only
because in 1852 survey department workers measured the height of
Chomolungma for the first time, showing Peak XV to be the tallest
mountain in the entire region and, probably, in the world.

However, the height of Mount Everest is not that obvious. Radhanath
Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and topographer, who worked in the
above-mentioned institution 240 kilometers away from the mountain, only
made an assumption based on trigonometric calculations that Chomolungma
is the highest mountain in the world. 4 years later actual surveys
showed the height to be 29,002 feet (8,840 meters), proving Radhanath
Sikdar's theory.

After that people measured Mount Everest over and over again. There were
cases when the mountain "grew" even taller — up to 8,872 meters
depending on a measurement method. Today its official height is 8,848
meters above sea level, including 4-meter snowcap.

[{Image src='01_Everest, 8848 meters.jpg' caption='Everest, 8848 meters' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

Here in the land of rocks, snow, and perpetual ice, atmospheric
temperature drops down to minus 60 ° Celsius; and at the top of the
mountain winds blow at 200 km per hour. At 7,925 meters altitude you
enter the "dead zone" where oxygen level drops to 30%. To top it off
there are constant ice slips and snow slides, so it is not surprising
why no one could reach the summit for such a long time. Even now with
advantages of modern technology, the ascent takes about two months,
because it happens in several stages, including setting up a camp for
altitude acclimatization.

Geographical location Chomolungma on the border of Nepal and China
(Tibet) has always been yet another obstacle in conquering the mountain.
Time to time Nepal, China, or both countries closed their borders to
foreigners. One way or another, first successful ascent was accomplished
by sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary in May 29th,
1953, after a long streak of failures of previous expeditions.

As of today there are about 4,000 people who reached the summit of Mount
Everest (meaning those who made it to the top). And it's impossible to
tell the number of tourists going on shorter routes. Many of those, who
made it to the "roof of the world", set some kind of a record: climbing
without oxygen tanks, staying without oxygen for almost a day, and
skiing down Mount Everest... In 2001 blind American mountaineer Erik
Weihenmayer reached the top of Mount Everest; and in 2006 Mark Inglis
became the first double amputee to reach the summit. In 1976 Junko Tabei
from Japan became the first female mountain-climber to conquer
Chomolungma.

[{Image src='02_Moonrise over Everest.jpg' caption='Moonrise over Everest' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='596'}]

However, Mount Everest can be rightfully called a mountain of death.
Taking on the challenge of climbing Mt. Everest, a mountaineer knows
that he may not come back. He can die of heart failure, lack of oxygen,
frostbite, or injury. He can also face such deadly accidents, as frozen
valve of an oxygen tank. Furthermore, the trek to the top is so
difficult that Alexander Abramov, member of Russian Himalayan
expedition, once said, "At altitude of 8,000 meters one can't afford the
luxury of morality. Once you reach 8,000 meters mark you are capable of
thinking only of yourself, and simply don't have strength to help your
companions. " In May 2006 a tragedy occurred on Mount Everest that
shocked the entire world: 42 climbers cold-heartedly passed by David
Sharp, a slowly freezing British climber, and none of them tried to help
him. Some of them were members of Discovery Channel film crew — they
attempted to interview the dying man, took some pictures of him, and
left him behind...

[{Image src='03_Everest at sunset.jpg' caption='Everest at sunset' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

But nothing can stop those, who want to push their limits and see the
indescribable beauty with their own eyes. Our photo expedition to Mount
Everest also got its share of troubles.

So now we would like to turn the floor over to Ivan Roslyakov, a person
who created this virtual tour.

Where do our dreams take us? Dreams take us to the best things that
matter the most, and to the highest accomplishments in our lives.

Our team has been thinking of shooting the highest mountain in the world
for a few years. In January 2012 we gave it a first try. Our colleague
Dmitry Moiseenko was able to shoot a high-altitude virtual tour of
Sagarmatha National Park at the foot of Mount Everest.

When approaching Mount Everest, Dima faced insurmountable obstacle in
the form of a strong headwind. This is why he wasn't been able to shoot
the highest mountain in the world up close.

We had a year to prepare for the second try.

[{Image src='04_The map of our flight.jpg' caption='The map of our flight' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='588'}]

Everything almost worked out in spring of 2012. A few helicopter
companies in Nepal employed powerful high-altitude helicopters designed
to rescue people at the altitude of more than 6,000 meters. We arranged
a personal meeting with the pilot who was willing to take us to the
Valley of Silence (alpine valley at the foot of Mount Everest which is
located at the altitude between 6 and 7 kilometers) and discussed
details of the photo shoot. However, we couldn't obtain official
shooting permit for spring due to several expeditions climbing the
mountain. The weather at that time of the year was most favorable for
climbing Mount Everest, and high-altitude helicopter could trigger snow
slides putting climbers at risk.

