Extreme Ice Survey
This week our camp got a little bigger. Adam and Corey from the Extreme Ice Survey are staying with us while they install time lapse cameras and do repeat photography of the Khumbu Ice Fall and other glaciers and peaks in the area. The tag line for the EIS is “seeing is believing” and that makes a lot of sense. With their time lapse photography they have been able to condense several years worth changes in glaciers down to a few minutes of video.
One of their most impressive videos is of a glacier in Iceland. You can watch it melt away in just under three years time. It’s devastating.
They’ve been doing this project for years and have always wanted to come to Mount Everest and the Khumbu Region to film, but lacked the necessary backing. They were spread pretty thin with all the melting glaciers in Greenland, Alaska, Iceland, etc. This year, North Face is helping them capture what’s happening in the Himalayas.
Adam said that normally they’ve been studying high latitude glaciers, but they’ve never done high altitude glaciers. This is mainly because most of the scientific study so far has focused on northern glaciers. On the way up to Base Camp I talked with a few scientists from France who are studying the effects of climate change on the Himalayas at an Italian science station called the Pyramid. (It reminded me of the Dharma Initiative for all you “Lost” fans out there). They said that they just barely got started in 2007.
At least it’s happening now.
I went up with Corey and Adam to install the cameras. They found a nice overhanging of rock with a southern exposure that provides a great view of the entire Khumbu Ice Fall. It’s not easily accessible, but with the help of three great Sherpas we were able to get there with all the necessary equipment. They then drilled into the rock and installed two mounts, along with solar panels and a large battery. One camera will be a wide angle and the other will be a tighter shot of the ice fall through which all south-side Everest climbers must pass.
The cameras will take a photo every half hour when there is sufficient light. Armed with a 32 gigabyte card and solar battery power, they can go for six months before they need to be changed out. Adam said that some of their cameras in other locations have gone as long as one year. So every six months, someone will make the scramble up to the cameras and change out the cards. Then EIS will compile it all after removing bad shots and attempting to smooth out the lighting.
In a year or two, people will be able to see what Apa has been saying for years: that the ice is melting and something needs to be done immediately.
Why should we wait for the film to capture??!!! We all know it..we choose to play a deaf year to nature!!!!! And we will pay very badly for this….
thank you so much for doing such a great job writing the blog. i eagerly look forward to each one. you have done a wonderful job sharing the insights of this expedition. one of the the funniest is about taking off shoes in the monastery and wanting the monk to come around again with the incense because everyones feet were so smelly. this kind of news really puts a human aspect on the trip.
Apa is very dear to Lila and i and we appreciate being able to keep up with the news. please keep those observations coming. if you have an opportunity please tell Apa that we send prayers and good fortune to him and the team and look forward to seeing him and the family upon his return.
Steve
Your blog is absolutely wonderful.