 3/10 Fair --- www.dailygalaxy.com http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheDailyGalaxyNewsFromPlanetEarthBeyond
| The Daily Galaxy -News from Planet Earth & Beyond, is an eclectic text and video presentation of fascinating news and original insights on science, space exploration, technology, and their reflections in popular culture (film, books, events). ... |
Thursday, August 07, 2008 --- 102 days ago http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheDailyGalaxyNewsFromPlanetEarthBeyond/~3/358152
 In 1856 Captain T.G. Montgomerie, working on a survey of India, saw the Karakorum range and measured its peaks, identifying them with a series of numbers prefixed by the letter 'K' an abbreviation of the Karakorum name; hence K2. K2, situated on the Pakistan/Chinese border in the Kashmir region is the second highest mountain in the worldat 28,250 ft. Sometimes known as the savage mountain, with its fierce storms, constant avalanches and hazardous rock faces. K2 is known as the world’s hardest and most dangerous mountain, more challenging even than Everest. Farther north and 1,500 miles from Everest, it collects heavy snow and storms, and climbers have only a few days each year when they can try for the peak, usually in early August. “For a professional, seasoned mountaineer it’s more of the holy grail than Everest,” says the veteran American climber Ed Viesturs. “There is no easy way to climb K2.” At least nine climbers were reported dead Sunday on K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, after an avalanche struck them on a steep gully at a height of about 27,000 feet, just below the summit, mountaineering officials said. For two months, the New York Times reported yesterday, dozens of mountaineers had huddled at camps below the peak, acclimating to the thin air, practicing their ascent and waiting, waiting, for the moment. The final push began in the dark hours after midnight on Aug. 1. Members of at least five expeditions — and perhap ... |
|
|
Anytime
