If you're an OM regular, you may remember a story
a few months back about how researchers painstakingly constructed
exact replicas of the clothes used by the 1924 Mallory and Irvine
expedition to Everest.
When the results were unveiled at the Clothing For Extremes
conference at Rheged, they suggested that the 1924 clothing system -
below right - with its multiple layers of wool and sillk were
surprisingly well adapated to high altitude mountaineering, offered
adequate insulation and weatherproofing and were less bulky and
easier to move in than many modern alternatives such as those
modelled by high altitude climbing specialist, Alan Hinkes.
Now the replica clothing is to be tested in real conditions when
Graham Hoyland - a mountaineer and one of the team who discovered
Mallory's body - returns to Everest next year. It's the ultimate test
of the clothing system, in real conditions.
Hoyland, who believes that Mallory and Irvine succeeded in
climbign the mountain, told the BBC: '"I guess I will find it much
easier to move across the terrain, but I imagine the wind will be
really cutting."
Full story on at news.bbc.co.uk
Blue Sky
