" I soon learned that Everest wasn't a private affair. It belonged to many men."
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Why did the number of climbers increase so rapidly?The biggest complaint on Mount Everest in the recent years has always been about the number of climbers that flock to the mountain each year. Articles, books, and journal entries have touched on this complaint, yet no one has explain why there was this sudden swarm of people going to the mountain. Unknown to many the advancements of oxygen systems have played a large role in the masses of people trekking to the mountain every year. Almost every climber summits with the help of supplemented oxygen due to the summit being over 8000 meters there is a 33% less oxygen then there is at sea level. Climbing at this altitude is like holding your breath two out of every three steps on a staircase. While many assume climbing with oxygen makes the task of climbing easier, it can be more difficult because there are often problems such as a value freezing, the mask deforms due to wind, or ice forms in the airways. In 1922 the first oxygen system was tested on Everest by George Finch. Finch and his climbing partner, Geoffrey Bruce, made it to 27,250 ft, just around 2,000 ft below the summit. Their original system that they created weighed thirty- three pounds which is a lot to be carrying at that altitude. It was not until the 1950s that the oxygen system was advanced again.
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"One cannot climb at all unless he has sufficient urge to do so. Danger must be met (indeed it must be used) to an extent beyond that incurred to normal life. That is one reason men climb; for only in response to challenge does one man becomes his best."
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Hornbein and Maytag SystemPoisk System |
"It's the journey toward doing these harder climbs that really gives value to the whole activity of climbing."
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Top Out SystemIn the early 2000s even more advancements were made by Ted Atkins. The Top Out mask was created allowing for variable flow of oxygen as the effort of the climber changed from rest to extreme effort. The masks and lighter cylinders have been most important for the Sherpa on Everest. The Sherpa, risks their lives setting up the ropes and ladders all the way up the mountain, and these lighter systems have allowed for easier travel. With this system climbers have been able to climb to the summit and back only using two to three bottles of oxygen, flowing on 1.5 liters per minute. The slight reduction in the liters per second has made the Top Out mask to be a much more efficient oxygen delivery system. With this system being as efficient as it is some people are climbing with 4 to 5 liters per second which in turn takes away from the challenge of the climb.
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