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58-612: Many deaths in high-altitude mountaineering have been caused by the effects of the death zone, either directly by the loss of vital functions or indirectly by poor decisions made under stress (e.g., not turning back in deteriorating conditions, or misreading the climbing route ), or physical weakening leading to accidents (e.g., falls). An extended stay above 8,000 m (26,000 ft) without supplementary oxygen will result in deterioration of bodily functions and death. The human body has optimal endurance below 150 m (490 ft) elevation. The concentration of oxygen (O 2 ) in air

116-461: A "running Yeti joke" rivalry. Hillary said in 1984 of the 1951 photo that "Eric (Shipton) was a joker ... he’s gone around it (the footprint) with his knuckles, shaped the toe, pressed in the middle. There’s no animal could walk with a foot like that. He made it up ... " Hillary chose the Rowaling Valley to start after three weeks acclimatizing; it was reputed to be a Yeti stronghold and where

174-619: A mountain peak is often called the normal route ( French : voie normale ; German : Normalweg ) in mountaineering. Traditionally, in many countries, the person who made the first ascent of a route was allowed to name it (in France, the naming rights go to whoever first bolted the route); this concept of "naming ownership" by the first ascensionist led to inertia with regard to the changing of problematic names including route names that were vulgar or had racial, sexual, colonial, discriminatory or other, slurs, tropes or stereotyping. In 2020,

232-505: A boulder route (e.g. the SDS of Dreamtime is graded well above the standing start version). Alpine and big wall climbers often seek to link established routes together in a larger enchainment (or "link-up") route (e.g. the notable Moonwalk Traverse of the entire Cerro Chaltén Group in Patagonia ). The straightforward and frequently used (and usually easiest and often the original) route up

290-456: A climbing route has been established, variations may be added, a typical one being a more "direct" line (e.g. a direct start or direct finish) of the original route, also called a direttissima in alpine climbing, and thus not avoiding the difficult obstacles that the original route went around (e.g. a roof or an overhang, or a section with minimal holds). Boulder climbers might add a harder sit start "SS" (or sit-down-start, "SDS") variation to

348-404: A long-term debate in the climbing world on the use of permanently fixed in-situ climbing protection (e.g. such as bolts or pitons ) on climbing routes. Such protection is not to provide aid (i.e. it is not aid-climbing per se), but to increase the safety of the route. Climbers call routes that have such protection, " sport climbing routes " (i.e. there is no risk, so it is purely a sport). In

406-435: A lounge suit rather than in a dinner suit with his decorations. Sir Edward (sic) Hillary and Mrs E. (sic) Hillary had been invited at the last minute. The third object of the expedition was to acclimatise a party of climbers who would summit Makalu (27,790 feet (8,470 m)) without oxygen. There were to be three scientific camps where the bicycle ergonometer would be used: Base Camp (17,500 feet (5,300 m)), camp 3 on

464-430: A period of acclimatisation; the team lived at 19,000 feet (5,800 m) for six months. Hillary’s search for the fabled Yeti or "abominable snowman" found no evidence, and footprints and tracks were proven to be from other causes. Hillary travelled to remote temples which contained "Yeti scalps"; however after bringing back three relics, two were shown to be from bears and one from a goat antelope. Hillary said after

522-627: A route (or make a route more climbable), by cutting or expanding handholds, which is also known as chipping . Such acts have at times caused controversy (e.g. Fred Rouhling 's Akira and Hugh ), but at other times has not (e.g. Antoine Le Menestrel  [ fr ] 's famous Buoux route, La Rose et la Vampire ). A 2022 survey by Climbing showed climbers were largely against manufacturing routes on natural outdoor rock on public lands, but were less negative on private lands (or on routes in quarries); they were willing to allow "cleaning" of routes (which some consider manufacturing), and also

