Everest...

[Subbarao Kambhampati <rao@asu.edu>]

        

Regarding the unexpected detour on Everest (and Indian plate pushing
under the Asian plate) yesterday--
you might be interested to know that for a while in 1997, people thought
that the peak K2 in western Himalaya (in
the Karakoram range in Pakistan) is actually taller than Everest. This
was arrived at by taking a GPS instrument 
to the peak of K2 and using satellite info to measure its height.
However, subsequent more careful measurements
showed that Everest is indeed still the tallest (and is growing at a
slightly higher rate than K2 to boot). 

There is really neat NOVA program called "Taller than
Everest"  (
http://scolar.vsc.edu:8003/VSCCAT/ABV-8008;
I have a copy )
that tells the story of how the original measurements were made by an
indian survery worker in early 20th century, and 
how the more detailed measurements were made in 1999 (and how accurate
the original trigonometric measurements from 
100 miles away were). 

I am no climber (I get queasy walking on scree on Kaibab trail!), but I
read that K2 is considered a much harder mountain to climb than
Everest. In fact climbing the 2nd tallest mountain on each continent is
considered to be much harder than climbing the tallest mountain
on each continent.. 

Anyways...

Rao




---------

NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is
surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are
fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are
fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical
devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons....
Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come
in again.

    --Monty Python (Spanish Inquisition)
     
http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/paulfitz/spanish/script.html