Leading Expedition Team Attempts to Solve One of Mountaineering's Greatest Mysteries: Did Mallory and Irvine Reach the Top of Mount Everest First?Business/High-Tech Editors SEATTLE & MOUNT EVEREST--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2001 ZAAZ-built Website to Document Daily Journey with Dispatches ZAAZ, a leading independent Seattle-based Internet design and technology provider, has launched the official website covering the 2001 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition The goal of the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition of 1999 was to discover evidence of whether George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had been the first to summit Mt. Everest in their ill-fated attempt of 8-9 June 1924. on Mount Everest. The site is live at www.MountainGuides.com. Two years ago, expedition leader Eric Simonson led the team that found George Leigh Mallory's body just below the top of Mount Everest. Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine's 1924 summit attempt and disappearance on Mount Everest remains one of mountaineering's greatest mysteries: Were they the first to reach the top of the world's highest mountain? Or was it Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (born May 15, 1914, Tshechu, Tibet [now Tibet Autonomous Region, China]—died May 9, 1986, Darjeeling [now Darjiling], India) Tibetan Sherpa mountaineer. in 1953? The website, designed and developed by ZAAZ, will feature daily dispatches from Simonson and the International Mountain Guides team as it searches for artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. , including the camera and the film the British climbers This list of climbers includes both mountaineers and rock climbers, since many (though not all) climbers engage in both types of activities. The list also includes boulderers and ice climbers. carried on their ill-fated attempt. If recoverable, organizers hope the film may show images identifying the elevation achieved by Mallory and Irvine. Eastman Kodak has provided technical advice on the handling of the camera and film and has agreed to help develop the film if it is found. "What Mallory and Irvine had the vision to try to accomplish has been an inspiration to me and the other members of this team for most of our lives," Simonson said. "We can see no better path than to try to put answers to the questions and give these brave early climbers the fullest credit possible for their accomplishments. They deserve the best effort that can be put forth to unveil their lost story, their untold truth. We believe they would have wanted the world to know it, fully." The expedition team is recording video and audio material and shooting still photos to be posted regularly on the website. They will transmit the information from their base camp to International Mountain Guides headquarters in Ashford, Wash., via satellite telephones and the Internet. "Visitors to the website may be able to watch history unfold," said ZAAZ producer Laurel Harkness. "The web gives audiences real-time access to news coming off the mountain. It gives them a crack at the real story, not just a retelling re·tell·ing n. A new account or an adaptation of a story: a retelling of a Roman myth. ." The 2001 team plans to retrace Mallory and Irvine's footsteps on the mountain. Climbers will hunt for artifacts -- tents, oxygen cylinders, diaries and the Kodak Vestpocket Model B camera that Irvine was believed to have carried -- to reconstruct the events of the early climbs. The team also will attempt to relocate the 1924 and 1933 camps. This year's expedition, which began in March, has already been fruitful. The team has found the advanced base camp for Mallory's 1922 Mount Everest expedition, the first attempt to the summit. The 2001 expedition team members are: expedition leader Eric Simonson of Ashford, Wash., search climbers Dave Hahn Dave George Hahn (born September, 1959 Chicago, Illinois) is a musician of the Americana, Acoustic, Folk/Rock, Retro, Alternative Country, Kitchen-Sink Genre. Based in Park City, Utah. Some prominent reviews/descriptions of Hahn are as follows. of Taos, N.M., Jake Norton of Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, city (1990 pop. 281,140), seat of El Paso co., central Colo., on Monument and Fountain creeks, at the foot of Pikes Peak; inc. 1886. It is a year-round resort and a booming military, technological, and commercial city. , Colo., Andy Politz of Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital and the largest city of the American state of Ohio. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. , Tap Richards of Seattle, Wash., Brent Okita of Enumclaw, Wash., and John Race of Leavenworth, Wash.; historians Jochen Hemmleb of Schonau am Konigssee near the German-Austrian border and Larry Johnson of Gettysburg, Pa; and expedition doctor Lee Meyers of Harrisburg, Mo. In 1999, Simonson and his team found Mallory's remains just 2,000 feet below the summit. They also found an altimeter altimeter (ăltĭm`ĭtər, ăl`tĭmē'tər), device for measuring altitude. The most common type is an aneroid barometer calibrated to show the drop in atmospheric pressure in terms of linear elevation as an airplane, , climbing goggles goggles, n the protective eyewear worn by dental personnel and patients during dental procedures. goggles see periocular leukotrichia. , personal notes and letters, a wristwatch, matches and a pocketknife. About International Mountain Guides Based in Ashford, Wash., International Mountain Guides contributes all logistical support for the expedition, including base camp facilities, communications systems, and upper mountain route and camp placements. International Mountain Guides, founded in 1975, is one of the oldest and most respected guide services in the world today. IMG IMG International medical graduate, see there partners Eric Simonson, Phil Ershler and George Dunn are AMGA Am·ga A river rising in eastern Russia and flowing about 1,287 km (800 mi) generally northeast to the Aldan River east of Yakutsk. certified alpine guides and together have conducted over 300 expeditions worldwide. More about IMG is available at www.MountainGuides.com. About ZAAZ Founded in 1998 and based in Seattle with an office in Portland, Oregon, ZAAZ specializes in customized web experience design. ZAAZ technologies, strategies, and designs create the vital cornerstone of the Internet's next phase: the collaborative customer experience. Fusing proprietary technologies with customer-focused strategy, ZAAZ is a reinvented service agency for a new business world. Explore www.zaaz.com. |
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