Chapter 411 Acquaintance
After struggling to reach Camp No. 1, Bifang blew out cold mist from his mouth and stared at the sun with squinted eyes. Then he rolled up his sleeves to check the time and exhaled.
"Eleven thirty-seven, not bad, we didn't miss lunch."
Starting at two in the morning, it took nearly ten hours to reach Camp One. The entire Khumbu Glacier seemed to have only risen a few hundred meters in altitude, but the actual distance traveled was more than fourteen kilometers, a true "long journey."
There were countless cracks of varying sizes, and Bifang had to pass through seventeen of them using the aluminum ladder alone. Now, they had finally reached Camp No. 1.
Standing on this huge platform, the view is very good. Bifang expanded his lungs and took a deep breath. Although the air here is fresh, it is definitely not pleasant to breathe because the oxygen content you can absorb is too low.
Standing at the entrance of the camp, Bifang could see the height of all the mountains. At this time, his altitude was only 6,000 meters, but the surrounding mountains were almost all over 8,000 meters high.
Holding the drone that couldn't fly, Bifang shook his trekking pole and pointed it into the distance.
"Today the weather is good and the mountain fog is not very heavy. We can see clearly that from left to right there are four peaks over 8,000 meters, Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu. The peak that is visible above the fog is Everest. The large grey area below the mountain is the huge Gozomba Glacier, and the white area below is the frozen Gokyu Third Lake."
The mountains were so majestic that the audience was at a loss for words. After holding it in for a long time, they could only type a lot of "wow" in the live broadcast room to express their shock.
"There are only fourteen mountains on Earth that are over 8,000 meters above sea level, ten of which are in the Himalayas and the other four are in the Karakoram Mountains."
[Himalaya is still a card]
[Ten, but aren’t there a lot of hills next to it? Doesn’t that count? ]
Many viewers saw the Cho Oyu Peak pointed out by Bifang, which is the shortest of the four peaks. However, above it, there are pointed peaks that are taller than it, so there are more than four peaks in total.
Bifang shook his head. "Those are satellite peaks or forepeaks. Generally speaking, they don't count. In geography, the highest peak in a mountain range is the main peak. A solitary mountain is an independent peak. The ones that are relatively close to an independent peak and are in a 'guarding position' are satellite peaks and forepeaks. Those that are higher than Cho Oyu are just satellite peaks of other peaks. Although they are also over 8,000 meters, they are not counted."
"Of course, what I just said is not accurate. The accurate description should be a group of mountains with a height of more than 8,000 meters above sea level. In fact, there are more than 14 mountains on Earth with a height of more than 8,000 meters above sea level. Most of the main peaks are surrounded by multiple satellite peaks with a height of more than 8,000 meters."
As the name suggests, a peak group is a "collection" of an independent peak and all its satellite peaks... The concept of the main peak is easy to understand, for example Mount Everest is the main peak of the Himalayas.
But what does it mean to be "lonely"? Where are there "lonely" peaks in the vast Himalayas? How close is "relatively close"? ... These concepts are qualitative rather than quantitative, and the definitions are not clear, which makes the "identity" certification standards of 8,000-meter peaks also unclear.
Where does this standard come from?
The audience was puzzled. Where did this unified number of 14 seats come from?
"That's because in the more than 100 years since the rise of mountaineering, only the British military surveying team had conducted systematic measurements on these mountains, so their idea of '14 peaks' was preconceived and later unanimously recognized by mountaineers. Mountaineers also concluded based on practical experience that these '14 peaks' are actually the highest peaks in the 14 8,000-meter-high peaks group, that is, independent peaks. Around the independent peaks, even if the altitude is over 8,000 meters, they are satellite peaks."
[Is Lao Fang also a mountaineer now? (dog head)]
Bifang was amused, and neither admitted nor denied it: "After I reach the summit of Mount Everest alone without oxygen, you can call me that."
Although he has not achieved any specific achievements in mountaineering, Bifang has a place in the mountaineering world just by climbing to the summit of Mount Everest without oxygen, not to mention climbing to the summit alone without oxygen, with the double buff blessing. There are no more than two hands who have achieved this in the entire history of climbing Mount Everest.
If this doesn't make you a mountaineer, then most of the people who call themselves mountaineers should commit suicide out of shame.
Awesome!
The audience didn’t understand all the twists and turns, but at this moment they only had this one thought in their minds.
[Climbing alone is an invincible path, why would you need to borrow an oxygen tank? 】
[When Mr. Ma retired from the literary world, I was the first one to disagree.]
[There is one more identity authentication. Is there anyone who can count how many identities Lao Fang has? 】
[Mathematician, chemist, physicist, biologist, mountaineer, adventurer... the fewer will be added later]
[Architect, pilot, astronomer (dog head)]
"They all know a little bit, how can they be called experts? Please don't flatter them too much." Bifang waved her hands, making the audience laugh.
Without staying too long at the camp entrance, Bifang planned to continue climbing after resting at Camp No. 1.
"I will rest here, replenish my energy, and recover my strength, and then continue climbing. After crossing the Khumbu Glacier, the danger of the road ahead will be much lower. We only need to go up 400 meters to reach Camp II. The journey is about five kilometers, but the danger is much less than that of the Khumbu Glacier. For this reason, we don't need to set off in the middle of the night."
Entering Base Camp No. 1 at this time, the audience can clearly see that a corner in the southeast direction has been completely submerged in snow, with several colorful tents on the edge, which was also affected by the avalanche.
At this time, there were still people staying here, mourning their dead companions, and packing up to go back.
This is undoubtedly a depressing atmosphere. After coming here, not only did he fail to realize his dream, but he also lost his life.
According to the sign on the tent, Bifang came to the permanent tent originally prepared by the guide company.
As a formal guide company, there is not just one guide, Rob, but many of them. These people need a place to stay when they come to the base camp. The company will naturally prepare the camp and supplies every quarter, and because of the strong winds on Mount Everest, the camp has to be renovated almost every year.
When I opened the curtain, a wave of hot air hit me in the face. The temperature inside the tent was much higher than outside.
"The weather is really good today. The tent is warm in the sun, but the wind is a bit strong. Now we need to drink as much water as possible and eat something. I will take a nap for about an hour and a half and use a complete sleep cycle to restore my energy."
At this time, the tent was empty, but some supplies were left behind. Bifang unpacked the fuel, then used a lighter to light the stove, preparing to cook something to eat.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, a burst of shouting came from outside the tent.
"Is Mr. Bi in there?"