580-455: A route is established, variations can be created (e.g. directessimas , sit starts , or enchainments ), and climbers will try to improve the "style" in which the route is climbed (e.g. minimizing aid climbing or other supports such as oxygen or fixed ropes ). Some climbers limit the in-situ protection (e.g. greenpointing ), or even free solo the route. Others seek to set speed climbing records on routes. The ascent of ever-harder routes

638-399: Is 20.9% so the partial pressure of O 2 (PO 2 ) at sea level is about 21.2 kPa (6.3 inHg; 3.07 psi). In healthy individuals, this saturates hemoglobin , the oxygen-binding red pigment in red blood cells . Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude while the O 2 fraction remains constant to about 85 km (53 mi), so PO 2 decreases with altitude as well. It

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696-481: Is about half of its sea level value at 5,500 m (18,000 ft), the altitude of the Mount Everest base camp , and less than a third at 8,849 m (29,032 ft), the summit of Mount Everest. When PO 2 drops, the body responds with altitude acclimatization . Additional red blood cells are manufactured; the heart beats faster; non-essential body functions are suppressed, food digestion efficiency declines (as

754-502: Is an integral key part of the history of climbing, and each type of climbing has notable routes that set major new milestones . There are ongoing debates amongst climbers about routes including the naming of routes, the creation of new routes by artificially altering the surface (e.g. chipping in rock climbing), the role of completely artificial indoor routes (e.g. The Project ), the level and maintenance of in-situ protection on routes (e.g. providing permanent bolted protection anchors) and

812-417: Is sometimes called projecting a route (i.e. the route becomes a "project"). When a climber does climb the route on their first attempt without any falls and without any prior knowledge of how to climb the route (which is called beta ), it is known as an onsight ; where the climber had prior beta on the route, it is known as a flash . Alpine climbers distinguish whether the ascent was made in summer or in

870-451: The 1960–61 Silver Hut expedition to the Himalayas. In 1978 , Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. Several expeditions have encountered disaster in the death zone that led to multiple fatalities, including: Climbing route A climbing route ( German : Kletterrouten ) is a path by which a climber reaches

928-509: The "Calcutta Statesman" who spoke Nepali (having fought with the Gurkhas). Sherpas Siku, Dawa Tensing, Mingma Norbu and others. The scientific programme was an unqualified success, and the expedition became one of the classic studies in high-altitude physiology. West, Ward and Milledge wrote a textbook "High Altitude Medicine and Physiology" which by 2021 was in its sixth edition. Pugh showed that Mount Everest could be climbed without oxygen, after

986-456: The 1980s and 1990s in the US, this debate became so heated that it was known as the "bolt wars", with climbers bolt chopping (i.e. removing in-situ protection) on routes they considered to be traditional-only routes (i.e. no in-situ protection). While all indoor climbing routes are bolted sport routes, the use of bolts in the outdoor natural environment raised environmental considerations, which led to

1044-561: The Col where Ward also suffered cerebral edema; Mulgrew had to be carried part-way by a Sherpa (Urkien). He was an appalling sight and it was a miracle he was still alive . Doig arranged a helicopter which took Mulgrew with Ward and Ang Temba from the Barun Valley (15,000 feet (4,600 m)) to Shanta Bhawan Hospitlal in Khatmandu His life had been saved by the efforts of Nevison, Ortenburger and

1102-413: The Col. The first assault on 13 May (Gill, Romanes and Ortenberger) got above camp 6 in gale force winds but had to turn back; they found the altitude "much tougher than they expected." The second assault team (Mulgrew & Nevison) left Camp 6 on 17 May but Mulgrew had severe chest pain from a pulmonary embolism at 27,450 feet (8,370 m). and had a desperate five-day struggle back to camp 5 on

1160-625: The Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, was initiated by Edmund Hillary and Griffith Pugh with John Dienhart of World Books in America (producers of a children’s encyclopaedia). The expedition lasted from September 1960 to June 1961. In 1958 Hillary and Pugh had discussed whether Everest could be climbed without oxygen; with improved acclimatising by wintering at, say, 20,000 feet (6,100 m) for six months beforehand. Pugh’s plans, involving two bases on Everest (Base camp, and on

