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[OM] Olympus on the Mt. Everest

Subject: [OM] Olympus on the Mt. Everest
From: "Olaf Greve" <o.greve@xxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 10:21:23 +0200
Cc: <photovoogt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Hi guys,

Down below follows a message sent to me by Erwin Voogt, who's currently
traversing the Himalaya, after having traversed a great many countries
already in order to get there. He asked me if I could post the following
message on his behalf to the list. So, down below you can read one of the
many adventures Erwin and his wife have already gone through on this long
and most cool trip.

Cheers and enjoy!


A few weeks ago I made the trek to Everest basecamp. At this moment the area
is packed with expeditions because of the 50th anniversery of the first
succesful climb of Everest.
On one day I met the Canadian climber Dave Rodney, who summited Everest
twice. I asked him which camera he (had) used on the summit of Everest. He
told me it was an Olympus. Pointing to my OM4T at the table, I said "one
like this?".
Well, here comes the disappointment for us who think only titanium will do
under extreme conditions: he used the Olympus Mju Zoom...
And to make things even "worse": as a backup camera he used a plastic
disposable camera.
The following weeks I met several other climbers and the answers were the
same: the Olympus Mju is the favourite camera and disposable cameras is the
reliable back-up.
The reason for choosing a Mju is straightforward: high quality and
lightweight, easy to operate with gloves and to keep it warm you just put it
under your down suit.
At the end of my trip I did some climbing myself: the 6000 meter peak of
Lobuche.
For me this was the first time of serious mountian climbing in my life and
now I understand why most mountaineers don't use reflex cameras: changing
lenses is impossible with thick gloves on and with a blizzard blowing around
you. So the advantage is minimal and the big camera has to be put in a
backpack from which it is almost impossible to get out on a steep ice ridge.
Any way, there are also cameras which are completely useless when climbing
Himalayan peaks. My climbing mates had digital cameras... and they don't
work at all at minus many degrees!

For more info about the Everest area and the "Overland by LandCruiser"
journey my wife and I are making, have a look at the website:

http://www.erwinvoogt.com

Since the pictures of the climb of Lobuche peak will be used for
publication, I can not put them on the website. But here is a holiday snap
of me on the summit (please do not use this picture for any purpose):

http://www.erwinvoogt.com/overland/pix/everest/erwintop.jpg

This picture is taken with an OM40 and the Zuiko 28-48 zoom on Kodak Gold
100. The OM4T is used for Kodachrome 64 slides. Mt Everest is the black
summit right, behind Nuptse. Everest Basecamp is located just left of my
head and the end of the Khumbu Glacier.

Best Regards,

Erwin Voogt, currently in Kathmandu.
e-mail: photovoogt@xxxxxxxxxxx
web: http://www.erwinvoogt.com


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