Everest explorer Kenton enthralls Arran audience

Kenton Cool, who has climbed Mount Everest 17 times, captivated an Arran audience with his talk, Everest: The Untold Story, at the Lamlash community theatre last Friday.

 

The inspiring and informative talk was described by Mark Wickstead of the Arran Mountain Festival as “high octane, fast paced and a thoroughly entertaining event”. Here, Mark provides his review of the event:

 

Kenton warned us it was going to be a rapid journey spanning millions of years. In the first half the world leading mountaineer, who studied geology at university, explained the formation of Mt Everest and the Himalayas, before describing the incredible mathematical and logistical feat of the 1850s Survey of India that established its height. Amazingly, this survey, involving intrepid expeditions, hundreds of people and heavy equipment, calculated the height to within a few feet of its currently accepted elevation of 29,029ft (8,849m).

 

It was not until the 1920s that serious attempts to climb Mt Everest started and Kenton paid tribute to theses early heroic expeditions. He also provided an, at times very amusing, insight into the characters, politics, equipment and clothing of the day. Many of us know of the Mallory and Irvine summit attempt in 1924 and the mystery of whether they got to the summit before disappearing. But this, and other climbs of the era, laid the foundations for post war expeditions and culminated in the first successful ascent by Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay in1953. The vital role played by the Sherpa guides and porters in the success of this, and most subsequent expeditions to Everest, was a key point Kenton stressed throughout the talk.

 

Kenton’s passionate, encyclopaedic knowledge and love of the subject at times left him breathless but before taking a break he announced the launch of Arran Mountain Festival’s Mountain Leader Scheme which he enthusiastically endorsed and to which he donated a portion of his book sales from the evening.

 

The pace of the second half did not flag (remember this man has been up Everest 17 times!) as he described the growth in the number of expeditions from many different nations during the 1960s and 1970s. This period saw huge developments in climbing technology and equipment and a move away from big “siege style” expeditions to smaller, lighter “Alpine Style” climbing. The Famous 1975 SW Face expedition led by Chris Bonnington was recounted in the book Everest the Hard Way which a young Kenton Cool read cover to cover several times and which ignited his lifelong passion with mountains and mountaineering.

 

One of the most incredible stories of the night was of the descent from the South Col of Everest by Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura in 1970. Kenton, who has skied down 8,000m peaks himself, could hardly contain his excitement and admiration for this feat of utter daring which involved the use – or rather intended use - of a parachute to slow Miura as he plummeted down near-vertical slopes. Miura survived even though the parachute idea didn’t work, and years later went on to climb Everest again, aged 80.

 

However, the climb that Kenton regards as the greatest of all is Reinhold Messner’s solo ascent in 1980, unaided and without supplemental oxygen. Two years earlier he and Peter Habeler had completed the first Everest ascent without oxygen. The photo of them from the late ‘70s with their long hair, dark glasses and fashionable climbing attire made them look like rock stars - and Mr Cool admitted he envied the look!

 

Bringing things up to present day, the growth in the number of people climbing Everest and the development of the guided expeditions market, often aimed at less experienced mountaineers, were addressed by Kenton. Uncomfortable safety, ethical and environmental issues have been well publicised by photos of climbers queuing to summit and abandoned climbing kit at camps together with reports of the number deaths on the mountain. He threw some light on these issues and the reasons they occur while acknowledging and being honest about the conflicts he faces as a climber who makes a living from guiding while having deep concerns for the mountain.

 

Finally, by the way, his name really is Cool, the family name Kuhle being anglicised by his half-German grandfather in WWII. In a final laugh at himself Kenton amusingly told how, thinking he must have the best name in mountaineering, he met his match when he bumped into a Japanese climber on Everest called Hero!

 

 

"attachment_1015177" "" "300"] Kenton captivates the audience with his knowledgeable talk on Mount Everest. Photograph: Kirstie Smith A Focus for Adventure.

 

Mountain guide and Everest explorer Kenton Cool with the Arran Mountain Festival team. Photograph: Mark Wickstead. No_B35Kenton01_23_Kenton_Cool_talk

 

Kenton captivates the audience with his knowledgeable talk on Mount Everest. Photograph: Kirstie Smith A Focus for Adventure. No_B35Kenton02_23_Everest_untold_story