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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.
Wavescan N611, November 8, 2020
Return to Nepal-3: Shortwave Radio on the Other Mt. Everest
Up until the year 1936, the usage of radio on Mt. Everest had been for team communications and for the release of occasional news information to Europe and to the United States. However, in 1937 there came the first occasion for a live shortwave broadcast from the mountainside, or at least that was the original plan. The Australian radio magazine "Listener In," dated March 13, 1937, contains a monitoring report from Mr. C. Yeoman of Black Rock in Victoria. His report in full states:
Last week (March 1937), the German shortwave stations announced that any listener giving a correct report on the Mt. Everest Expedition would receive a special QSL card if the report was sent to the Broadcasting House, Berlin. The expedition would be broadcasting from Mt. Everest on the 19 metre band.
However, as history tells us, the German mountaineers were unable to attempt Mt. Everest, since only the British had access to the mountain via Tibet. Consequently, the German team transferred their interest to Nanga Parbat, which is located at the western edge of what was then Kashmir, or what is today the Diamer district of Gilgit in Pakistan. This almost isolated, rugged snow covered mountain on the western end of the high Himalayas is listed as the 9th highest mountain peak on Earth.
The main shortwave transmitter for the German expedition was installed on the summit of a low rise at Base Camp, and a mobile unit was taken up to the advance camps on the mountainside. Several news telegrams were transmitted from Base Camp, though the team never succeeded in transmitting a live program for broadcast from the German shortwave service in Berlin. The signal from the low-power Telefunken shortwave transmitter in Asia never propagated much further than the Himalayas; and alas tragedy struck their expedition.
This German expedition made three attempts to achieve the summit, but without success. When they reached the 23,000 foot level on their final attempt, they dug down into the frozen snow and erected their tents below snow level, with a carved stairway up out of their sunken location.
Unfortunately, an avalanche during the night of June 14, 1937 killed all sixteen of the expeditioners; seven team members, nine Nepali porters, and also the 31 year old expedition leader, Dr. Karl Wein. When Base Camp at the foot of the mountain learned of the tragedy, they transmitted the information out on shortwave and the British army wireless station at Simla in India heard the news dispatch, which was thus forwarded on worldwide.
However, even though the actual location where this tragic event occurred was the mountain called Nanga Parbat, yet the worldwide news releases still identified the location as Mt. Everest. We quote the "Canberra Times" in Australia's capital city for Wednesday June 23, 1937:
It was revealed today that the leader (Dr. Wein) of the German expedition which is attempting the ascent of Mount Everest, perished with other members of the party when overwhelmed by an avalanche.
Sixteen years later there were two major expeditions on the same two Mt. Everests, both during the year 1953; one was a British New Zealand Expedition, and the other a joint German-Austrian Expedition. It was at 11:30 am on Friday, May 29 (1953) that New Zealander Edmund Hillary, together with Nepali Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, successfully achieved the real Mt. Everest summit. It was again on a Friday, a little over a month later, on July 3 (1953), that Austrian Hermann Buhl successfully achieved the other Mt. Everest summit, in reality Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan.
The Mt. Everest that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully climbed was the world's tallest mountain that stands between Nepal and China. The Mt. Everest that Hermann Buhl climbed was indeed the same Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan. However, it is certainly true that successfully climbing this "second" Everest was indeed a monumental and historical event in its own right. As before, their Base Camp was at the foot of Nanga Parbat, between the mountain and the very beautiful nature location Fairy Meadow.
The Base Camp was again the location for their Telefunken shortwave equipment, and mobile radio units were in use at the various encampments on the mountain itself. By special arrangement, Radio Pakistan, Rawalpindi broadcast two weather bulletins each day for the benefit of the mountain expedition on Nanga Parbat.
Nepal government in October (2020) began to re-issue permits for climbing Mt. Everest.