A golden age of mountaineering,1950-1964,was marked by first ascents of the 8,000 meter peaks.
1950
Annapurna I
1953
Mt.Everest
Nanga Parbat
1954
K2
Lhotse
Cho Oyu
1955
Makalu
Kangchenjunga
1956
Manaslu
Gasherbrum III
1957
Broad Peak
1958
Gasherbrum I
1960
Dhaulagiri I
1964
Shisha Pangma
Today,Everest is quite congested at times,with trash accumulated at the higher camps.There is a question as to whether too many unqualified persons are attempting the climb.National Geographic published a scathing assessment of conditions on the roof of the world recently.It would seem that Nepal needs to step back and reform this sacred site while they still can.
In contrast,the other high Himalayan peaks are relatively sparsely explored.The most dangerous of them all,Annapurna I,has taken one life for every three safe returns.
In 1953,climbing Everest was an astonishing challenge.Those who met it with the first ascent,Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Sherpa,will forever merit their foothold in history.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Mt. Everest
Offered on the Diamond Jubilee of the first ascent on May 29,1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Kirsten Flagstad as Elsa in Lohengrin, ca. 1938 / NBC Artists Service
Kirsten Flagstad as Elsa in Lohengrin, ca. 1938 / NBC Artists Service, a photo by State Library of New South Wales collection on Flickr.
The Opera singer Kirsten Flagstad in a Wagnerian role.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
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Friday, May 24, 2013
Wintry Forecast for Northeastern Mountains;Monaco Grand Prix Practices
Absurdly chill temperatures for this time of year,Memorial Day weekend,have blanketed the east coast,dipping to the forties Fahrenheit in the Mid-Atlantic region Friday night.The mountains of the Northeast may get up to a foot of snow this weekend from New York's Adirondacks to the Green Mountains of Vermont.
Visitors to the shore are finding themselves donning jackets and gloves again,when they had expected to be lounging in warm sunshine for the traditional kickoff of the summer vacation season.By next weekend,however,it will be decidedly hot-even excessively so.
The people of Monaco aren't lacking in warm sunshine,however,as they anticipate the 71st Monaco Grand Prix.Friday was devoted to relaxing and partying after Thursday's free practices for the Formula One race,which saw Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg of Germany and Britain's Lewis Hamilton fastest.
Romain Grosjean of France wrecked his Lotus car,causing a brief red flag delay while the sharp debris was swept off the street circuit in the hilly Mediterranean principality.The very tight circuit would never get approved in today's racing world,Australia's Mark Webber remarked before his practice session,but the red tape and bureaucracy aren't involved here,and it's good we can go racing.
Webber has won at Monaco twice,while his teammate World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany,the current overall points leader,has won there once.A victory by either on Sunday would give team Red Bull an unprecedented four consecutive wins at the Monaco Grand Prix.Qualifying will take place on Saturday.
NBC is carrying the race live at 7:30am Eastern on Sunday.
A severe weather threat caused suspension of second round play in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth Texas.American Matt Kuchar topped the leader board at -10,while Canadian Graham Delaet was second at -9.
In college baseball,North Carolina hammered Clemson 12-7 in ACC Tournament play on the road to Omaha and the College World Series.
Visitors to the shore are finding themselves donning jackets and gloves again,when they had expected to be lounging in warm sunshine for the traditional kickoff of the summer vacation season.By next weekend,however,it will be decidedly hot-even excessively so.
The people of Monaco aren't lacking in warm sunshine,however,as they anticipate the 71st Monaco Grand Prix.Friday was devoted to relaxing and partying after Thursday's free practices for the Formula One race,which saw Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg of Germany and Britain's Lewis Hamilton fastest.
Romain Grosjean of France wrecked his Lotus car,causing a brief red flag delay while the sharp debris was swept off the street circuit in the hilly Mediterranean principality.The very tight circuit would never get approved in today's racing world,Australia's Mark Webber remarked before his practice session,but the red tape and bureaucracy aren't involved here,and it's good we can go racing.
Webber has won at Monaco twice,while his teammate World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany,the current overall points leader,has won there once.A victory by either on Sunday would give team Red Bull an unprecedented four consecutive wins at the Monaco Grand Prix.Qualifying will take place on Saturday.
NBC is carrying the race live at 7:30am Eastern on Sunday.
