National Geographic magazine reports that ski-mountaineer Hilaree O’Neill — a member of its 2012 Everest expedition — will follow the same route Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did in 1953, but with an iPad and
iPhone in her backpack. iPad gives O’Neill a journaling device with a solid-state data storage drive usable at altitudes where spinning hard disk drives have been known to fail. And with cell service available even on Everest’s summit, she’ll use an iPhone 4S to stay in touch instead of a cumbersome walkie-talkie.

Full story... (http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/everest/gear-edmund-hillary-hilaree-oneill/)

Battery life?

First - cell service available even on Everest’s summit? WOW. And I can't cell service in my bathroom.

Second - how is the glass screen and touch mechanics going to work in the cold? She will have to take off her gloves to use the phone.

First - cell service available even on Everest’s summit? WOW.

Just wait till they have a Timmy's and Starbucks and MacDonald's there!

Cheers

First - cell service available even on Everest’s summit? WOW. And I can't cell service in my bathroom.

Second - how is the glass screen and touch mechanics going to work in the cold? She will have to take off her gloves to use the phone.

You don't need to touch the screen to use it. Anything that has a similar capacitance as human skin will work - the myriad of iPhone styli, as well as special gloves with rubberized fingertips.