Our next shooting attempt in the fall failed for the same reasons.

Then winter arrived. When I thought about all the troubles that our
colleague went through last time I realized that we had little chance of
success. Despite that I decided to go on a winter expedition to Mount
Everest in order to shoot it like no one ever did before.

Everest region is the very first region I visited in Nepalese Himalayas
several years ago and it made a lasting impression on me. Since then I
was able to go on several mountain expeditions in central Himalayas and
walked the total of more than 1000 kilometers down different mountain
trails. Each of those expeditions took about a month and they prepared
me for long trips, staying in tents and other harsh conditions. I
crossed a lot of high mountain passes. I was able to see all of the
highest mountains of Nepal with my own eyes from observation view-points
and peaks located at altitudes of 5000-6000 meters.

[{Image src='05_Everest from the height of 6800 meters.jpg' caption='Everest from the height of 6800 meters' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]

This mission required me to go to the familiar Sagarmatha National Park
and from there to the track leading to the foot of Everest. On one hand
the Park had a well-developed infrastructure (after all it's the most
popular mountain track in the world!), on the other hand, due to winter
period, few tourists visited this location that time of year. Local
residents went down to the warm valleys and by doing so they
significantly reduced the number of open lodges (small stone houses that
were blown through by mountain winds between finger-thick cracks and
holes in the masonry), where you can stay for the night. So I had to use
my tent again.

Winter weather can be very unpredictable. And I was the one to
experience that. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, I found a
group of tired tourists who were waiting for a plane or helicopter that
would take them to their tracking routes. A very thick fog covered
Kathmandu Valley for a couple of days, so all mountain flights were
canceled, and weather forecast was not reassuring.

In order to keep up with my schedule I decided to go to Lukla, a small
airport near Mount Everest, on my own. It took me a whole day of driving
down narrow serpentine roads and a few days of hiking along narrow and
steep mountain trails. To save some time, we agreed that helicopter
pilot would fly to Lukla, spend the night at a local hotel, and in the
morning we'd set off for the mountain.

It's hard to describe my excitement before departure! But circumstances
were against us: the pilot didn't make it to Lukla. In the end I decided
to take a mountain track to Mount Everest for better acclimatization,
and helicopter would pick me up on the way there. I was lucky that in
almost every village where I could stay for the night there was a
helipad.

[{Image src='06_Gokio village.jpg' caption='Gokio village' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

For several days one could see a lonely Russian tourist with several
cameras hanging on his neck standing on high mountain helipads expecting
"iron bird" that would never arrive. The mission was postponed due to
weather conditions or some technical issues: helicopter required special
preparation. Only when I reached Gokyo settlement, located at altitude
4700 meters in the neighboring valley near Mount Everest, I received a
call from the pilot that he would pick me up the next morning. But it
turned out that the pilot who knew all the details of this difficult
flight was still busy. The one who was supposed to pick me up was an
American guy whose name was Aaron Oberlander, and who just recently
arrived to Nepal in order to train local pilots.

We planned our shooting on 25th of December, Catholic Christmas day.
Fortunately for us, there were no winter expeditions on the mountain at
the time. The forecast promised us cloudless weather in the region, and
the weather service promised weak winds (50 km/h) near Mount Everest
peak. Everything was in our favor.

What happened after could be only described as anxious hours of
preparation, short sleep interrupted by auditory hallucinations of
approaching helicopter, and agonizing minutes of waiting on a small spot
on the field (a village helipad) early in the morning. Finally I heard
the sound of rotating propellers and it was no longer a fantasy. A few
minutes later a tiny red dot appeared in the sky. It took only 10
minutes for a helicopter to cover the distance that took me 3 days to
traverse on foot.

And finally it landed near the high mountain lake, interrupting morning
silence and attracting attention of local people, it was the most
advanced helicopter from Nepalese fleet. It took some time to get
acquainted with the pilot and discuss technicalities and we set off for
the Mount Everest.

After we left Gokio we needed to gain altitude of 6000 meters in order
to cross high mountain pass Changri-La. After that we needed to land on
the slopes of the popular tourist peak Kala Patthar located at the
altitude of 5200 meters (the highest point on the track to Mount
Everest) in order to unload the fuel supply needed for the way back. We
had to get rid of all the unnecessary equipment from the cabin in order
to reduce weight.

