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Everest
On Mt Everest, three
mountain ridges -- the Southeast, the Northeast, and the West - - meet to form
two summits: the main Everest summit at 8,848 m (29,028 ft) and the South
Summit at 8,748 m (28,700 ft) above sea level. The North face of Everest rises
about 12,000 ft above the Tibetan Plateau. Viewed from the Nepal side, Everest
forms a cluster of high mountain peaks along with other Himalayan giants --
Changtse from the north (7,560 m), Khumbutse from the northwest (6,665 m),
Nuptse from the southwest (7,861 m), and Lhotse from the south (8,501 m).
The
Early Years
Explorers have attempted to climb the mountain from the early years of the 20th
century. In the early years, not much was known about the physiological effects
of extreme altitude, and mountaineers the world over had their doubts whether
one could possibly climb Mt Everest. It was a leap into the world of the
unknown, traveling to far off lands and launching huge expeditions up the
slopes of the Himalaya to altitudes no human had ever experienced. In the early
years, the initial problems faced by these explorers was of merely gaining
access to Mt Everest, since neither Tibet nor Nepal, on either side of the
mountain, welcomed outsiders. It was only after a personal appeal to the Dalai
Lama that permission was granted for a British expedition to visit Everest from
the Tibet side in 1921. Their goal -- to find out if a route to the summit of
Mt Everest could be found. After early disasters struck, British mountaineer
George Leigh Mallory assumed responsibility for most of the exploration carried
out by this expedition.
Why climb Everest?
"Because it's there", was the classic answer of George Mallory who
became legendary due to his exploits on the highest peak of the world. British
expeditions attempted Everest again in the following years, and Mallory arrived
in 1924, in what was to be his last attempt on Everest.
In a final attempt for
the summit, Mallory was accompanied by the young Oxford University student
Andrew Irvine. They were attempting the Northeast Ridge to the summit of
Everest. The two mountaineers were climbing with the help of bottled oxygen and
were spotted by Noel Odell towards 1 p.m. on their summit day, on a rocky
outcrop on the ridge. In Odell's words they were 'going strong for the top'.
But, they disappeared
into the clouds and were never seen again. It is a famous mountaineering debate
whether Mallory and Irvine might have actually reached the top before the men
who finally climbed Mt Everest in 1953. It will forever remain one of the
greatest mysteries in the history of mountaineering.
Eric Shipton, one of the
most well-known mountaineers in the 1930s, predicted that Everest would
eventually be climbed, but he was aware of the physiological problems
encountered in high altitude mountaineering. In his words, "It would seem
almost as though there were a cordon drawn round the upper part of these great
peaks beyond which no man may go. The truth, of course, lies in the fact that,
at altitudes of 25,000 feet and beyond, the effects of low atmospheric pressure
upon the human body are so severe that really difficult mountaineering is
impossible and the consequences even of a mild storm may be deadly, that
nothing but the most perfect conditions of weather and snow offer the slightest
chance of success, and that on the last lap of the climb no party is in a
position to choose its day."
A British expedition was scheduled to attempt Mt Everest in 1953. This was the
last chance for the British because a number of Everest expeditions from other countries
were scheduled in the following years, and it was felt that one of them would
surely make it to the top. The pressure to succeed was high, and this was
evident as the leading British mountaineer Eric Shipton was replaced as
expedition leader by the military mountaineer with a flair for organization,
Colonel John Hunt. Shipton was so disappointed at the turn of events that he
withdrew from the expedition altogether. Under John Hunt's leadership, a very
able group of mountaineers lined up for the expedition. Edmund Hillary and
George Lowe from New Zealand, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, and others including
Charles Evans, George Band and Tom Bourdillon.
With fantastic planning,
the route was developed by setting up a number of camps. The frightening Khumbu
icefall was crossed, the south face of another eight thousander, Lhotse, was
traversed to reach the South Col. On the 26th of May, Charles Evans and Tom
Bourdillon, using artificial oxygen, launched the first summit attempt but were
pushed back less than 300 ft from the actual summit due to malfunctioning of
one of their oxygen sets.
Finally came the
opportunity for Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, the strongest and fittest
climbers in the team. They set up a high camp above the South Col, at a
breathtaking altitude of 27,900 ft above sea level, and spent a very
uncomfortable night there.
Twenty-nine years after
Mallory and Irvine disappeared on the higher slopes of Everest, Hillary and
Tenzing made their bid for the highest point on earth. And at 11:30 am on May
29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay of Nepal/India and Edmund Hillary of New Zealand
became the first men to reach the top of the loftiest mountain in the world.
Tenzing, Hillary and Hunt became popular international figures. Tenzing
received a hero's welcome in Nepal and India. Hillary and Hunt were knighted,
while Tenzing, unfortunately, was awarded the inferior British Empire Medal.
Since that golden day in
the history of mountaineering, more than 550 climbers from some 20 countries
have accomplished the feat. Wang Fu-Chou in a Chinese expedition team reached
the summit for the first time via the North Col. route from Tibet. Mrs Junko
Tabei of Japan was the first woman to stand on the top of the world, on the
16th of May 1975, and another Japanese, Yuichiro Miura, was the first to ski
back down, in 1970.
Climbers, nowadays,
attempt new and difficult routes and methods. Reinhold Messner and Peter
Habeler became the first men to climb Everest without the benefits of
artificial oxygen on May 8, 1978. Messner returned later for a solo climb of Mt
Everest -- again, without oxygen.
Sherpas have played
quiet but critically important roles in the history of Everest climbing. It is
their hardiness, fantastic skill and, above all, a love for their fellow
climbers and companions that have won them laurels. The Sherpas, while carrying
equipment to high altitude camps, have been known to take risks far greater
than those encountered by their employers.
Unfortunately, this has
also resulted in a disproportionately high number of Sherpa deaths and injuries
on the high mountains. In the 1922 British expedition, seven Sherpa porters
were buried under an avalanche on Everest's North Col. Sherpas have accounted
for more than one-third of the total deaths on Mt Everest in the first 70 years
of everest climbing -- 43 deaths. In the past, the achievements of the Sherpas
have been recorded only in footnotes in the annals of mountaineering history.
It is only in recent years that Sherpas have been given the rightful credit
that they truly deserve.
Sherpa Tenzing Norgay,
along with Edmund Hillary of New Zealand, holds the record of being the first
man on top of Mt Everest. A handful of Sherpas have now climbed Mt Everest five
times or more. Ang Rita Sherpa holds the incredible record of 9 successes on Mt
Everest. Pasang Lyamu was the first Nepali woman to have climbed Everest.
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