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dated December 31, 1952: How Everest defied the Swiss

In an interview to the New Delhi correspondent of The Times of London, Dr. Gabriel Chevalley, who led the Swiss expedition to Mount Everest, said the team had reached 26,575 feet on the mountain, and could climb no further. He disagreed that if they had remained on the mountain for another fortnight there could have been a better result. There was no evidence, he said, that the wind which caused the cold to increase steadily, might abate. November 20 was nearly the limit of time when it was worth-while to remain on the mountain in the hope of being able to make the final assault. When they had last seen Everest from a distance of about 12 miles on their way back, white snow plumes swirled about the upper part of the mountain showing that the winds were blowing as strongly as ever. This was five days after their withdrawal and in weather that was perfect where they were standing. As a result of their experiences in their last two expeditions, Dr. Chevalley and M. Lambert felt that cold was an important, but not the decisive, factor in attempting to climb the world's highest peak. "The problem of Everest lies above Camp Five at the upper eastern end of the Western Cwm. From there onwards, wind is likely to be the decisive factor for, even in good summer weather, there are more days with troublesome winds than without," they said. Referring to earlier hopes that the southern route to the Everest through the Cwm might provide greater protection against winds than the northern route through Tibet, they said the Cwm was only relatively better protected. Snow conditions were not a decisive factor in either spring or autumn though they could exercise a slowing influence.

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