Melanie Windridge's Blog, page 4

How long does it take to climb Everest?

Melanie’s expedition to Everest took two months but, in some ways, you could say that it took Melanie five years to get to the summit of Everest.

In 2013 the climbing community celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first expedition to successfully reach the top of the world: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s 1953 summit of Mount Everest. The event, held at the Royal Geographical Society, inspired and intrigued her and she wanted to learn more about the history of climbing Everest and abou...

Where to see the Northern Lights

Wild aurora in northern Norway.

Seeing the Northern Lights is high up on many people’s travel wish list. Witnessing the aurora live is a most beautiful and affecting experience. Nothing on Earth compares to it, but it can be an elusive occurrence.

What is the aurora?

The aurora is caused by charged particles from the Sun interacting with the Earth’s magnetic environment to accelerate electrons into the Earth’s atmosphere at the poles, where they cause the aurora. The aurora is the way that th...

How to survive on Everest

Humans are not meant to survive above 8,000 metres (26,246 feet). Yet, people have managed to climb to the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, at 8,848 metres (29,028 feet). Melanie summited Everest in spring 2018 and explored the science that helps climbers survive on Everest.

On Wednesday, 21st November, Melanie will host an Ask Me Anything on reddit to answer questions about her experiences on Everest and the science and technology that support climbers in their bid to experience this...

How to film the aurora

More and more people are photographing the aurora borealis, but cameras are now good enough to even capture video of the aurora as it swirls and dances in the night sky. Richard Jenkinson, member of Wycombe Astronomical Society, recently filmed the northern lights in Nellim, Finland. In this blog he shares his top three tips on how to best capture the northern lights on camera.

Video: A real-time video of the Northern Lights in Nellim, Finland, captured by Richard Jenkinson on the night of...

Oxygen Problems on Everest 2018

Melanie Windridge on the Geneva Spur using supplementary oxygen.

Supplementary oxygen is used by the majority of climbers on Mount Everest – it doubles the chances of getting to the summit and reduces the risk of complications like frostbite. But dependence on oxygen up high means that climbers can be more vulnerable if the oxygen suddenly runs out.

Reports of oxygen problems

This Everest season heard several reports of oxygen problems, with Presenter Ben Fogle being amongst those with issues...

What does my cocktail have in common with glaciology?

Interesting cocktail with a giant ball of ice!

Whilst on holiday I was served this rather cool cocktail with a giant ice ball plugging a hole between the upper and lower chambers of the glass. So – of course – we took a video of it as it melted and we wondered whether there was a link with glaciology. Well there is! I asked glaciologist Scott Watson for his thoughts.

In the video, you can see that the ice begins to melt slowly at first, but once you get a small channel seeping through then t...

Summiting Mount Everest

It’s Monday morning as I write this – the 28th May 2018.  Exactly one week ago I was resting in a tent at the South Col of Mount Everest having climbed to the summit that morning.  I arrived as dawn was breaking.

My steady progression from the Hillary Step up the summit ridge was in darkness; I watched sunrise from the top of the world with my summit Sherpa, Tenzing.  We were completely by ourselves.  We radioed base camp to update them.  When it was light we took photographs.  I took a snow...

Coordinating the summit push

The last couple of weeks have been just waiting. We have been at base camp biding our time, spending our days walking, eating, napping, chatting and playing cards. It’s actually quite relaxing, provided you don’t allow yourself to get impatient about the next step – when will we be going up the mountain?

However, whilst the climbers have been resting there has been a lot of activity higher up the mountain. There is a lot to be organised; a lot to be moved into place, quite literally. Over the...

The ‘Rotations’: Acclimatising for the Everest summit

In the two weeks since we arrived at base camp, we have been up the mountain twice on what are known as “rotations”.  These involve climbing successively higher up the mountain each time to get the body used to the altitude ahead of the final push for the summit.

Base camp. The view from near my tent.

Camp 1: Through the icefall

The first rotation was to Camp 1.  This was my first trip through the notorious Icefall, one of the more dangerous parts of the climb.  The Icefall is a tumble of ice...

Namche Bazaar (3440m): How we acclimatise to high altitudes

We are now in Namche Bazaar at 3440m.  We arrived yesterday lunchtime, after flying from Kathmandu to Lukla, and have spent a rest day here to aid acclimatisation.  This involved a walk up to the Everest View Hotel at 3880m then down to Khumjung village where Edmund Hillary established a school in 1961.

Tonight we stay here in Namche and then set off for Pengboche (3930m) tomorrow, where we will also spend two nights for acclimatisation.

The Hillary School at Khumjung

Progressing slowly up t...