High In the Thin, Cold Air
HIGH IN THE THIN, COLD AIR
A Japanese motorcyclist returns to Mt. Everest
KOJI HIROE
SHINJI KAZAMA IS A MAN WHO thrives on challenge. In November, 1984, he became one of the small number of humans ever to challenge the Himalayan Mountains. But Kazama did not make his attempt to scale the Himalayas the usual way, on foot; instead, he tried it on a motorcycle, a Honda TLR trials bike, to be exact (see "Mt. Everest Dreaming," Cycle World, May, 1985).
His achievement was astounding: He succeeded in reaching the 19,030foot mark on Pumo Ri, one of Mt. Everest's neighboring peaks. But for Kazama, always the dreamer, that accomplishment was not enough. So in 1985, he decided to challenge the 29,028-foot majesty of Mt. Everest it self, from the Chinese side.
Once again, the machine he used for his assault on the mountain was a Honda TLR, but this time with spe cial modifications. Kazama's previ ous experience told him to place a high priority on making the bike as light as possible. This would ease the effort of riding in the thin atmosphere of high altitudes. Each part of the
TLR's body, including its fuel tank, seat and even the swingarm, was ex amined and shaved of weight wher ever possible. - - -
In - addition, the displacement of the TLR engine was increased from 200cc to 250cc, and a special carbu retor was designed to supply the proper fuel/air mixture at altitudes that were expected to exceed 20,000 feet. On the previous expedition, a number of carburetors containing different sizes ofjets was taken along, and whole carbs were exchanged as the elevation required. This method proved awkward and time-consum ing; so for this trip, Keihin developed a carburetor in which the main-jet size could easily be changed by turn ing a dial on the carb's body. As they st~od on the 1 7,000-foot peak of Chocola, the team members stared breathlessly at the spreading scenery before them. Greeting them was the Himalayan mountain range, extending from west to east with its line of 26,000-foot-high peaks. Tow ering 3000 feet above these giants~ was Everest, the world's highest peak, covered with a veil of white clouds. Its infamous north wall glistened like dark glass, lending an ominous pres ence to the panorama.
-"-`--~-, Kazama and his team began the trek at the ancient city of Lhasa, in the Chinese-occupied Tibetian terri tory, and spent two days making preparations at an altitude of 12,000 feet. Then they headed off in a truck for Chomolungma-the Chinese name for Mt. Everest-475 miles away. On the way, they passed through Xigates, the second-largest town of Tibet, and after crossing a number of 15,000-foot-high peaks,
reached the town of Xegar. The up hill climb to the base camp began about four miles west of Xegar. Dodging boulders and braving a pre cipitous road lined with soft shoul ders, the team traversed 62 miles of narrow trail before finally reaching the base camp.
L'..F L11~ J~41L~Jt~411~(1.. At the TBC (training base camp) set up above the base camp, Kazama started his attack. This year, the snow was deeper than expected on Chomo lungma, so the goal for the ride was set at 19,700 feet, which would put Kazama at Base Camp Rhola on the west side of Everest. Based on local information, the slope that Kazama planned to traverse should have been frozen so solidly that although snow would fall, it would slide off and only pile up to a depth of two to four inches. Therefore, Kazama believed, specially designed Yokohama tires fitted with 500 two-inch-long spikes would be able to get a foothold on the slippery surface and crunch their way up the icy slope. - -
Everest, however, is famous for its unpredictable weather, and the whimsical autumn snows piled up to a depth of more than three feet. Un der these conditions, the rear wheel kept spinning and churning in the snow, making the ascent much more difficult than anticipated.
Kazama was troubled as he climb ed back and forth up the incline. Al though he had trained for the alti tude, his body was unprepared for the level of exertion required to pilot a squirming motorcycle in the thin air almost four miles high. Deprived of oxygen, Kazama was forced to stop and rest every 75 to 80 feet he climbed. Even so, he soon became ut terly fatigued.
(Jasping tor breath anu sunering near-total exhaustion, Kazama fought inch-by-inch up the slope. Looking at the towering north face of Chomolungma with its ring of white clouds blowing upward toward the peak, and still suffering from a lack of oxygen, Kazama asked himself, "Why am I doing such a thing?" But instead of turning back, he found a hidden reserve within himself, and, reveling in the sheer, unimaginable joy of riding a motorcycle in such an impossible place, ignored all thoughts of quitting. He simply opened the throttle and clawed for ward, upward.
By tl~e time the climb was ended, Shinji Kazama, motorcyclist, adven turer, dreamer, had ridden up Mt. Ev erest, the world's highest mountain, to a height of 19,700 feet. In terms of altitude, his climb was not much higher than his 1984 ascent of Pumo Ri. But in terms of sheer difficulty, Kazama's second assault on the Hi malayas just may have been his finest moment.
Most likely, this latest adventure will mark the end of Kazama's Mt. Everest expeditions-but most cer tainly not the end of his dreaming.