A severe weather threat caused suspension of second round play in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth Texas.American Matt Kuchar topped the leader board at -10,while Canadian Graham Delaet was second at -9.
In college baseball,North Carolina hammered Clemson 12-7 in ACC Tournament play on the road to Omaha and the College World Series.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
NASA Reveals March Lunar Explosion
NASA made public on Friday the fact that a sizable meteoroid impact on the lunar surface occurred on March 17,2013.Detected by analyst Ron Suggs of the Marshall Space Flight Center with video from a 14-inch telescope,the flash was 10 times greater than anything seen before in the eight years of the lunar impacts monitoring program.
The impact took place in the Mare Imbrium area and had a brightness as of a fourth magnitude star.The meteoroid was traveling at a speed of 56,000 miles an hour when it struck the moon.
The monitoring program has ascertained that meteors hit the moon more often than anyone ever expected,NASA said.Though this particular meteor was only 3-4 meters across,the flash should have been noticeable to anyone who was studying the moon with the naked eye at the time.It looked like a small pinpoint of light when this blog reviewed the video.
On the same date,the earth was also being pelted with numerous meteoroid impacts,as detected by all-sky cameras of NASA and the University of Western Ontario,described by NASA's Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office as a short duration cluster of material that the earth and moon were traveling through together.It is a region of small rocks and dust the earth-moon system will travel through again the same time next year.
Cooke believes the lunar impact and the Chelyabinsk event in Russia in February 2013 may be related,both caused by passing through the same rocky,dusty region between the earth and the asteroid belt.The Chelyabinsk event,however,was 100,000 times more powerful than the lunar explosion;it damaged buildings and injured more than 1500 souls.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite will search for the new impact crater when it passes over that region of the moon again.The crater could be up to 66 feet wide.If the crater is found,it will help validate ground impact models of meteoroids.
Also,such knowledge could be useful to any future astronauts who may be spending extended periods on the lunar surface,for their own safety.The moon gets a lot of impacts because it lacks an atmosphere to vaporise meteoroids.
The impact took place in the Mare Imbrium area and had a brightness as of a fourth magnitude star.The meteoroid was traveling at a speed of 56,000 miles an hour when it struck the moon.
The monitoring program has ascertained that meteors hit the moon more often than anyone ever expected,NASA said.Though this particular meteor was only 3-4 meters across,the flash should have been noticeable to anyone who was studying the moon with the naked eye at the time.It looked like a small pinpoint of light when this blog reviewed the video.
On the same date,the earth was also being pelted with numerous meteoroid impacts,as detected by all-sky cameras of NASA and the University of Western Ontario,described by NASA's Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office as a short duration cluster of material that the earth and moon were traveling through together.It is a region of small rocks and dust the earth-moon system will travel through again the same time next year.
Cooke believes the lunar impact and the Chelyabinsk event in Russia in February 2013 may be related,both caused by passing through the same rocky,dusty region between the earth and the asteroid belt.The Chelyabinsk event,however,was 100,000 times more powerful than the lunar explosion;it damaged buildings and injured more than 1500 souls.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite will search for the new impact crater when it passes over that region of the moon again.The crater could be up to 66 feet wide.If the crater is found,it will help validate ground impact models of meteoroids.
Also,such knowledge could be useful to any future astronauts who may be spending extended periods on the lunar surface,for their own safety.The moon gets a lot of impacts because it lacks an atmosphere to vaporise meteoroids.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Dhaulagiri Climbing Conditions;NBA Playoffs;PGA Tour
April and May are prime climbing months for Dhaulagiri in Nepal.It is one of the 8,000 meter peaks and a Major Mountain Expedition at 8167 meters/26,796 feet.The closest peak to it is Nilgiri Himal at 14.2 miles and 23,167 feet.Annapurna,at 26,547 feet,is 28.7 miles from Dhaulagiri.
The current temperature at the Kathmandu International Airport is 77F,133.6 miles from Dhaulagiri.Under hazy sun,there are light southwest winds.
At the summit of Dhaulagiri,there will be snowfall of 3.1 inches,considered heavy snowfall,on Saturday afternoon.It will be extremely cold at -18F,with a windchill of -49F.The freezing point on the mountain will be 14,900 feet.
This gives you some idea of what is involved at this professional level of mountaineering.Good luck if you want to take it on.
