May It any doubt, remained of the hazards faced by the airmen of the Houston Expedition in their successful flight over Everest, it were surely dissipated after reading in this journal yesterday, the graphic account of the sub-Sequent conquest of Kangchen-Junga. On foot the ascent of Kangchengjunga is held by experts, including Brigadier E. IF. Norton who holds the record for the highest climb on Everest, to be far more formidable than that which is now being attempt-
Mr. F. 8. Smythe, the leader of by the Ruttledge Expedition, the sticcessful ascent of Kame! and a member of Professor party in 1930, points out that the weather round Kangchenjung restricts the climber s0 Severely in point of time that the chances of success amount to a Gesperate gamble. Everest is still unconquered on foot and, like Kangchenjunga, it has now een flown over. Tt is officially 846 feet: higher than the "other giant of. the. Dodang Nyima chain but it does not present! the special difficulties which ake the weather gamble s0 intense on Kangehenjunga, 1931 Herr Paul Bauer and his! young Bavarians made a most magnificent second attack on! Kangehenjunga, After reaching 25,700 feet they were brought up against an insurmountable' [wall of dangerous snow which already showed several fissures.
chance of the weather improving appeared to offer; the! attempt had to be abandoned and! the party, which had brought! Herr Bavier within measurable! distance of crowning his gallant failure of 1929, had to withdraw. Everest and' Kangchenjunga stand out as islands of elevation land are from 5,000 to 6,000 feet! higher than their surroundings. Tt is judged, that the process of elevation with them is still Iwork, at the rate perhaps of only lan inch a year. In this respect they differ from their rival further North, the mysterio 2, which Is' officially 104 feet! higher than Kangchenjunga, has native name, ix not visible from any inhabited spot but in reality only an "elevated point above an _interlinking system of snowy plateaux and glaciers," to quote Mr. Smythe.
The story of the cloud-impeded flight of the two Houston ma-[chines over Kangchenjunga is a story of man at the mercy of inscrutable forces of nature. Every modern device for keeping the aeroplanes in touch.was available. Yet, in that eerie region aloft, the pilots were mystified. They suddenly fell into unexpected and inexplicable pockets. The currents of wind toyed with them at will. 'The! thinness of air produced a sideslip leading to x 2,000 feet drop in a few minutes.' So they lost touch and had to make flights over the moul ynorance of euch othe outs, after running, ironical) in those vast, expanses, collision. The amazing contrast between the tense cold of the roof of the world—minus 38: Centigrade or 70 degrees below Zero Fahrenhelt—and the sibly 101° in the shade prevailing, fat the landing ground at Purnea must have added to the thrills the airmen's adventure. Immediately above the earth there hung a dust haze—symbol of the! hot weather—to the height of 7,000 feet. Coming down from the icy altitudes the machines: had to penetrate this haze before they could get their bearings for landing. They had been, a short time before. in the frozen' silences of the heavens; they: descended to the scorching heat of the Indian plains. The cloudy conditions prevented—_photography on such complete scale og had been possible in the flight Jover Everest. Nevertheless the film operator was able to report, achievement in capturing impressions. Over Everest the! danger of mechanical failure was mitigated by the scope given for lear gliding in any direction ith 10.000 feet to spare for loss of height. The series of Peaks surrounding Kangehen-Junga gave no such promise:
"had the oxygen system develop-ede fault the pilot would have had to fy at a high altitude until clear surround 4 Which eeline™slowiy. in ahieude foathwards, "To the north a ing of very his 8 cut off essay of very high peaks cut Thus again, Everest, formidable though it be, has to yield the! palm for sheer difficulty to the lesser giant.
Round the crest of Everest the photographers reported al pennant of snow laden _wind.|th From the height of 34,000 feet, the altimeter recorded, the airmen looked down on Kang. chenjunga's 28,156 feet and signs of the close attendance of Aeolus on guard over the summit were discerned. It is said that mountains. make their own weather. The difficulty confronting climbers of these mountains lies in the inability to determine whether the better course is to make the attempt before or after the monsoon. Hitherto the pre-monsoon theory has prevailed. It has, however, to take into account the fierceness of the westerly winds at that time. This is where. the mountain interposes its own brand of weather for the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.