1218-711: The Khumbu region via the Tashi Laptsas Pass and borrowed a 200-year old Yeti scalp from the Jhumjung Monastery. Hillary and Doig took the "scalp" to Chicago in December 1960. A party of leader Mike Ward and Barry Bishop, Mike Gill and Wally Romanes made the first ascent to the 22,500 feet (6,900 m) summit of Ama Dablam on 13 March, starting on 11 March. Hillary had expected just a preliminary look at what looked to be an "impossibility difficult" challenge, and wondered if

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1276-517: The Mingbo and to "climb adjacent peaks". Through Desmond Doig, who knew the new Prime Minister Dr. Tulsi Giri , Hillary got permission to continue as a "special case" after writing a letter of apology. Possible reasons for the official displeasure were international criticism of King Mahendra for shutting down Parliament, the wide publicity given to the ascent, or because Hillary attended the state banquet on 27 February, during Queen Elizabeth’s state visit, in

1334-534: The Nepalese government would take issue with their lack of permission to make the climb. The difficult section, the vertical rock of the first step, had been investigated on 24 and 25 March. Eight days later, a message arrived from the Nepali Foreign Secretary cancelling the party’s permit to climb Makalu. The reason given was the "unauthorised ascent of AMADABLAM", although their permit did authorise work in

1392-553: The Sherpas Urkien, Pemba Tharkey, Siku and Pemba Tenzing. A third assault team of Harrison and Ward had been planned. In 1955 a French team using oxygen put nine French climbers and a Sherpa on the summit. Gill says that while pulmonary infarcts are rare, the French team in 1954 was fitter and used oxygen day and night from Camp 4 (23,000 feet (7,000 m)); and also that the mountain was very windy: Jean Franco wrote that Makalu Col

1450-559: The Western Cwm at 20,000 feet (6,100 m)), had been dropped by Hillary, as the Chinese had rebuffed their request for additional bases due to political conflict with Tibet. The expedition was also short on funds; Hillary wrote to Pugh in 1959 "I’m damn certain that we’d get someone on the top (of Everest) without oxygen but we’d need a lot of cash" . In 1959 Hillary was awarded the Explorer of

1508-489: The Year Award by Argosy magazine; his prize was $ US1000 and a trip to New York to address the award banquet. His speech and personality impressed Dienhart, who invited him to their Chicago headquarters. Hillary proposed a " Yeti search" plus a party of climbers who would winter for the first time at (20,000 feet (6,100 m)) and then attempt the summit of Makalu (27,790 feet (8,470 m)) without oxygen. Hillary estimated

1566-419: The aim of creating the world's hardest sport climbing route at circa. 5.15d  (9c); it was later deconstructed having never been fully ascended, despite attempts by some of the world's best climbers, including Adam Ondra , Stefano Ghisolfi , and Alex Megos . Since then, other "Project-type" routes have been created on other climbing walls, with the goal of being the world's hardest route. There has been

1624-426: The best publishing practices to avoid harm caused by discriminatory or oppressive route names". Many climbing guidebook publishers and route databases introduced policies to redact inappropriate route names, including the largest online databases, theCrag.com , and MountainProject.com (who had redacted 6,000 names in the first year). Some climbers have physically altered the natural rock surface to "construct"

1682-502: The body suppresses the digestive system in favor of increasing its cardiopulmonary reserves); and one breathes more deeply and more frequently. But acclimatization requires days or even weeks. Failure to acclimatize may result in altitude sickness , including high-altitude pulmonary edema ( HAPE ) or cerebral edema ( HACE ). Humans have survived for 2 years at 5,950 m (19,520 ft) [475 millibars (14.0 inHg; 6.89 psi) of atmospheric pressure], which appears to be near

