On a divided Mt Everest, climate cooperation is being tested

Freddie Wilkinson

A NEW landmark greeted mountaineers nearing the summit of Mount Everest this spring: a seven-foot-tall mast of scientific instruments bolted into the coarse shale of an outcropping known as Bishop Rock. It’s only about 130 vertical feet from the 29,032-foot summit, where one can look down the opposite side of the mountain, into China, and see another weather station about an equal distance from the top.

These installations are the highest outposts of two networks of automatic weather stations that stretch up Everest’s two popular routes. This being Everest, where controversy is no stranger, it wasn’t long before a quibble arose over bragging rights. Which station is higher: the one installed in China or the one in Nepal? The two countries share a border that divides the mountain, and officials from both claimed the honour for their nation. Perhaps Guinness World Records should investigate.