Blume

Wally Berg working with GPS gear on the South Col at 26,300'

Scientifically speaking, we definitely won't be walking away from here empty handed. When Wally Berg turned on the GPS receiver at the South Col, he conducted the highest elevation, high-precision reoccupation of a survey point in history. By comparing with measurements taken at the same spot two years ago, we will gain a much better understanding of the uplift and lateral motion that the mountain is undergoing, which will help us understand the interaction between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

The precise gravity data that I've collected throughout the Khumbu region, both this year and in 1995, should allow us to recalculate the position of sea level more accurately than ever before. So although we were unable to conduct measurements in the gale force winds on the summit, this calculation may in fact change the correct elevation of Mt. Everest.

Hang on to those old atlases and maps that claim the world's highest peak to be 8848 meters tall, as they may soon be collectors' items. Like my childhood globe that shows Burkina Faso as "Upper Volta", and Hong Kong to be a British colony.

Perhaps we will return next spring, with a redesigned radar-GPS device that will be much lighter and easier to operate under adverse conditions. And should this meet with the Mountain's approval, we will at last have our answer to "just how high can one get and still have one's feet on Planet Earth".

-- Freddy Blume, Everest Base Camp