1740-470: The climbing community more directly confronted the issue of problematic names. In June 2020, climbing author Andrew Bisharat wrote in Rock & Ice that "routes belong to us all. That should include their names" in regard to changing problematic names. At the same time, Duane Raleigh, the editor of Rock & Ice , stepped down from his post recognizing some problematic names that he had given his own routes in

1798-458: The crest of the Mingbo Valley, located on the col of the Mingbo Valley for the research base. But the pass (19,000 feet (5,800 m)) was up a 500 feet (150 m) slope of steep ice and winds funnelled over the pass. Hardie and Hillary agreed that the névé 500 feet lower was better and safer. Though Pugh had been at Changmatang for two weeks and ultimately agreed with Hardie and Hillary, he

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1856-456: The development of the clean climbing movement. Other objections to pre-bolted protection highlighted the effect that such protection had on the very nature and challenge of a climbing route. In 1971, Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner wrote a famous essay called The Murder of the Impossible (which was believed to have been inspired by the 400-bolt Compressor Route ), challenging that

1914-493: The end of October the expedition went via the 19,000 feet (5,800 m) Tashi Laptsa Pass to the Khumbu region. New Zealand mountaineer Norman Hardie led a party of 310 Nepali porters with parts of the hut, the laboratory equipment, and winter supplies. He set up a base at the village of Changmatang, near the entrance to the Mingbo Valley. Research accommodation was in the prefabricated Silver Hut and an adjacent tent. The Silver Hut

1972-555: The ethical issue of retro-bolting (e.g. turning traditional climbing routes into safer sport climbing bolted routes). Climbing routes are usually chronicled in a climbing guidebook , a climbing journal (e.g. the American Alpine Journal or the Himalayan Journal ), and/or in an online route database (e.g. theCrag.com or MountainProject.com ), where the key details of the route are listed, which generally include

2030-842: The expedition cost at $ US120,000 and, after meeting him in Chicago in October 1959, the World Book board gave him $ US125,000 and a "practically free hand". The expedition gathered in Kathmandu in September 1960, destined for the Rolwaling Valley . The valley was reputed to be a Yeti stronghold, and was the location where mountaineers Eric Shipton and Michael Ward , along with the Sherpa Sen Tenzing, had photographed alleged Yeti footprints in 1951. At

2088-518: The expedition: "The yeti is not a strange, superhuman creature as has been imagined. We have found rational explanations for most yeti phenomena". All the Yeti relics were from Tibetan blue bears, red pandas or goats, and Hillary said that another yeti-hunt would be a "sheer waste of money" But with the permission to remove for examination a "Yeti scalp" in the Khumjung Monastery in the Khumbu region he

2146-409: The following: Climbers will often differentiate climbing routes by the general types of challenges they present. Four of the main types of challenges are: The definition of what is classed as a valid ascent of a climbing route is a redpoint . Many routes may not be climbed on the first attempt, and will require days (and in some cases, years) of attempts; when a climber undertakes such a task, it

2204-449: The grey zone between acclimatisation and deterioration, were unique; at that altitude the oxygen content of the air was half that at sea level. Initially, work capacity was half that at sea level, but it increased to two-thirds with acclimatisation. The party all lost weight, an indication of high-altitude deterioration. For lung and heart function assessment, oxygen and carbon dioxide is measured in lungs and blood. At sea level, blood leaving

2262-783: The institute’s high training base in Sikkim. The Yeti Hunt was to find evidence either proving or disproving the existence of the Yeti. It was supported by Marlin Perkins, the Director of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The zoo was well-known for the TV programme "Wild Kingdom", and Perkins hoped that they could capture a Yeti. Perkins thought that the best evidence was the 1951 photos of Yeti tracks by Shipton, Ward, and Sherpa Sen Tenzing, although these were later dismissed, with Shipton and Bill Tilman having

