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North Col Route
The North
Col/Ridge Route is one of the two common routes
to the summit (the
other being the South Col Route). The Advanced Base Camp is reached from Base
Camp (5050 meters) via Rongbuk Glacier which merges with the Eastern
Rongbuk Glacier. Advanced Base Camp is at 6400m on the northwestern side
of the East Rongbuk Glacier, under the slopes of Changtse. It normally
takes 2 days for the first trip to ABC then 1 day after acclimatizion.
ABC is the primary home for North Ridge climbers during the expedition.The
ascent to the North Col from ABC starts
on scree (loose rock) then moves to snow followed by increasingly steep
slopes up to 60 degrees. Climbers use crampons and fixed ropes from now
on. It takes between 4 to 7 hours to reach the North Col depending on
acclimatizion and weather.
View from North Col camp at 7000m (23000ft)
The
views from the North Col are spectacular. The North Col Camp is located on
a windswept
ridge at 7100m (see photo to the right
/ source: Project
Himalaya).
The North Col connects Mount Everest with
Changtse. It is called Chang La in Tibetan and Beiao La in Chinese.
From there, climbers follow a pronounced ridge which stretches from
the North
Col
up towards
the
Northeast
Ridge
at
8383 meters. The route is usually pure snow but
can be rock since this section is known for high winds. It should take about
3 to 5 hours to reach C2. From C2 to C3, the climb is extremely windy and
the tents are on small rock ledges since there is limited large and level areas.
At Camp 3, the wind is usually blocked by the North Face of Everest so sleeping
is easier. Climbers will take 3 to 6 hours to reach C3. Camp 4 is located just
underneath the Northeast Ridge which to to be followed to reach the summit. Camp
4 is a
short rest stop on the way to the summit for most climbers. Climbers will have
some food and water, perhaps a short nap and start for the summit around 10:00PM.
The Northeast Ridge is a few hundred feet above C4. The Northeast Ridge represent
the most difficult climbing on this route. There are three "steps" or
rock climbs along the way. The first Step is straightforward but the second step
is the most difficult involving a 10 foot rock climb to a 30 foot vertical wall.
The Third Step is another straight forward rock climb but challenging at this
altitude. Climber now spend the next hour to climb the steep snowfields of the
Summit Pyramid.
Himalayan Experience offers expeditions to Everest's North Col.
Mallory and Irvine
One
of the first attempts to climb Everest was made by British mountain climbers
George Mallory
and Andrew Irvine in June 1924 via the North
Col Route. The North Col
was discovered by Mallory while searching for possible routes to the
summit of Mount Everest during the British's first reconnaissance of
the Everest
region in 1921. All subsequent expeditions in the 1920's and
1930's attempted to reach the summit of Everest by using the North Col.
On June 4, 1924, the British expedition establishes a
string of camps on the northern side of the mountain,
culminating
in Camp 6 at 26,700 feet (8140 meters) on the North Ridge. Team members
Norton and Somervell attempt an oxygenless ascent, following an ascending
diagonal line across the North Face of the mountain towards the Great
Couloir. After Somervell is forced to give up at about 28,000 feet (8500
meters),
Norton continues alone, reaching a high point of 28,126 feet (8570 meters)
near the top of the Great Couloir, a height record not exceeded by anyone
for the next 29 years ! On June 8, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine attempt
the summit using oxygen and Irvine's modified oxygen apparatus. The
photo on the right is believed to be one of the last records of the men
before they disappeared
(photograph by AP). 
Mallory
and Irvine were last spotted, through mist, in the early afternoon of
June 8 by geologist Noel Odell, who was following
behind in support. He saw two black figures - no more than dots - approach
and climb a rock step, called the Second Step, on the mountain's skyline, "nearing
the base of the summit pyramid." Whether
or not they made it to the summit is one of the greatest mysteries in
mountaineering. The question is whether or not
they could have climbed the Second
Step,
a
100-foot
high
rock wall
at 28,230 feet. This wall was first climbed by a Chinese
expedition in 1960. The Chinese climbers in 1960 reportedly had
to stand on each other's shoulders with their boots off, resulting
in frostbite and the loss of
toes. Since 1975 a ladder is fixed on the Second Step to aid the passage
of the headwall. In 2007, Team Altitude Everest Expedition made a documentary
investigating Mallory and Irvine's last journey in forensic
detail and also test the durability of clothing and equipment
similar to that used in the 1924 climb to try to reconstruct their final,
fateful hours. Key to the investigation, which is being filmed for a documentary,
was the ascent of the infamous Second Step, 1,000ft from the summit. Climbers
Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding decided at some point that it was too cold
to shun modern
hi-tech textiles in favor of replicas of the clothes worn by Mallory Irvine.
"Got dressed in period (costume). Walked around corner onto North Face
in hobnail-less boots - Did one take and nearly froze," Houlding wrote
on the expedition's online diary last week. However, the team successfully free-climbed
the Second Step after removing a ladder fixed to the treacherous 100-foot
rock wall near the summit. They were the first to free-climb that stretch
since a Chinese expedition in 1960.
During the 1933 expedition, Andrew Irvine's ice ax is found on the upper slopes of the mountain at about 27,690 feet (8440 meters) and approximately 250 yards (meters) east of the First Step. Eric Simonson's 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition discovers an oxygen bottle that belonged to the pair near the base of the First Step, and Mallory's remains were found at 26,750 feet (8150 meters), on a line vertically below the ice ax position. A Kodak camera, loaned to Mallory, still lies high on Everest's slopes. If found, the images inside may reveal whether they made it to the summit or died in their valiant attempt to be the first to stand on top of the world.
