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A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

outsideonline.com

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Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#21

Post by verve_rat »

sandworm101 wrote: post #11
Staple_Diet wrote: post #3

It's funny that they mention a Canadian climber being a threat to the Crown getting the Everest mantle. Pretty sure in the 1940s Canadians were still British subjects, much like Kiwis (of which Hillary was one). So, a Canadian summiting would have been the same as a Kiwi summiting.

1931. Not 1940s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Westminster_1931 >>Most of the remaining colonies in North America – everything north of the United States with the exception of Newfoundland – were merged into a federal polity known as "Canada" in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Canada was termed a "dominion", a term previously used in slightly different contexts in English history, and granted a broad array…

And NZ adopted the Statute of Westminster in 1947, so was on the same footing as Canada with respect to claiming the "first to the top" title.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#22

Post by verve_rat »

dorfsmay wrote: post #6
Staple_Diet wrote: post #3

It's funny that they mention a Canadian climber being a threat to the Crown getting the Everest mantle. Pretty sure in the 1940s Canadians were still British subjects, much like Kiwis (of which Hillary was one). So, a Canadian summiting would have been the same as a Kiwi summiting.

Even though Canadian citizenship first appeared in 1947, athletes were recognised as Canadian as soon as the country was created in 1867. The first Canadians to win a anything were the "Paris crew" who won a regatta days after the constitution. Canada started to be represented in the Olympic Games in 1900. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paris-crew https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_at_the_1900_Su…

And NZ competed at the Olympics in 1920.

If Canada counts as not the Crown, then so does NZ.

It's a major oversight for an article on this subject.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#23

Post by verve_rat »

Staple_Diet wrote: post #3

It's funny that they mention a Canadian climber being a threat to the Crown getting the Everest mantle. Pretty sure in the 1940s Canadians were still British subjects, much like Kiwis (of which Hillary was one). So, a Canadian summiting would have been the same as a Kiwi summiting.

I've replied to a few comments here pointing out why NZ and Canada would be considered both on the same footing as part of the Empire but also not at the same time.

Unlike, say the US, independence for the former Dominions isn't something you can pin point to one event. It is mostly a slow evolution of the legal environment and cultural separation over the course of more than a century. (In NZ's case you could argue that it took 163 years, or is not done yet because reasons.)

The actual difference between the Canadian "expedition" and the one that included Hillary is that the Canadian one was just some dude. One guy that wanted to try his luck, whereas the British one was organised (and I believe paid for) in Britain. It just happened to have a Kiwi on it.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#24

Post by mangamadaiyan »

generic92034 wrote: post #17
rvnx wrote: post #7

Not sure it's so good to make promotion of Mount Everest and their climbers in the current situation. It's full of literal shit (including the smell) and empty oxygen bottles due to too many tourists and everyday it gets worse. It's like the highest open defecation place in the world. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/pea... though there are some initiatives to solve that: https://www.mensjourn…

So, just as a fun exercise - what would it take to remove the top 250m from Mount Everest, making it only the second highest mountain?

As part of the same fun exercise, also imagine what it would take to prevent K2 (which is currently the world's 2nd highest mountain) from becoming a pile of shit.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#25

Post by Staple_Diet »

verve_rat wrote: post #23
Staple_Diet wrote: post #3

It's funny that they mention a Canadian climber being a threat to the Crown getting the Everest mantle. Pretty sure in the 1940s Canadians were still British subjects, much like Kiwis (of which Hillary was one). So, a Canadian summiting would have been the same as a Kiwi summiting.

I've replied to a few comments here pointing out why NZ and Canada would be considered both on the same footing as part of the Empire but also not at the same time. Unlike, say the US, independence for the former Dominions isn't something you can pin point to one event. It is mostly a slow evolution of the legal environment and cultural separation over the course of more than a century. (In NZ's case you could argue…

Thanks, that explains it well. It seems it's less about who climbed but more so who funded the climb. I daresay though they'd still have claimed the Canadian as a Commonwealth victory if he'd summited and likely knighted him too like they did Hillary.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#26

Post by fooker »

mangamadaiyan wrote: post #24
generic92034 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, just as a fun exercise - what would it take to remove the top 250m from Mount Everest, making it only the second highest mountain?

As part of the same fun exercise, also imagine what it would take to prevent K2 (which is currently the world's 2nd highest mountain) from becoming a pile of shit.

K2 is quite a bit more difficult to climb compared to Everest.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#27

Post by trueismywork »

mangamadaiyan wrote: post #24
generic92034 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, just as a fun exercise - what would it take to remove the top 250m from Mount Everest, making it only the second highest mountain?

As part of the same fun exercise, also imagine what it would take to prevent K2 (which is currently the world's 2nd highest mountain) from becoming a pile of shit.

Deaths due to snowstorms. It's not know as killer mountain for nothing.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#28

Post by trueismywork »

generic92034 wrote: post #17
rvnx wrote: post #7

Not sure it's so good to make promotion of Mount Everest and their climbers in the current situation. It's full of literal shit (including the smell) and empty oxygen bottles due to too many tourists and everyday it gets worse. It's like the highest open defecation place in the world. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/pea... though there are some initiatives to solve that: https://www.mensjourn…

So, just as a fun exercise - what would it take to remove the top 250m from Mount Everest, making it only the second highest mountain?

I doubt it would help, of the top 5 mountains, everest is second the easiest to climb.

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#29

Post by Uehreka »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #18

This includes one of my favorite details, which is the coded message sent to confirm the ascent: >Snow conditions bad stop advanced base abandoned yesterday stop awaiting improvement Wikipedia[1] has the breakdown, as well as the rest of the code for other individuals[2]: >Snow conditions bad" was the agreed code to signify that the summit had been reached; "advance base abandoned" referred to Hillary and "awaiting i…

One thing I always think about with these kinds of codes: what would they have said if the snow conditions were actually bad and they had to abandon their base?

Re: A Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed

#30

Post by GJim »

kinglawrence wrote: post #15
rvnx wrote: post #7

Not sure it's so good to make promotion of Mount Everest and their climbers in the current situation. It's full of literal shit (including the smell) and empty oxygen bottles due to too many tourists and everyday it gets worse. It's like the highest open defecation place in the world. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/pea... though there are some initiatives to solve that: https://www.mensjourn…

The amount of virtue signalling going on to turn this article into some kind of moral issue is just wild

Petty virtue signalling is very much a curse of social media, even modern discourse.

It is at its worst when used to pile-on a speaker or post for uttering some perceived slight, or daring to suggest an unpopular idea or political view. It is bad for open discourse, even open society, and needs to stop.

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