A taste of Mount Everest

Lewis Cassar

Mar 9th 2010, 00:24

@ Peter Mamo
I have no interest in exaggerating anything, but I do admit an error in my previous comment. The -80C experienced in the Canadian north is with windschield factor and has been quite common in January and February, though in recent years global warming is helping somewhat!
The -42C I experienced is without windschield in Edmonton, Alberta.


@Jo Cremona
My comment was intended merely to give some insight into what real cold feels like.
Good Luck to your team and may they succeed in their endeavour.

Charles Said-vassallo

Mar 7th 2010, 10:22

A year or two ago, one of Maltese birth and son and his wife did the journey up Mount Everest. I wonder how many other Maltese or descendants have. These mentioned above reside in the UK.

Anthony Buttigieg

Mar 7th 2010, 10:15

@laurence schembri
It was an Englishman, George Mallory, being interviewed in the USA before undertaking his final fatal attempt to climb Everest in 1924. There is still some speculation that he may actually have succeeded but died after a fall on the descent. His body was finally found in 1999 and still lies where he fell.
Anthony Buttigieg

victor pulis

Mar 7th 2010, 09:16

a Canadian will tell you then if you pee outside in the bush at these temperatures your pee will freeze before it hits the ground!
Besides the perils you may face if you try to do it at that temperature!! frostbite strikes at the etremities first.

victor pulis

Mar 7th 2010, 09:12

At -80 degrees words freeze as soon as they are said and one has to wait until Spring to hear what has been said...Really!!

laurence schembri

Mar 7th 2010, 08:30

I can`t remember the name, but it must have been Sir Edmund Hilary, when asked "Why do you do it"....because "it`s there" came the answer. Good luck and God be with you.

Peter Mamo

Mar 6th 2010, 22:16

@ Lewis Cassar
Hawn min jaggibha!!! The coldest temperature ever recorded in the western hemisphere was -66 degrees centigrade at the Northice Research Station in the middle of the Greenland Ice Sheet on January 9th, 1954. The coldest city in the world is Yakutia in Siberia where the January daytime average is around -50 degrees centigrade. The coldest temperature ever recorded in a habitable place was -72 degrees centigrade. The place was Verhoyansk in Siberia with a population of about 1300. There is another nearby town which claims an unofficial worls record for an inhabited place of -78 degrees centigrade, but this has not yet been unofficially recognised. The place is called Oymyakon. As far as has been recorded the coldest temperature ever reached on earth was on the 21 July 1983 at the (Russian) Vostok station in Antartica. That was -89.2 degrees centigrade. So claiming a frequent temperature of -80 degrees centigrade may just be a slight exageration!

Jo Cremona

Mar 6th 2010, 20:17

@Lewis Cassar
With ref to your comments and to reassure anyone who is considering trying out the blast freezer experience: a no of people today did experience the 10min in the freezer with no ill effects whatsoever. Furthermore please note that the Challenge8000 team members who will be spending tonight in the blast freezer at -45deg have already done so ( again without ill effects and without the breathing appartus you speak of but wearing the right expedition gear) prior to their ChoOyu expedition in September last year. As one of the coordinators of Everest 24/8000 I would like to encourage anyone wishing to experience this taste of Everest to take up this rare opportunity tomorrow from 9am-1pm at Dewfresh, Marsa.

Lewis Cassar

Mar 6th 2010, 18:48

We frequently experience temperatures as low as -80 C in the Canadian North. The coldest I have experienced personally is -42 C. Both of these are without windschield factors which would otherwise make the temperature far worse. I have done winter survival camps sleeping in the snow down to a max of -25C, so I can take a little chill.
Even if you are used to cold weather and are wearing proper heavy duty gear, you can only
last about 10 minutes outside at -80 and about 20 -25 minutes at -42. The problem is that you are breathing extremely cold air which will freeze your lungs and you will experience hypothermia quickly. It is no joke when a Canadian will tell you then if you pee outside in the bush at these temperatures your pee will freeze before it hits the ground!

So spend 10 minutes at -45 and have fun if you can stand it that long - it is unlikely to cause any harm except perhaps frostbite, which be warned, can be very painful on exposed skin. But for anyone contemplating at sleeping all night at -45 they must be crazy unless they have insulated breathing equipment.

G. Attard

Mar 6th 2010, 17:36

10 minutes in a -45C blast freezer?! Actually sounds like fun! Might go and give it whirl!!