2320-459: The limit of the permanently tolerable highest altitude. At extreme altitudes, above 7,500 m (24,600 ft) [383 millibars (11.3 inHg; 5.55 psi) of atmospheric pressure], sleeping becomes very difficult, digesting food is near-impossible, and the risk of HAPE or HACE increases greatly. In the death zone and higher, no human body can acclimatize. The body uses up its store of oxygen faster than it can be replenished. An extended stay in

2378-495: The lungs is nearly fully saturated with oxygen, but it dropped to seventy percent at the camp. An important finding was that during exercise saturation dropped further, sometimes below fifty percent, despite a huge increase in the breathing rate; this explains why climbing upwards at high altitude is extraordinarily exhausting even if feeling comfortable at rest. Later the Silver Hut was disassembled and given to Tenzing Norgay for

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2436-480: The more difficult winter season (e.g. it was not until 2021 that K2 was climbed in winter). Climbers will also seek to improve the "style" in which a route is climbed. A route that uses a lot of aid climbing will be reclimbed with less and less aid until it is eventually " free climbed " (i.e. using no aid, either as a sport or a traditional climb). Greenpointing refers to the process of even removing any existing in-situ sport climbing protection bolts to ascend

2494-401: The neve (21,000 feet (6,400 m)) and Camp 5 (24,400 feet (7,400 m) on Makalu Col. At Camps 6 (25,800 feet (7,900 m)) and 7 (27,000 feet (8,200 m)) and the summit only alveolar air samples would be taken. Camp 3 was established by the end of April 1961 then Camp 4 (23,000 feet (7,000 m)). Camp 2 was at 19,000 feet (5,800 m) Mt Makalu is the fifth-highest mountain in

2552-463: The past. The debate intensified, reaching national media attention in countries around the world, and was described as climbing's "#MeToo" moment. In 2021, the American Alpine Club created the "Climb United" initiative to bring magazine editors, guidebook publishers and database managers, and other climbing community leaders together to create principles for naming routes that would "Build

2610-455: The repairing of routes (e.g. gluing back broken holds). In contrast, indoor climbing is done on completely artificially manufactured sport climbing routes on climbing walls , as is competition climbing where a route setter manufactures a completely new route for each stage of the competition. In 2017, Black Diamond Equipment launched "The Project" on an indoor climbing wall in Sweden, with

2668-430: The route as a cleaner traditional climb. Alpine climbers seek to complete established high-altitude " expedition style " routes in alpine style with no supplemental oxygen or any fixed ropes , and even alone . Free solo climbers seek to ascend a route with no protection equipment whatsoever (e.g. as in the 2018 film, Free Solo ). Some big wall climbers set speed records on routes (e.g. The Nose ). When

2726-539: The route–and beta on its crux (es)–and any risk or commitment grade, the length and number of pitches of the route, and the climbing equipment (e.g. climbing protection gear) that is needed to complete the route. There are definitions as to what is a valid ascent of a route (e.g. the redpoint in rock climbing), and the class or style of ascent (e.g. onsighted , flashed ). The coveted first ascent (FA), first free ascent (FFA), and first female free ascent (FFFA), are usually recorded for important routes. After

2784-573: The summit of Mount Everest. Mountaineers use supplemental oxygen in the death zone to reduce deleterious effects. An open-circuit oxygen apparatus was first tested on the 1922 and 1924 British Mount Everest expeditions; the bottled oxygen taken in 1921 was not used (see George Finch and Noel Odell ). In 1953 the first assault party of Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans used closed-circuit oxygen apparatus. The second (successful) party of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay used open-circuit oxygen apparatus; after ten minutes taking photographs on

2842-420: The summit without his oxygen set on, Hillary said he "was becoming rather clumsy-fingered and slow-moving". Physiologist Griffith Pugh was on the 1952 and 1953 expeditions to study the effects of cold and altitude; he recommended acclimatising above 4,600 m (15,000 ft) for at least 36 days and the use of closed-circuit equipment. He further studied the ability to acclimatise over several months on