In other sport,the San Antonio Spurs slammed the Golden State Warriors 102-92 in the NBA Conference Semifinals.That gives the Spurs a 2-1 lead in the series.At The Players Championship in Florida,Sergio Garcia of Spain tops the leader board,with Tiger Woods in second at the end of round 2.
The current temperature at the Kathmandu International Airport is 77F,133.6 miles from Dhaulagiri.Under hazy sun,there are light southwest winds.
At the summit of Dhaulagiri,there will be snowfall of 3.1 inches,considered heavy snowfall,on Saturday afternoon.It will be extremely cold at -18F,with a windchill of -49F.The freezing point on the mountain will be 14,900 feet.
This gives you some idea of what is involved at this professional level of mountaineering.Good luck if you want to take it on.
In other sport,the San Antonio Spurs slammed the Golden State Warriors 102-92 in the NBA Conference Semifinals.That gives the Spurs a 2-1 lead in the series.At The Players Championship in Florida,Sergio Garcia of Spain tops the leader board,with Tiger Woods in second at the end of round 2.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
SoCal Wildfire Singes Ventura;NBA Semis Set
More than a thousand firefighters have been battling a Southern California wildfire since Thursday morning.The Springs Fire began near Camarillo in Ventura County and swept down through the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Coast Highway just Northwest of Los Angeles.As of Friday night,the blaze had consumed 28 square miles and was 20% contained.
Fifteen residences and five commercial properties had been damaged by the fire as of Friday morning,but no injuries were reported.Cal State Channel Islands had been evacuated,and the University said it would probably remain closed till Sunday evening.A portion of Point Mugu Naval Base was also evacuated.The Sycamore Canyon area along the PCH was evacuated as well.
The fire was being swept along by the infamous Santa Ana winds through the hot and dry scrubby terrain,difficult of access for firefighters with its scarce roads and lack of water sources.The weather is predicted to improve Saturday,with cooler and more humid conditions making the firefighting easier.
The conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs are now set,with the New York Knicks to take on the Indiana Pacers on Sunday,while the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Memphis Grizzlies;the Chicago Bulls will meet the Miami Heat;and the Golden State Warriors face the San Antonio Spurs.The Knicks managed to survive a late Boston Celtics rally Friday night at Madison Square Garden,bumping the Celtics out of contention by a score of 88-80.
At the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte,North Carolina,Phil Mickelson's incredible putting sent him to the top of the leader board with his nine under par 67 in second round action Friday.Mickelson sank a 40 foot putt,as well as two 15 footers,and scored back to back birdies.He didn't miss any putts within 10 feet.
Others in contention at the Quail Hollow Golf Club include Australian Scott Gardiner at -7;Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy;and England's Lee Westwood ,both at -6.
Mickelson and Nick Watney finished the third round Saturday tied for first at -8 after play became extremely choppy in abnormally cool weather,with many shots veering into the spectators.
Fifteen residences and five commercial properties had been damaged by the fire as of Friday morning,but no injuries were reported.Cal State Channel Islands had been evacuated,and the University said it would probably remain closed till Sunday evening.A portion of Point Mugu Naval Base was also evacuated.The Sycamore Canyon area along the PCH was evacuated as well.
The fire was being swept along by the infamous Santa Ana winds through the hot and dry scrubby terrain,difficult of access for firefighters with its scarce roads and lack of water sources.The weather is predicted to improve Saturday,with cooler and more humid conditions making the firefighting easier.
The conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs are now set,with the New York Knicks to take on the Indiana Pacers on Sunday,while the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Memphis Grizzlies;the Chicago Bulls will meet the Miami Heat;and the Golden State Warriors face the San Antonio Spurs.The Knicks managed to survive a late Boston Celtics rally Friday night at Madison Square Garden,bumping the Celtics out of contention by a score of 88-80.
At the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte,North Carolina,Phil Mickelson's incredible putting sent him to the top of the leader board with his nine under par 67 in second round action Friday.Mickelson sank a 40 foot putt,as well as two 15 footers,and scored back to back birdies.He didn't miss any putts within 10 feet.
Others in contention at the Quail Hollow Golf Club include Australian Scott Gardiner at -7;Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy;and England's Lee Westwood ,both at -6.
Mickelson and Nick Watney finished the third round Saturday tied for first at -8 after play became extremely choppy in abnormally cool weather,with many shots veering into the spectators.
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