Thank you. I had no idea Irvine was a Merton man, and I am now even keener than I was anyway for him to have reached the summit
The internet thinks 200 successful attempts have been made without oxygen so I don't regard I & M's lack of technical resources as a knock down argument.
Technical gear and training techniques are light-years ahead of where they were almost a century ago. Do not underestimate the difficulty of their achievement, if it were to be confirmed – even nowadays, summiting Everest without oxygen is a monumentally difficult task that few have done. I fear that the Irvine expedition is extremely unlikely to have succeeded. I would love to be proven wrong.
It would be a spectacular achievement. It supposedly involved lots of mixed, class 5 climbing on the route they allegedly took, towards the summit. There were no handlines etc...With scant ,or clunky gear that they had....these dudes were ferocious,badasses.
Thank you. I had no idea Irvine was a Merton man, and I am now even keener than I was anyway for him to have reached the summit
The internet thinks 200 successful attempts have been made without oxygen so I don't regard I & M's lack of technical resources as a knock down argument.
Technical gear and training techniques are light-years ahead of where they were almost a century ago. Do not underestimate the difficulty of their achievement, if it were to be confirmed – even nowadays, summiting Everest without oxygen is a monumentally difficult task that few have done. I fear that the Irvine expedition is extremely unlikely to have succeeded. I would love to be proven wrong.
Interesting, thanks for your thoughts. Has finding the Irvine remains made it more or less likely that they summited, do you think?
It would be a spectacular achievement. It supposedly involved lots of mixed, class 5 climbing on the route they allegedly took, towards the summit. There were no handlines etc...With scant ,or clunky gear that they had....these dudes were ferocious,badasses.
Maybe the most famous engineer from Merton?
Great write up. Considering all the conditions - of the men, their equipment and variables, it seems unlikely.
There was very much stacked against them, that is for sure!
Indeed it was a fine achievement! I don't mean to detract from it