2900-483: The supposed 1951 photographs of Yeti footprints had been taken. Doig said he would pay for a Yeti, dead or alive, or for parts. They returned with a supposed Yeti scalp, three Tibetan blue bear skins, a goat skin, a dried human hand, two small red pandas and a fox. They set up cameras, telescopes, tripwires and capchur guns around the Ripimu Glacier at 18,000 feet (5,500 m) feet. At the end of October they left for

2958-420: The top of a mountain , a rock face or an ice-covered obstacle. The details of a climbing route are recorded in a climbing guidebook and/or in an online climbing-route database. Details recorded will include elements such as the type of climbing route (e.g. bouldering route, sport climbing route, traditional climbing route, ice climbing route, and alpine climbing route, etc.), the difficulty grade of

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3016-502: The use of such protection was diminishing the nature of mountaineering, saying of such climbers: "he carries his courage in his rucksack, in the form of bolts and equipment". Such concerns also relate to the debate on retro-bolting of traditional climbing routes, which is the conversion into safer sport climbing routes, but that also fundamentally alters the nature of the route challenge. 1960%E2%80%9361 Silver Hut expedition The 1960–61 Silver Hut expedition , formally known as

3074-421: The world. Hillary had been at near-death on the mountain in 1954 with cerebral and pulmonary edema. On 4 May at Camp 4 he was unwell and went back to Camp 2 then Base Camp and back to Khumjung; it was the end of his days as a serious climber. But while the Silver Hut group were better acclimatized at 19,000 feet (5,800 m) there was no consistent difference between the two groups at 24,300 feet (7,400 m) on

3132-547: The zone without supplementary oxygen will result in deterioration of body functions, loss of consciousness, and ultimately, death. Scientists at the High Altitude Pathology Institute in Bolivia dispute the existence of a death zone, based on observation of extreme tolerance to hypoxia in patients with chronic mountain sickness and normal fetuses in-utero, both of which present pO 2 levels similar to those at

3190-662: Was "the kingdom of the wind" . Everest was first climbed without oxygen by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler in 1978. Edmund Hillary , Griffith Pugh and fellow climbers Norman Hardie , George Lowe , Peter Mulgrew , Michael Ward , John Harrison (NZ), Leigh Ortenberger (US), Wally Romanes (NZ) and American photographer Barry Bishop . Several doctors, most with expertise in respiratory physiology and also mountaineering: John West , Jim Milledge (UK), Sukhamay Lahiri (India), Tom Nevison (US, USAF) and Michael Gill (NZ, medical student). Himalayan Adventure Intl Treks can organize Ama Dablam Expedition and Journalist Desmond Doig from

3248-572: Was asked to build a school in Khumjung; this led to a new project for Hillary; schools and healthcare for Sherpas through the Himalayan Trust . While Hillary had money from books, he did not get any business or diplomatic jobs in New Zealand. In January 1962 the family left for Chicago where Hillary flew every week to speak to "World Bookers" the company’s sales staff throughout America. Then he became

3306-452: Was displeased with not having been consulted. This was an early indication of the difficult relationship between Hillary and Pugh. The scientific phase of the expedition here lasted from November 1960 to March 1961. The "wintering party" was Pugh. With him were mountaineers Bishop, Gill, Lahiri, Milledge, Ward and West, and Sherpas Siku, Dawa Tensing and Mingma Norbu. The physiological measurements at 19,000 feet (5,800 m), an altitude in

3364-479: Was six meters long and three meters wide, with a panoramic view from windows at the laboratory end. The setting was spectacular, between the "vertiginous walls" of Ama Dablam and behind them the cirque of steep ice and rock of the Mingbo La. A kerosene stove separated the living-space, with eight bunks and a dining table, from the laboratory, with a bicycle ergometer and equipment benches. Hillary had originally picked

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