Mechanics went a little overboard with pre-flight preparations leaving
only one oxygen cylinder for the pilot and forgetting about the
passenger. Later I realized that even after a week of trekking and
climbing 5 kilometers up, my body wasn't prepared. So when we were
flying over the mountain pass on the way to Mount Everest oxygen
starvation was affecting my thoughts and actions.

[{Image src='07_View towards Everest.jpg' caption='View towards Everest' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

After a few minutes of preparation we began ascent to our goal. Rapidly
gaining altitude, helicopter crossed Nuptse wall, an obstacle that
blockes the view of Mount Everest from ordinary tourists: its lowest
part is 6500 meters tall and allows only a small part of the summit to
be visible to travelers. And finally we reached Valley of Silence.

Flying over one of the highest glaciers in the world, we moved along the
southern route, most popular among conquerors of Mount Everest.

Just behind the wall of Nuptse (at the top of the Khumbu Icefall) there
is a place where one sets up the first high-altitude camp (6050 meters);
the second camp is being set up in the center of the ice gorge on a
stone ridge (6500 meters); then we approached ice wall of Lhotse (4th
highest mountain on the planet that is 8516 meters tall) where climbers
set up the third high-altitude camp (7100 meters).

For your information: climbers set up the fourth camp at altitude of
8,000 meters on the south saddle between Everest and Lhotse: it's the
final point before conquering the mountain peak (8848 meters).

In the distance far behind us we could see 7K peaks. But even at
helicopter's maximum altitude we still felt like a tiny dragonfly in a
gigantic gorge: we were surrounded by walls that were a few kilometers
higher than our ultimate trajectory.

However, we didn't have time to enjoy the view. All our attention and
remaining strength were spent handling photo equipment in conditions of
the thin mountain air that made me suffer from altitude sickness bouts.
Bright sunlight dazzled my eyes and made me push wrong buttons on the
camera and menu settings became blurry. I won't be shy and tell you a
real story: in between panorama shooting sessions I threw up on
six-kilometers-height glaciers.

[{Image src='08_Colorful clouds.jpg' caption='Colorful clouds' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

For the pilot Aaron Oberlander this flight was a serious test as well:
he established his own high altitude record by exceeding the limit of
7000 meters set by the helicopter manufacturer, and all that time he
spent in a company of a restless passenger who was opening helicopter
door endless number of times.

Helicopter was constantly moving because it was impossible to hover at
that altitude, and on top of everything I had to shoot spherical
panoramas by a single camera.

All in all the entire flight was successful. The mountain accepted us
and most importantly let us go home! There was only one single occasion
when I became really scared: when a strong gust of wind shook our
helicopter at the altitude of 7000 meters on the way back from the
Valley of Silence and to the Khumbu Icefall.

We turned around to go home just on time. Looking back, I noticed solid
clouds over the highest mountain in the world, and strong wind started
blowing icy dust from the top. The mountain was closed for flights.

Next revitalizing stop was at the refuel spot where I laid my hands on
the life-giving oxygen cylinder while pilot was filling up the tanks. A
short healing moment of piece and we were on our way back. Another 6000
meters and we were looking at the mountain pass Changri-La; we flew into
an equally impressive gorge of glacier Ngozumbo (the longest glacier in
the central Himalayas), dominated by the walls of another 8K Cho Oyu
(8201 m), and several lower peaks with difficult to pronounce Tibetan
names.

It was much easier and safer to work at lower altitudes.

[{Image src='09_Work at lower altitudes.jpg' caption='Work at lower altitudes' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

On the way back we flew over high mountain lakes of Gokio that were
rarely seen by tourists. I couldn't help but notice the beauty of
emerald water that could be noticed even through a thick winter ice.
These aerial photos were extremely useful later on and allowed me to
make a walking route leading to one of valley's lakes (nameless lake #
8), virtually unnoticeable from the satellite images. But that's another
story.

And now I would like to show you the highest-altitude spherical
panoramas in the history of photography (taken from a helicopter) and
featuring the highest mountain on the planet!

From the Editor:

I must mention that what Ivan said is not entirely true. At present our
weather balloon flew a little bit higher than him and took pictures of
Earth from the altitude of 35 kilometers. However, those pictures were
made by "simple" cameras, not professional ones.

\\ \\
[10 Panoramas of Everest 2|Geography/Asia/Nepal/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Everest_2]










[{SET customtitle='Everest 2 (AP)'}] 

[{Metadata Suchbegriff=' ' Kontrolle='Nein'}]