Blume

Click to hear Fred Blume's audio dispatch recorded over sat-phone.

Charles Corfield with the radar apparatus [Click for more on measuring Mount Everest.]

From Blume's Satellite Call:
I did my final march over to Kala Pattar [18,300'] -- nice 12 mile round trip with a fair amount of ups and downs, and it got my heart-rate up for a change. Did my final GPS station preparation for the summit measurement tie. [Click here for more on measuring Mount Everest and an interview with Brad Washburn.]

The bad news is, due to the high-winds and the continued forecast for high winds that Todd was experiencing at Camp II today when he left for Camp III,

GPS gear on Kala Pattar, 18,300'

we had to make a very difficult decision to leave the radar apparatus that was going to find the rock-summit and snow-depth at the summit of Mount Everest. We just feel at this time that to use this particular apparatus, which as you know, has a six-foot antenna mast on it, in these high winds would be totally impractical. As such, to even try to carry the extra 35 lbs or so to the summit would be an unnecessary jeopardization of our chances to do what measurements we can.

GPS, Kala Pattar

So, what we plan to do is install a GPS point at the South Col and at the highest bedrock of the summit that will allow me to do network change calculations for some plate tectonic motion determination. We'll also have a GPS antenna mounted at the highest point of the snow, and that combined with my gravitational measurements that I've been doing over the past eternity that I've been here, will let me to at least calculate the exact elevation of the snow-summit of Mount Everest above sea-level.

So, we've decided to sacrifice the heavy and unwieldy radar equipment and go with the lighter and easier to operate GPS equipment. As far as the radar measurements and the rock-summit, well, there's always next year, and personally I think the extra time given to me to design a better set-up for the summit will pay off in the long-run.

As disappointed as I am that we're not going to get that measurement, we'll still be able to do a lot of good work up high assuming that the weather is on our side.

-- Frederick Blume, Team Scientist