MOUNTAINEERING INFORMATION ARTICLES

Everest - Climbing History

Mount Everest is probably the most famous of the Seven Summits. It owes its fame to its sheer size and height. Towering at more than 8500 meters, this mountain is not too hard to miss. Because of that, many people have already attempted to reach its summit. Some succeeded while others perished. This section tells Everest's Climbing History where a lot can be said about the story of the men who dared to take the challenge of reaching the "world's summit".

In 1841, Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, records the location of Everest. In 1865, the Peak XV was renamed Mt. Everest to honor Sir George Everest. Everest is also known as Chomolungma in Tibet and Sagarmatha in Nepal.

In 1921, the First British Everest Reconnaissance Expedition to the mountain started and was led by Lt. Colonel Charles Howard-Bury. This is George Leigh Mallory's first trip to the mountain. At that time, virtually nothing was known of the Everest and the expedition had to walk all the way from Darjeeling, through Sikkim, and across the Tibetan plateau. After spending ten weeks exploring the northern and eastern reaches of the mountain, on September 24, 1921, Guy Bullock and George Mallory were the first climbers to reach the North Col of Everest at an altitude of around 23,000 feet (7000 meters). The northern route up the mountain had now been established.

In 1924, the Third British Everest Expedition started and was led by Acting Leader Lt. Colonel Edward Norton after Brigadier General C.G. Bruce is indisposed due to a flare-up of malaria. As a result, George Mallory was promoted to Climbing Leader. In June 4th of that year, after weeks of appalling weather, a string of camps were established on the northern side of the mountain, culminating in Camp 6 at 26,700 feet (8140 meters) on the North Ridge. Edward Norton and Howard Somervell attempted an oxygenless ascent equipped with only nailed boots, an Ice Axe, and a few layers of wool clothing, following an ascending diagonal line across the North Face of the mountain towards the Great Couloir. After Somervell is forced to give up at about 28,000 feet (8500 meters), Norton continues alone, reaching a high point of 28,126 feet (8570 meters) near the top of the Great Couloir, only 800 feet or 250 meters of the summit. He did this oxygenless, a height record not exceeded by anyone for the next 54 years! A few days later, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared attempting the crest of the Northe East Ridge. They took oxygen and it is conceivable that they actually climbed the formidable Second Step, the difficult rock barrier high on the ridge, to reach the summit, but in the absence of any evidence, the mountain was assumed to be still unclimbed.

Between 1924 and 1952, several expeditions led by British were held at the Everest for exploring, surveying, and Climbing purposes. The Sherpa Tenzing Norgay's first trip to the Everest as a young porter was in 1935 with the Fifth British Expedition. Since then, he accompanied several expeditions as a porter, building an enormous experience!

In 1952, a Swiss expedition led by R. E. Wyss-Dunant with climbers G. Chevalley, R. Lambert, R. Dittert, L. Flory, R. Aubert, A. Roch, J. Asper, E. Hofstetter, and Tenzing Norgay as Sirdar, made a summit attempt via the SouthEast Ridge. After a miserable night without sleeping bags or a stove, Tenzing Norgay and Raymond Lambert made an attempt using oxygen but failed below the South Summit at an altitude of 28,210 feet (8595 meters), beating Norton's height record by only 84 feet (25 meters).

After the monsoon, another expedition was held to the mountains, but this time, via a different route; the Lhotse Face, that is now the standard route. The expedition was fraught with bad luck (Sherpa Mingma Dorje was killed by falling ice, etc.) A camp was established on the South Col, but the arrival of winter's bitter cold and fierce gales put an end to the attempt. The expedition laid the groundwork for 1953.

In 1953, a British Expedition was led by Colonel John Hunt and consisted of climbers Dr. R.C. Evans, G. Band, T. Bourdillon, A. Gregory, Edmund Hillary, W.G. Lowe, C. Noyce, M.P. Ward, M. Westmacott, and C.G. Wylie. Returning as Sirdar from the Swiss attempts is yet again Tenzing Norgay. The route through the Icefall is completed by April 22, Camp VI is established at the foot of the Lhotse face at 23,000 feet (7000 meters), and after much delay, the South Col was reached via the Lhotse Face route pioneered by the Swiss the year before.

Since then, more than a thousand people have climbed and summited the Everest, most of them in the 1990s. One of the highlights is the oxygenless ascent of Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler in 1978 to the mountain. Even more remarkable was Habeler's descent in an hour back to the South Col. The year after, Reinhold Messner was the first man attempting and achieving a solo oxygen-free ascent of the North Ridge and North Face.

Even today, History is repeatedly being made everytime a Climbing team successfully reaches Mt. Everest's summit. It is because climbing it is no mean feat considering the vast amount of experience, determination and even resources needed to achieve that. We hope that this section helped you understand and consquently, appreciate better the History behind Mt. Everest, especially if you have already climbed its summit.

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