ICE SÉRACS & THE “MAGIC” HIGHWAY EarthCache
ICE SÉRACS & THE “MAGIC” HIGHWAY
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Spectacular glacial scenery visited by mountaineers climbing the North Col, Everest or easier nearby peaks such as Lhakpa Ri. The valley is historically interesting as well for the route was first discovered and walked by George Mallory in 1921.
Glaciers form where conditions are such that the annual snowfall exceeds annual snow melt (solid to liquid) and snow ablation (solid changing directly to vapour). As the snow accumulates its weight compresses the lower layers into ice which “flows” slowly downhill as a glacier, scouring and plucking rocks from the ground beneath it. Where the slope increases the differential movement within the ice causes tension and shearing which eventually cause cracks and splits in the surface called crevasses.
These may be transverse (i.e. they lie across the glacier), longitudinal (parallel to the direction of flow), splaying (which start longitudinally but splay towards the side) or chevron (where the ice margins have been rotated or twisted).
If there are not many crevasses and the slope is gentle, glaciers make ideal ‘highways’ by which to walk up into the heart of mountain ranges, providing the climbers stay away from the sides of the glacier to avoid being avalanched on from above by snow falling down the steep mountainsides. However, where the slope increases markedly, crevasses intersect in all directions causing an icefall, which is a confused labyrinth of deep clefts and isolated ice pinnacles called séracs. Climbers try to avoid such situations for a sérac can topple and send immense amounts of ice crashing down at any time of day or night if the glacier shifts. They are most likely to fall during the day, however, because melting is also a factor. The great British climber Ian Clough was killed by one such ice avalanche on Annapurna in 1970 and 2 years later a similar ice-tower collapse in the Western Cwm killed the Australian climber Tony Tighe on an expedition to climb Everest from the Nepal side. As Chris Bonnington says in his book ‘Mountaineer’: “It could have happened to any one of us – such is the cruel Russian roulette of the Khumbu Ice-fall where it is impossible to guarantee a safe route.”
Back in May 1921, the kingdom of Nepal was closed to climbers and a British expedition led by Howard Bury set off to try and find a way to climb Everest from the Tibet side. They were not having much success as most of the valleys on the northern side of the mountain ended in sheer (they thought unclimbable) faces or were filled with impassable icefalls and séracs. However, in September 1921 George Mallory, Guy Bullock and 3 Sherpas discovered a route free from séracs, along a moraine on the East Rongbuk Glacier that led fairly easily to a cold wind-blasted campsite below the N.E. ridge. On 19th September they reached the North Col and from this height (22,916ft) could see the long rock and snow slopes of the North Face. They could go no further that year but the vast majority of expeditions since then have used Mallory’s “magic highway” up the East Rongbuk to get to Everest or Lhakpa Ri (a summit attainable by ordinary mortals)
The séracs on the East Rongbuk Glacier seem to be very eroded, more vertical and perhaps more stable than in the Western Cwm, which is one of the reason I chose to visit the Everest region from the north with Adventure Peaks. The Earthcache co-ordinates are for our penultimate campsite which was situated in an area surrounded by weird and impressive séracs. We were lucky with the weather and 3 of us and 2 Sherpas managed to reach the summit of Lhakpa Ri (23,035ft approx) on 21st September 2006. Unfortunately 2 days of heavy snowfall followed, which prevented other expeditions from even setting out to make a summit bid. It also prevented me from attempting to follow in Mallory’s footsteps up onto the North Col.
To claim this Earthcache you need to e mail me with your estimate of the height of an average East Rongbuk sérac, also including your proper name and which expedition you were part of. Please don’t be afraid to ‘bullshit’ and post a photo of yourself on the Magic Highway with some of the séracs in your log! There is quite a bit of rotting debris and material to be found near some of the campsites on the glacier so any ‘tidying’ and clearing that geocachers might be able to do would be a bonus – the yaks will carry it down, not you.
P.S. Don’t go away with the impression that the Magic Highway is an easy footpath! Yaks are ferrying loads up and down it most days but it is still incredibly rough. It took me 10 hours to make the 10 mile descent from Advance Base Camp to the main Everest Base Camp, which includes an overall drop in altitude of around 3,000 feet.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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