Article Capacity for Endurance Sir Edmund Hillary

MAN’ S CAPACITY FOR ENDURANCE — by
Sir Edmund Hillary, K.B.E., Auckland, New Zealand
A body physically well-developed and trained to a peak of fitness is a common ambition and one that seems highly desirable for the sudden efforts of athletics or competitive sport –or even for ordinary living .But when the challenges to be met extend over days , weeks, or perhaps years, man ‘s physique matters less and less and his motivation and determination become increasingly dominant.

Exceptional feats of endurance are, I have noticed, much less commonly undertaken by people of remarkable physical development than by men and women of average physical ability driven by a will and spirit far beyond the ordinary. One of the most determined Himalayan climbers I know had a below-average physique and suffered throughout one expedition with an unpleasant attack of disentery .Most people would have lost heart under such constant physical discomfort, but this man’s singleness of purpose made him one of the most formidable members of the party and one of the last to admit defeat.
I have enjoyed the company of many explorers and mountaineers with astonishing achievements to their credit but I cannot remember one who would qualify for even a preliminary round in a “Mr. World” contest. A general standard of physical fitness is important if we are to perform effectively in the material world, but the main requirement is sufficient health and vigour in the body to make it an adequate tool for the mind; and I sometimes think the body is rather like a carpenter’s chisel -if it is sharpened too fine it is inclined to chip when it hits a knotty section. Many examples can be found of a resolute mind that overrules ill health or physical disability.
There have been few greater feats of endurance than the epic trip by Captain Robert Scott and his party to the South Pole. Some time ago, I flew at low level on the 100-mile-long ( 160km) Beardmore Glacier, a contorted and twisted ice landscape split by rows of gaping crevasses, and wondered at the fortitude of Scott and his men who hauled their sledge all the way to the top and down again. Yet physically there was nothing remarkable about Scott’ s party. The largest and strongest was Petty Officer Evans, but he was the first to collapse, more, it would appear, from psychological reasons than anything else. Of the remaining four, only Bowers could be regarded as an unusually robust physical specimen, yet all possessed remarkable courage and determination. Although weaken by scurvy and harassed by appalling weather conditions, they drove themselves to their physical limits and beyond, to succumb only a few miles from safety. Scott’ s expedition may be criticized for weaknesses in conception and planning, but it remains a supreme example of fortitude and determination –it is perhaps significant that the last to die was Scott, the leader .
My first visit to Ne~l, in 1951, was under the leadership of Erick Shipton, the famous British mountaineer and explorer who pioneered the idea of cheap, lightly laden expeditions that could live as much as possible off the land .In the early stages of our expedition we crossed a rugged part of Ne~l never before visited by Europeans. It was the monsoon season, and all day we struggled along the crest of a 10,000 ft. ( 3000 m) spur in torrential rain and cold winds .With tents and sleeping bags wet from our previous camp, we were hoping desperately to find some sort of shelter before dark. On the few occasions the clouds parted, we could see fresh snow to low levels on the peaks about us .Hope had almost gone when we came on a primitive bamboo structure built as a shelter for animals; it was empty, but incredibly sordid and unpleasant .
We put bamboo mats over the mud and dung on the wet floor and then pushed the loads and men inside. I was acting as rearguard, and it was dark by the time I had the last of the loads stowed away and the last of the demoralized porters under cover. Wet and miserable and very concerned about the dangerous effects of exposure on our party, I crawled to the end of the shelter, to see a most astonishing sight. Shipton, sitting crosslegged in the corner with an umbrella over his head to divert the drips of water through the roof, was puffing gently on his pipe and reading a paper book in the weak: light from a flickering candle that hissed and spluttered each time a drop hit it .On his face was a look of quiet contentment. I was mightily impressed, as were all the other members of the party; responding to Shipton’s confidence, we spent an uncomfortable but cheerful night. It was a lesson to me on the importance of a calm, controlled mind under conditions of stress and one that I have never forgotten.
Mental attitude is interesting even in exceptionally hardy people like the Sherpas of NeI:8l who have adapted particularly well to the demands of their environment, combining as it does high altitude with a rugged topography and cool climate. The Sherpas have no mechanical transport and few beasts of burden, but, although small, they have become very competent load carriers and great mountain travellers. Physically, they are much tougher than most products of civilized communities .
One tiny, elderly Sherpa lady carried a load for me from Kathmandu to Khumjung, a 17 day march over steep ridges and narrow valleys .Towards the end of the trip, I weighed both the porter and her load. She scaled 56 lb. (25 kg) –and her load 58 lb. (26 kg), and she was never the last porter to arrive at the end of the day’s march. The mail runner carrying the dispatch describing our successful Everest assault in 1953 covered the 180 miles ( 290 km ) from our camp to Kathmandu in four and a half days, whereas the fastest time I know by a very fit European climber is seven days .
In October, 1966, Y expeditition built a small hospital in the Sherpa village of Khunde at 13,000 ft. ( 3,960 m). First we flew our supplies to a small mountain airfield and then used Sherpa porters to carry 60-70 lb. (27-32 kg) loads for two energetic days up valley and mountainside to Khunde. Our heaviest single item was the 160 lb. (72 kg) motor and generator from the portable X-ray machine. One of the tougher men in Khunde undertook to carry this load by himself on the understanding that he would be paid the rate for two men. The first day he walked from Khunde down to the airfield (a reasonable day’s march in itself ), picked up the 160 lb. load, and carried it part of the way up the valley. The second day, he carried it up the rest of the valley and then climbed the long 3,000 ft. (915 m) hill to Khunde, where he arrived by three o’clock in the afternoon. He was obviously still fresh and strong and delighted that he had earned two men’s pay for so easy a task. I know of no European mountaineer who could have done this feat in such a short time , and the Sherpa weighed less that 140 lb. (63 kg)

The average Sherpa has a high level of physical performance, but the outstanding Sherpas have also a powerful mental drive. Tenzing Norgay, mv companion on the summit of Mt. Everest, was a strong carrier of loads , but many other Sherpas could have probably carried as well. However, few had the relentless determination that Tenzing could display. Life in tents on the 26,000 ft. (7,925 m) South Col of Everest is a strain on anyone’s endurance, and I have seen physically robust Sherpas have to be evacuated, because their morale had broken while much weedier-looking types have carried on cheerfully and competently. Above 25,000 ft. (7,720 m), life for both European and Sherpas becomes something of a struggle, and itis probably true to say that in this environment the greater physical efficiency of the Sherpas is of little value unless it is matched by a determination as great as that of the European expedition members, whose motivation is normally very powerful indeed. The Sherpas are aware of this, and to be a “Tiger” in the mountain is a highly prized honour, not so much as proof of physical fitness as an indication of a courageous and stubborn spirit.
Whatever the objective, I believe the same principle applies – if the going is tough and the pressure is on, if reserves of strength have been drained and the summit is still not in sight, then the quality to seek in a man is neither great strength, nor quickness of hand, however useful these qualities may be, but rather a resolute mind firmly set on its purpose that refuses to let its body slacken or rest.