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 Yak Express/Smoke signals/TelegraphIn 1953 the telegraph was used to get word out that Everest had been summited for the first time. It took four days for news about Hillary and Tenzing’s summit to reach England. A runner carried the message over 200 miles to the nearest cable where the news was sent via telegraph. There were some other ideas that were tossed around before the runner/cable technique was chosen, smoke signals, messenger pigeons, floating news down a river, and even telepathy were all thoughts, albeit some more farfetched than others. Phone in a suitcase The speed at which information from Everest reaches the outside world has drastically improved since. Satellite phones and the Internet have revolutionized communication on Everest. A satellite phone communicates with satellites orbiting above the earth that relay the signal to terminals on the ground. There are several options of satellite phones that expeditions can use on Everest. In 1985, Inmarsat offered a portable 2-suitcase satellite phone system. In 1989, they got it down to 1 suitcase. Inmarsats have traditionally offered the only data connection and are today the size of a small laptop computer. Iridium a.k.a Dysprosium? Iridium emerged later on into the 90’s and put satellite communication in the palm of your hands with a handheld unit. Being a low orbit satellite system, Iridium initially performed poorly on Everest Base Camp, obstructed by the high walls of the surrounding mountains. That connection flaw has improved, and Iridium is today the only truly global satellite phone system, covering also the Polar Regions on earth. Iridium got its name from the amount of satellites that were planned on being put in orbit – 77. On the periodic table of elements, 77 is the number of the compound Iridium. This sounded pretty cool they thought. Due to budget issues and bankruptcies, only 66 Iridium satellite are up there today – corporate officials decided to stick with Iridium and not change the name to Dysprosium, the 66th element. Asia and the Middle East arrives The most recent addition to the handheld market originates from the United Arab Emirates. Thuraya’s phone is smaller than the Iridium and has a data rate of 9.6k versus the Iridium’s 2.4k. The system is available in Europe, parts of Russia, the Middle East, parts of Africa/Asia, and most important to 8000-meter climbers, all of the Himalayas and Karakorum. Calls can be made and received to or from anywhere in the world as long as the phone is within Thuraya’s coverage area. You can’t use the phone’s satellite system in places like Australia or the America’s – it does, however offer GSM capabilities that will work with some cellular phone networks. The Thuraya-1 was launched was launched in 2000 and should have been joined by Thuraya-2 last month – there is no word if it flew or not though. The initial satellite has a proposed life span of 12 to 15 years and the second unit boasts more power for a longer operating life. The satellites are each able to handle up to 13,750 simultaneous calls. Boeing was contracted out to build the satellites and is set to build Thuraya-3 which does not have a proposed launch date as of yet, but could be used to expand coverage in the future. The launch of Thuraya-1 set the record for the heaviest satellite launch at the time. An Asian satellite system called ACeS (Asia Cellular Satellite) provides coverage from Pakistan and India in the west, to the Philippines in the east, and from Japan and China in the north down to Indonesia in the south. ACeS was used on Everest in spring 2001, K2 in summer 2000, and reportedly worked well. ACeS offers the world’s smallest satellite phone, an Ericsson R190 at only 210 grams and a data rate of 2.4k. Like the Thuraya, the Ericsson handset also has GSM capabilities. Satellite phones and terminals used together with computers enable emails and pictures to be sent out from Everest and posted on the web. In the nineties, some teams even brought desktop computers to base camp to do this. Small, lightweight, laptops have since become the computer of choice. Summit to Base Camp, over! To feed all these electronics expeditions need to bring power solutions. Solar cells, generators, and batteries are all used today to power expeditions. Emerging technologies like fuel cells may start to be implemented in Everest for their small size, quiet operation, and environmental friendliness. These devices take hydrogen gas and turn it into electricity and warm water. Another piece of Everest technology that the teams use for communication on the mountain are radios, or walkie-talkies. Early devices were used on Everest in 1953 when climbers had boxes that hung around their necks with tubes to speak into. Radio devices enable short-range communication on the mountain. Today the units are handheld and information can be radioed from just about anywhere on the mountain to anywhere on the mountain. Radios manually held up against a satellite phone allowed Rob Hall to speak a few last words to his wife when he was caught high up on Everest during the storm in 1996. 1996, First news story to break over Internet In the past, newspapers, magazines, journals, and sometimes TV were typically where people went to find out about the latest expeditions. In 1996, this all changed as the tragic events on Everest unfolded over the internet – marking the first time a major news story broke over the then new medium. Ingenuity and technology have brought Everest closer to the armchair warriors and dreamers’ back at home. Tomorrow ExplorersWeb looks more closely at the challenges of communicating live from the upper reaches of Everest. Resources: More information on adventure technology and satellite phones...
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