Hell Is Above Us: The Epic Race to the Top of Fumu, the World's Tallest Mountain, Jonathan Bloom [best ebook reader TXT] 📗

Albright would not have the chance to recalibrate again. Local authorities from all affected countries quickly narrowed down the cause of the calamities. The British government sent in the police and had Albright arrested. Formal documents suggest Albright did not put up a fight. He was sent to prison for life although the death penalty had been seriously considered.

When the end came only two years into his sentence, prison guards found Albright resting peacefully on the floor, dead from unknown causes. In his folded hands was clutched the one object they allowed him to bring into prison – a small, wrinkled self-portrait of Katherine.

Albright had been in the middle of building his “off” instruments when he got a letter from India. It was from George Everest, who was finishing up the last measurements of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India. He needed the best theodolite possible, and he needed it quickly. A theodolite is a telescope that moves in measured amounts on both vertical and horizontal axes. The device is perfect for calculating angles such as the corners of a triangle. Some theodolites are small, but the one used on the Great Trigonometric Survey was gigantic - a monstrosity of cast iron and brass, weighing one thousand pounds. It had to be carried across the sub-continent by twelve men. Lambton and then Everest referred to it as “The Great Theodolite.” Because of accidents along the way and general wear and tear, in truth they had used several “Great Theodolites” over the decades, all built by William Cary of England. All but the last one were perfect replicas of each other, massive and meticulous. Then, near the very end of the Survey in 1847, a preposterous disaster occurred.

George Everest was known as one of the most fastidious, detail-oriented, and professional surveyors of all time. But he had also been known for being arrogant, a glory-seeker, and most of all, a harsh employer. Everest would brook no mistakes, no laziness, no disagreement. While situated in Sikkim, waiting for the last measurements of the Survey to be taken, he caught word that several porters and researchers had become ill with malaria. He saw this as a sign of “personal weakness” on the part of the porters and researchers. Their sloth would delay the completion of the Survey, and Everest wanted nothing more than to get back to England. Then the porters died. This was more than Everest could take. He ran out of his tent yelling curses at the top of his lungs. He then picked up a flare used for surveying at night and set it off. But his rage was too great and he did not consider “aiming” at the night sky. The flare found the rump of one of the elephants. The elephant let out a bellow and broke its chain, making a run for the center of Darjeeling. It was before dawn and so no people were hurt. But many structures including permanent market stands were devastated. And most unfortunately for George Everest, this had been the elephant charged that morning with carrying the Great Theodolite, which was already strapped to its back. When Everest’s team found the object, it had apparently been knocked off the back of the beast by a thick magnolia campbellii branch and rolled down a series of stairs descending from a Hindu temple. It was bent far beyond repair.

Everest and his team had just finished measuring the enormous mountain that would later become his namesake. He had had only one patch of Himalaya left to measure – the one that included Fumu. Mail was sent to Albright, who was now considered the best designer of theodolites in the world. Albright wrote back saying he had been building a theodolite already, just as a test case for his new improved process for marking notches. It had been going quite well and he would be happy to give the Survey that one. This would also mean they would have it within only a few short weeks. All they could do was wait.

When it arrived, the team was weary and ready to go home. The measurements were done quickly. Dates on records from the survey at this time fall well before the date of Albright’s arrest. We can only assume Everest heard about it through the mail. Perhaps the fatigue was so great and the urge to be done so overwhelming they decided to ignore the facts. Who would really ever know or even care? Those mountains they were measuring were in the heart of Nepal, a place where no outsider was permitted. Their height would remain irrelevant. The team packed up and returned to England. After nearly half a century, the Great Trigonometric Survey of India was complete. The mountain named H24 would remain of little interest for a long time to come. It wouldn’t be until the end of the 1880’s when a handful of risk-taking European expeditions chose to enter Nepal illegally that Fumu began to take on its status among the climbing community as a greater challenge than either Everest or K2.

The first known expedition to Fumu was led by George Malick in 1881. He had heard rumors Mount Everest was the tallest mountain in the world, but had also heard it could be “climbed by the Queen in a fit of somnambulism” from fellow climbers. Put another way, the mountain was tall but not challenging enough. It is true Everest’s vertical rise is not very impressive. Most of its height comes from resting atop the Tibetan Plateau, like an average-sized child sitting on the shoulders of his exceptionally tall father. Malick wanted a challenge that would make England proud, so he picked the hardest mountain he could find.

He lost half of his team just getting over the Qila Pass and another quarter getting above the scree. The remainder of the team did surprisingly well given there was no precedent for what they were doing. Their ascent