14 DAY TRIAL // A British climber has set a world record as the first man to ever make a mobile phone call from the top of Mount Everest. The Briton had started his journey on 30 March and has finally managed to successfully end it.
New boundaries have been broken, as mobile technology is now available even on the highest mountain top in the world. The call made by Rob Baber makes a breakthrough when it comes to network coverage, as, even at 8848 meters high, a coherent conversation can be conducted over the mobile phone.
The mountains used to be the quiet place where anyone could get away from the modern fuss and from high tech civilization. By making this phone call, the Briton has managed to take technology even in this unscathed place. Still, mountain climbers say they are glad with the new world record that has been set. Bringing mobile technology to the highest mountain peaks means that communication will take place much easier between climbers. That is, indeed, great news, if you come to think of how important it can be for a man to be able to send a distress signal at the right time.
The new record was possible to be set due to the mobile base station set by China with a line of sight to the north ridge. Even more, Motorola has sponsored this climb in order to make sure that the mobile phone conversation was recorded.
In the 15 minutes that Rob Baber has spent on Mount Everest's top, he made two phone calls. The first message sent from the top of the mountain was: "It's cold, it's fantastic, the Himalayas are everywhere". The second one was made to his family back home.
Making a phone call in such harsh weather condition proves more difficult than we might think. First of all, in order to talk on the cellular, the climber had to remove his oxygen mask, which is highly dangerous at such high altitudes. Moreover, the batteries of the Motorola cell phone that he used had to be strapped to his body in order to maintain them at a normal temperature.