guide The mountain is there / Zhan Hongzhi When mountain climbers are asked why they climb a certain mountain, they often give a well-worn poetic or Zen answer: because it is there. (Because it is there.) From this sentence, we can also see that climbing to the top of a mountain has no practical value, it is a passion of faith or a vanity imagination.Acheng, a novelist who jumped in line to Yunnan during the Cultural Revolution, once said to me that in the deep mountains of Yunnan, occasionally there are foreigners from the civilized world who want to climb the mountain, and the villagers in the mountains are incredible at such crazy and meaningless actions. Therefore, I believe that these foreign climbers have divinity, so I have to look at them differently.

Indeed, Westerners who climbed the Himalayas relied on the help of the Sherpas, who have lived in the foothills of the Himalayas for thousands of years, but never thought of reaching the summit; similarly, the first Robert who reached the pole of the North Pole.Perry (Robert Peary, 1856︱1920) also relied on the help of the Eskimos. The Eskimos were also puzzled by his strange destination. They also seriously persuaded him: Why go there?Nothing there wow?A sentence of raw sincerity, also has a taste of the king's new clothes. Great goals often have a certain emptiness, and emptiness is sometimes another aspect of sanctity.

But it was a talented mountaineer at the beginning of the 20th century who really invented the saying because the mountain is there.The British Himalaya expedition led by Edward Felix Norton (1884︱1954) disappeared after taking charge of the summit and never returned to the camp.This tragedy not only saddened the British people at the time, but also made the climbing of Mount Everest in the Himalayas (now renamed Mount Everest out of respect for Tibetans) stop for 30 years. The name is George.Mallory (George Mallory, 1886︱1924). At noon on June 8, 1924, Noel.Odell (Noel Odell, 1890︱1987) looked up, the clouds on the mountain suddenly opened, and he saw black dot-like figures moving on the rock wall on the top of the mountain. He recorded it like this:

At 12:50, I found the first confirmed fossil of Mount Everest. Just as I woke up from the ecstasy, the atmosphere suddenly became clear and clear, and the entire ridge line and summit of Mount Everest were clearly visible. .My eyes fixed on the small black shadow on the snow wall of the rock ladder under the ridge line, and the small black dot was moving.Another small black spot is also clear, and it moves up to meet the first black spot on the rock wall.The first black spot approached the rock-stair boulder and quickly scaled it, and the second black spot did the same.But the mesmerizing sight was soon lost again, and clouds once again surrounded it.

O'Dell is a geologist. His job this time is to prepare oxygen tanks and assist George.Malory and another player Andrew.Irvine (Andrew Irvine, 1902︱1924) hit the top.Malory and Irving had already reached the No. 6 Camp on the snow wall the day before, at an altitude of 26,800 feet (8,230 meters), only more than 2,000 feet away from the summit of Mount Everest. Odell Then stay in No. 5 Battalion (25,500 feet, 7775 meters) to support.The night before, O'Dell saw good weather in Camp No. 5, and thought in his heart that the next day should be good weather for summiting. The moving black shadow he saw at 12:50 should be the last sightings of Malory and Owen who were in charge of the summit attack. In fact, the summit attack was obviously postponed. According to the plan, they should arrive at 8:00 in the morning At 12:50 O'Dell saw the location.But no one knew about the situation above. After Odell witnessed the black spots on the snow wall being covered by clouds and mist again, they never heard from them again.

This is not the first time this expedition has reached the summit, in fact this is the third time.The first summit was by Malory and another team member, the second was by Captain Norton and another team member, and the third was by Malory and Irwin.This is not the first time a British Himalayan expedition has been organized, it is also the third.Under the advocacy and advocacy of another great explorer, Francis Younghusband (1863︱1942), Britain made three attempts in 1921, 1922, and 1924. Malory, who is famous for his mountaineering skills and physical fitness, participated in all three expeditions to climb the Himalayas.

The main purpose of the first expedition was to investigate the topographical conditions of the Himalayas. They climbed several mountains over 7,000 meters high and surveyed the later northern mountaineering route.The goal of the second expedition was to directly attack the summit. They tried to use bottled oxygen and climbed to the rock wall on the north side of the mountain (about 27,000 feet, 8,300 meters) in harsh weather. ), the final operation was interrupted due to the coming of the rainy season. When Malory led his teammates back down the mountain, they encountered an avalanche caused by unstable new snow, and seven Sherpa provocateurs died as a result. Malory was criticized after returning home.This is the psychological background that Marlowe must have when the third expedition takes place.

Malory's disappearance greatly shocked British society, and the whole country almost treated the two disappeared mountaineers with the feeling of losing a national hero.The ambition of climbing the Himalayas was also severely frustrated. When the British mountaineering circle formed another expedition team, led by John.Hunter (John Hunt, 1910︱1998) led the team, and was led by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund.Hillary (Edmund Hillary, 1919︱) and Sherpa guide Tenzing.Norgay (Tenzing Norgay, 1914︱1986) officially succeeded in attacking the summit from the south road. It was already May 29, 1953, and it was already a long time since Audair last saw the black dot figure of Malory on the snow wall. Almost thirty years.

But the world couldn't help but wonder, what happened to Malory?Sudden climate change?Or unconsciousness from depleted oxygen?Or an avalanche or a misstep?The world can't help but want to know, did they reach the top before the accident?When Yunkaitianqing O'Dell last saw them, they had already crossed the First Step (First Step, the last rock wall on the North Road of Mount Everest has step-like incisions, the first step is about 278 90 feet to 28,000 feet, the second step is from 28,140 feet to 28,300 feet, and the third step is from 28,510 feet to 28,870 feet. After finishing these three steps of rock stairs, and then going through a gentle slope to reach the peak), they came to the second step, that is to say, they were less than 300 meters away from the peak, and they were probably the first to reach the peak in history. Man at the top of the first peak.

Finding the remains of Malory and Irwin is of course also a matter of concern to the world.In 1999, under the sponsorship of the British National Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other organizations, a search team composed of multinational mountaineers, the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition (Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition) boarded the North Road Searching, as if by God's will, they quickly found Malory's body at 8155 meters.Due to the severe cold climate, Malory's body and relics are well preserved.He obviously fell off the mountain wall, his right leg was broken, and his fingers were still gripping the snowy stones, trying to stop himself from falling further, and the rope was still tied around his waist.

The relic most wanted by the expedition team was the Kodak Vestpocket that Malory carried with him. If the camera can be found, the answer will be given as to whether he climbed to the summit during his lifetime.It's a pity that God always loves riddles, and the search team found Malory's man and most of his belongings, but the camera was gone. There is circumstantial evidence that has led some people and mountaineering experts to believe that they have reached the summit.A circumstantial evidence comes from Malory's daughter, who said her father carried a photo of his wife with him, but said he would leave his wife's photo on the Himalayan summit once he reached the summit, and the search team couldn't find it on him. a photograph.Another piece of evidence comes from time judgment. The search team found Malory's goggles in his pocket, indicating that it was very likely that the sky was dark when he last acted; compared with the time when O'Dell saw them, he should have reached the summit and stayed for a while It was time to go down the mountain, and if they hadn't made it to the top, there was no reason for them to delay going down so late.But these are speculations, without any solid evidence to tell us what happened.