How Time Flies In The Open Water

Lewis Pugh, one of the world’s greatest aquatic adventurers of the modern era, will be instantaneously informing the world’s media and his followers about his assault on Mount Everest that will culminate in his 1K swim in a glacial lake at over 17,000 feet (nearly 6,000 meters) up the highest mountain on Earth in what will be one of the riskiest open water swims in history.

Via Twitter and Facebook, Lewis is truly in touch with the rest of the world on a moment’s notice and in near real-time.

Back on the morning of May 29th in 1953 when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the first time in human history, there was no Twitter, Facebook, mobile communications or any of the modern conveniences.

Instead communications of such a momentous event took a completely different route.

According to the London Herald of June 2nd – four full days after the triumph on Mt. Everest – the article, “EVEREST CONQUERED!”, reported that “signals from Kathmandu have concluded all is well.”

“News of the triumph of Hillary and Tenzing has been carried from the summit, down through the successive camps and then by runners, on foot, along the massive distances from Everest to Kathmandu, where is could be communicated to London.”

So while we will know of Lewis‘ progress and status in near real-time, news took a different route back in the era of Sir Hillary and Tenzing.

How time flies.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones