 In
the past few installments of the ExplorersWeb Everest technology series, the
focus was on past technology and capabilities. In this last installment the
focus is the present and the future of Everest tech.
Paradigm shift in mountaineering communication
 This
past week, Krzysztof Wielicki, expedition leader for a winter K2 team went by
himself up K2 in a huge storm to spend the night at Camp IV.
What would you give to see a short video clip from inside the wind-battered,
frost covered, cold, dark, and freezing tent perched at almost 8000 meters on
the flanks of K2 – while he is in it?
The good news is that right now this is entirely possible - the bad news is that
Krzysztof doesn’t have the setup and we have to wait until his return down the
mountain to see his pictures. This spring, the Contact 2.0 communication package
will enable climbers for the first time ever to send live pictures and video
clips from all high camps and even the summit of Everest.
Above the icefall, below step two, in the death-zone - live pics, uncensored and
straight from the hand of the Everest hero! Imagine that. This new technology
marks a paradigm shift in Everest and mountaineering communication.
The new technology and small, lightweight communication package has already been
used on mountains, oceans, and most importantly both North and South Pole
unsupported expeditions for the world’s first live, daily pics and dispatches
from such treks.
High capability, low cost, and low weight
The Everest package consists of a Compaq PDA with the Contact 2.0 software, a
hand held Thuraya satellite phone, and a Sony digital camera equipped with MPG
video capability. The whole setup weighs only 700 grams and costs $3000. The
Thuraya phone, which is relatively new to the Everest scene boasts a 9.6k data
transfer rate, making the video and picture dispatches 3 times quicker than with
the Iridium phone, the Contact 2.0 software in turn increasing transmission
speed up to 40%.
First Live summit video to the western world?
Many teams this year will also be bringing along technology to do live video
from the summit. From information ExplorersWeb has received, Russian, Belgium,
American, UK, and French teams all have said that they are going to attempt a
live summit telecast. Only two of these have been forthcoming with more detail
about what they are going to do.
The American Global Extremes Toyota Everest expedition plans on doing live video
from several different parts of the mountain including the summit. What
technology they will be using is uncertain, but the summit attempt and live
coverage is slated to air live on American television. To enable live video from
the route as well as the summit, repeaters positioned on the mountain will be
used to transmit around obstacles and down to base camp where the video will be
up linked to the satellite.
And how about live on your mobile?
The UK Royal Marines are also planning on doing a live transmission from the
summit. They’ll transmit their video signal directly down to base camp. Signal
repeaters are not necessary since there is a direct line of sight, but the
transmitter needs to be strong enough to get the signal more than the 13-mile
distance.
The transmitting unit also contains the camera – making it very small and
lightweight. A small lithium rechargeable battery will power the integrated
transmitter and small 3-chip camera. The whole unit will most likely be under a
kilo and is designed to be very simple to operate. Just plug it in, aim the
antenna, and that is it. From base camp the team is arranging to uplink and
broadcast live to the Internet and possibly television. There are also plans in
the works to transmit directly to mobile phones like Sony Ericsson’s new P800!
You'll know the pioneer by the arrows in his back!
We hope that all the teams who try to transmit live video from the summit are
successful, but history shows that high tech on Everest is a tremendously
challenging task. Success or not, all teams deserve great respect for pioneering
edge technology in some of the worlds most extreme conditions.
But let us not forget the road to the summit. In some ways, just tuning into
live summit video is akin to reading the last pages of a novel, or watching
Rocky’s last-minute knockout without following the battle.
The only team on Everest this year that has the ability to transmit uncensored
video clips and pictures throughout the climb and live video from the summit is
the UK Royal Marines. If the setup works, we are all up for an awesome Everest
experience.
What’s next?
Contact 2.0 will include real-time tracking of the climbers on virtual maps
amongst a host of other features. New satellite systems will enable
phone-to-phone multimedia. SMS to your phone from Everest summit is already a
fact, as are SMS weather reports to the climbers in high camps.
Though nothing will ever quite equal the splendor and experience of actually
being on Everest, technology is bringing the armchair warrior and dreamers
around the world closer and closer to the top of the world.
Climbers will increasingly adopt the new communication technology and live
transmissions from all parts of their climbs, and from that the next generation
of reality-shows will arise. Only those reality shows will be very real. No
camera crews, no safety staff, nothing. Just the climber, the web and yourself.
For the first time, we will be able to truly reach deep into the mind of a
lonely human bordering between the realization of an ultimate dream and the
reality of death, as he is waiting to step out into the night for his final
summit push in the Everest death zone. Communication technology will then
perhaps help us come closer to the answer of the most difficult question posed
to adventurers in all history of man. The question of why.
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