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Question
The soft snow was difficult and dangerous. Why?
Solution
The soft snow made a route on top of the ridge both dangerous and difficult. Sometimes it held Hillary’s weight. But often it gave way suddenly. Thus it was dangerous for the climbers. But both persisted and trudged ahead for 400 feet and reached the southern summit.
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Para 4
Tenzing kicked steps in a long
traverse back towards the ridge, and we
reached its crest where it forms a great
snow bump at about 28000 feet. From
here the ridge narrowed to a knife-edge
and, as my feet were now warm, I took
over the lead.
Para 5
The soft snow made a route on top
of the ridge both difficult and dangerous,
which sometimes held my weight but often
gave way suddenly. After several hundred
feet, we came to a tiny hollow and found
there the two oxygen bottles left on the
an earlier attempt by Evans and Bourdillon.
I scraped the ice off the gauges and was
relieved to find that they still contained
several hundred liters of oxygen-enough
to get us down to the South Col if used sparingly
Para 6
I continued making the trail on up
the ridge, leading up for the last 400 feet
to the southern summit. The snow on this
the face was dangerous, but we persisted in
our efforts to beat a trail up it.
We made frequent changes of
lead. As I was stamping a trail in the deep
snow, a section around me gave way and
Para 7
I slipped back through three or four of
my steps. I discussed with Tenzing the
the advisability of going on, and he, although
admitting that he felt unhappy about the
snow conditions, and finished with his
the familiar phrase “Just as you wish”.
Para 8
I decided to go on, and we finally
reached firmer snow higher up, and then
chipped steps up the last steep slopes and
crampon onto the South Peak. It was now 9 a.m.
Give an account of the journey to the South Col from 28,000 feet. (Para 4 to 8)
Para 18
My first feelings were of relief–
relief that there were no more steps to
cut, no more ridges to traverse, and no
more humps to tantalize us with hopes
of success. I looked at Tenzing. In spite of
the balaclava helmet, goggles, and oxygen
mask – all encrusted with long icicles–that
concealed his face, there was no disguising
his grin of delight as he looked all around
him. We shook hands, and then Tenzing
threw his arm around my shoulders and
we thumped each other on the back until
we were almost breathless. It was 11.30
a.m. The ridge had taken us two and a
half hours, but it seemed like a lifetime
To the east was our giant
Describe the feelings of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing as they reached the top of the Summit. (Para 18)
