Summit Science
Measuring the world's biggest mountain

	Wally Berg on the South Col (26,300') with GPS gear in '97
	MORE ON SCIENCE THE PLAN FOR '98 Expedition scientist, Dave Mencin, lays out what the '98 team will attempt to do on the summit. BRAD WASHBURN INTERVIEW SERIES Streaming video interview with legendary mountain geographer, Brad Washburn, who is behind the '98 project. BRAD WASHBURN INTERVIEW 1997 Audio and transcript on the attempt to do summit science in 1997.

Science on Everest
Charles Corfield, Science Manager for the 1998 American Everest Expedition, said the scientific work the climbers hope to accomplish on or near the summit of Mount Everest is aimed at learning if the mountain is moving, and where the actual bedrock ends and the snow begins.

To determine if tectonic motion is pushing the mountain up, down, sideways or not at all, the climbers will attempt to fix a stainless steel plate to a large rock just below the summit. The plate holds a threaded post on which a GPS receiver and antenna can be mounted. When the Trimble 4800 GPS receiver is switched on, it can establish the location of that rock within a few millimeters. The challenge for the climbers is the time consuming work of drilling holes in solid rock in the extreme conditions near the summit.

On the summit itself, the climbers will attempt to locate where the snow ends and the rock begins by using coring equipment to auger down through the snow layers. It is hoped they can core deeply enough to strike bedrock, but they concede that the rock may lie too deeply buried to be found in this primitive manner. The drilling and coring will expose the climbers to dangerous conditions of the summit for an extended period of time, increasing the difficulty and danger of their summit day.

SUMMIT SCIENCE