Sharing an Amazing Journey Web app chronicles Mt. Everest ascent in near real time By Susan Harp, Esri Writer Many dream of conquering Mount Everest, known in Nepal as Sagarmatha, or "goddess of the sky." Some climbers reach the lofty goal and—for a few minutes, at least—stand victorious atop the 29,035-foot mountain. But very few are able to take a global audience with them, as 13-year-old Jordan Romero did. On a clear night in May 2010, in subzero temperatures, Romero started his final, 26-hour leg of the steep and dangerous climb up Everest. The boy from Big Bear Lake, California, was close to becoming the youngest person ever to scale the world's highest summit. Around the world, followers kept tabs on Romero's journey via Live on Everest, a Web application provided by Esri. They were glued to a digital map on their computers as they watched a trail of red dots ascend the northeast ridge of Mount Everest—each dot marking his progress in 10-minute intervals. A circle that pulsed softly, like a heartbeat, reported each new location. Superimposed on the map were live Twitter exchanges from the members of Team Jordan, including Romero; his father, Paul Romero, and stepmother, Karen Lundgren; and guides Ang Pasang Sherpa, Lama Dawa Sherpa, and Lama Karma Sherpa, as they closed in on the summit. Back in the small community of Big Bear Lake, cheers erupted inside the home of Naomi Nelson, a schoolmate of Romero's who was following the dots on the map with her family. At 9:45 a.m., Everest time, on May 22, she saw the red dot pulsating from the peak and knew Jordan had bagged his dream. "I watched him on the map with my parents and sisters, and when he made it to the top, we went crazy," said the seventh grader. A host of others watched, too. The number of visitors to the Live on Everest site skyrocketed to 18,000 on that record-breaking day. "I know technology is saving lives every day, and in this case, it did make our team safer and [kept us] in contact with rescue and even friends and family," said Romero about Live on Everest site after returning home in June. "Feedback was just unbelievable. We were praised as likely having the most professional and most-watched expedition ever on Mount Everest." Team online submissions recorded the group's travel experiences. Tweets and photographs captured the initial excitement as Romero explored the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal. Then the subject turned to safety equipment and food supplies. On the mountain, he wrote about the three Sherpa guides as well as the cook, Kumar. Then the mood turned serious as team members attended a traditional climbers' ceremony to pay homage to the mountain before beginning the dangerous ascent. Individuals in the posted photos then became unrecognizable under giant parkas, hats, gloves, and goggles; eventually, oxygen masks were added, and the tweets became shorter and less frequent as the climbers headed for the summit. Using a Mapcentric Interface The Live on Everest application used Esri ArcGIS technology to bring various types of online information together into one simultaneous view. In addition to showing the map with nearly live tracking and Twitter exchanges, the application aggregated and displayed social media information from the team's Facebook blog and Flickr photos. Visitors at Live on Everest could access local weather forecasts, explore a terrain profile that calculated daily distance and elevation gains, and see a side view of the climbing route. "It was a fascinating feeling to be so remote, so disconnected, yet having the whole world watch our every move," Romero said. "Having family and fans connected to us provided energy; it provided pride to another level about our quest. Pretty cool stuff, almost like being on the moon and having so many people watch our every move." people around the world could follow Romero's journey via Live on Everest, a Web application provided by Esri. www.esri.com 68 ArcUser Fall 2010