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ExplorersWeb Everest tech week Part IV - The Who's who of live summit video
11:35 p.m. EDT Feb 20, 2003
ExplorersWeb got word that there would be several teams on Everest this year attempting to do live video from the summit. Rumors have circulated that this has already been achieved, more than once. Upon further research ExplorersWeb has found that there has been one confirmed success and - well, some amazing attempts!
The Pioneers of Everest live video attempts
The earliest known attempt at live video from the summit was a Canadian expedition in 1982. A satellite uplink was placed in Katmandu for transmission to Canadian TV. A runner took a video shot on the mountain, ran down the Khumbu valley with tape in hand where it flew to Katmandu and broadcast to Canada.
Next, a camera was setup in Syangboche, just 16 miles away from Everest base camp. It was aimed at Everest and transmitted video of it back to Kathmandu by means of 5 microwave relay stations. Even with a 20,000-millimeter lens, the distortion from heat haze proved too much to get clear images of the mountain.
Finally, the tech team improvised and an airplane equipped with a transmitter flew over the summit, feeding video back to Katmandu. Due to poor timing, they missed the climbers, but the first live pictures of the summit were sent back to American and Canadian television.
Technically this team transmitted live pictures of the summit. However, the only way they could have transmitted live from the summit would have been if the plan crashed.
The Americans give it a whirl
A year later in 1983 David Breashears along with a few others carried up a camera, batteries and a transmitter in an attempt to do the first live video transmission from the summit. Several places on the web claim that this expedition broadcasted to live television, however according to the expedition, the video was transmitted from the summit to Everest View Hotel, down the valley, near Namche Bazaar, but did not make it any further. Due to battery problems it was not possible for audio to be sent and the only person to confirm seeing the video in Everest view hotel was the producer himself. It was nevertheless another important step towards a live Everest summit experience.
Close, but no cigar
The next attempt doesn’t appear to be until almost ten years later in 1997 by a Malaysian team with the help of an American. The plan was to transmit live video and audio from both the south summit and summit to a nearby mountain, Kala Pattar, where it would be relayed down to base camp and then up linked with the use of a C band satellite antenna where it would be shown live on Malaysian television and around the world via the Internet.
Though there was no disclosure of what this expedition’s budget was, it is a good guess that it was in the millions - while the team was in base camp they had a helicopter make four trips just to bring in the satellite dish towards the end. Earlier, executives from Radio Telekom Malaysia flew into base camp by helicopter for an afternoon tour.
Due to bad weather, the ambitious team was only able to transmit intermittently from the South Summit, just 250 meters or so shy of the actual summit.
Crazy Canuks part II
Later on in 2000 a Canadian team took a different approach in their attempt to send live video from the summit. Instead of transmitting the video down to base camp and up linking to a satellite from there, they tried to up link to a satellite directly from the summit. In order to do this the team had to bring up with them an Inmarsat M4 ISDN satellite line, a teleconferencing unit, and camera. The plan was to get to the summit, pull out the M4, set it up for an uplink, plug in the camera and transmit. Due to very high summit winds, the team was unable transmit.
Just a year later in 2001, a Spanish television program called, “Al Filo de lo Imposible,” attempted to send live video from the summit by relaying down to base camp and then shooting up to a satellite. Juanito Oiarzabal, who has summited all 14, 8000 meter peaks, was climbing Everest without oxygen, and had a bad eye problem at the summit. Unfortunately this prohibited him from transmitting to base camp.
Live at last
After searching through all the attempts, ExplorersWeb finally found a winner! Already in 1988, the Japanese/Chinese/Nepali “Asian Friendship Expedition” completed a traverse of Everest. Teams from opposite sides climbed to the summit and then descended to the other side. The goal of this expedition was to transmit live video from the summit down to the north side where a 4.5 m satellite dish transmitted the video to a Ku band satellite dish and was broadcast live on Nippon television in Japan. The expedition budget was rumored to be anywhere from 21 to 37 million dollars.
It all paid off, because on May 5th, 1988, two summit teams from opposite sides converged on the top and 280 million viewers watched it live on Nippon television in Japan. All together the expedition had 254 members.
Harder on the body or harder on the tech
Not only does sending live video from the summit present a large technical challenge, but also a large human challenge. It is hard enough getting to the summit itself, but the prospect of setting up video transmitting equipment in freezing temperatures and howling winds makes it even harder.
The Japanese are the only ones that have pulled off live video from the summit. After them, the closest someone else has come was in 1997 when the Malaysians were able to transmit from the South Summit. The Canadian attempt, although technically innovative for their time can only claim live video of the summit, not from the summit. David Breashears made it to Everest View hotel, but no one was able to see it.
Are this year’s teams up for the challenge
The most popular technique was to transmit from the summit and relay the video from there to a satellite uplink where it can be fed to TV and the Internet. Bringing the equipment up to the summit for a satellite uplink like the Canadians did in 2000 was a valiant effort, but heavy and complicated. The satellite phone weighed 4 kilos and the video conferencing unit weight at least another 1 or 2 at the least.
This year many teams will be attempting to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Everest by transmitting live from the summit. History shows that they will definitely have their work cut out for them. Stay tuned tomorrow for more about who is doing what this year and how. Also, for the first time ever, climbers can send live video clips, pictures, and dispatches from anywhere on the mountain in the smallest communication package ever - because, on Everest as in life - live video from the summit is awesome, but it’s the road to the top where all the action is.
Tomorrow in our last installment of the Everest tech week - Today's tech and the dreams of the future
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