Climbers Missing in Nepal

by Erik Olsen on

Potentially
bad news, given the altitudes
we’re talking about here. Looks like seven French and 11 Nepali climbers are missing in western Nepal, likely
they were caught up in a nasty avalanche that hit the area last week. They are part of a 21-member climbing
team that was supposedly at basecamp near the 22,903-feet Kang Guru peak. Let’s hope they find them.

WWII Pilot Found in CA Glacier

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s something you don’t read everyday. Two
glacier hikers in California (there are glaciers in California?) were cruising along, enjoying the fresh air, the snap,
crackle and pop of breaking ice when they
stumble upon a body. But the body is not
of some dead climber from last year’s climbing season. The dead body is that of an American airman who crashed his
plane there in 1942 (cue Close Encounters theme). The climbers were at 13,000 feet, hiking in Mount Mendel Glacier in
the Kings Canyon National Park where, yes, apparently there IS a glacier. And now that the body has been discovered,
the military is trying to figure out who the guy was. 

Journey of a Lifetime

by Erik Olsen on

An observant and thoughtful Gadling reader
sent us a tip to check out this very impressive show on BBC called
Journey of a Lifetime. The program follows
photographer Chris Brown who, years ago spent time with Himalayan nomads in northern India. The program follows Chris
back to the area, back to the tribe….

But the journey is really the destination here. Chris’ audio dispatches and the overall story of his trip really
delivers the flavor of his experience. He talks to people along the way, and laments how much things have changed since
he last visited. This is well-done travel journalism. As I understand it, Chris won the trip as part of the Journey of
a Lifetime contest by the Royal Geographic Society and
the BBC. Apparently they were very recently taking apps for next year’s Journeys project…but it closed a few days
ago.

(Thanks, Craig!)

Wait, Everest Shrinking Now?

by Erik Olsen on

A while ago, we posted this about some new measurements
suggesting that Everest was not quite the height everyone thought. But now, according to
this AP report, the results are out and it turns out the mountain
may be smaller than we (or they) thought.  A Chinese survey team summited the mountain earlier this year and, much
to their own surprise, discovered that Everest may be about 12 feet shorter than earlier estimates. They had earlier
pegged the mountain at 29,029 feet, 3 inches, but now they say it rises some 29,017.16 feet above sea level (I did the
conversion here).

A US estimate, meanwhile, has the mountain at 29,035.43 feet. Who to believe? Who knows.

(Thanks, Carl!)