The History of Everest
1841 – Sir George Everest, the Surveyor General of India, responsible for overseeing the Great Trigonometric Survey (a project tasked with determining the location, height and names of the world’s highest mountains) from 1930 to 1943, first records the position of the mountain we now know as Everest.
1847 – At this time the world's highest mountain was thought to be Kangchenjunga standing at 8,586 metres (28,169 ft). However in November 1847 Andrew Waugh (Sir George Everest's sucessor) observed a peak in the Eastern Himalaya which initial observations indicated it was even higher than Kangchenjunga. This mountain was given the name peak 'b'.
1849 – Andrew Waugh dispatched James Nicholson to the area of peak 'b' to take measurements in order to determine its height. Nicholson took a large number of measurements form multiple locations, however before he could use these obsevations to calculate the height of peak ‘b’he was struck down with malaria and was forced to return home.
Michael Hennessy, one of Waugh's assistances, began to designate peaks based on Roman Numnerals. Peak 'b' was subsequently designated as Peak XV.
1852 - Using the data collected by Nicholson, Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor, was the first to identify Peak XV as the worlds highest mountain.
1856 – Andrew Waugh announced the first complete height measurement of Peak XV and declared it to be 8,840 metres (29,002 ft).
1865 – Despite his protests, Peak XV was renamed to Mount Everest in honour of Sir George Everest
1955 – The height of Everest was adjusted to 8,848 metres (29, 028 ft) after an Indian survey calculated the peak was actually 8 metres (26 ft) higher than that calculated in 1956.
1999 – The National Geographic Society determined the height of Everest as 8,850 metres (29,035 feet). This however has not yet been adpoted as the official height by the Nepali Government.
1921 – The first British expedition to Everest, however this wasn’t a climbing expedition it was reconnaissance mission. The whole eastern and northern sides of the mountain were explored with the aim of finding a route to the summit.
1922 – The second British expedition, this time with the aim of making the first ascent of Mount Everest. This was also the first time that bottled oxygen was used. As the south side of Everest could not be attempted due to the borders of Nepal being closed to foreigners, the expedition made its attempt from the northern side out of Tibet. The team followed the route discovered by George Mallory during the 1921 recognisance expedition. After two unsuccessful summit attempts the expedition was ended on the third attempt when seven porters died as a result of an avalanche, these were the first recorded deaths on Everest. Despite the summit not being reached, a new world record for the climbing height of 8,230 metres (27,000 feet) was set by Charles Bruce and George Finch during the expedition’s second attempt at the summit.
1923 – Whilst on a lecture tour of the United States trying to generate funds for another attempt, a reporter asked George Mallory why he waned to climb Everest. He famously responded 'because it is there'.
1924 – The British returned to Everest again with the goal of ascending to the summit. The team once again included George Mallory, probably the best climber of his day and the only man to have been on both the 1921 and 1922 expeditions. There was also a new member of the climbing team, Andrew 'Sandy' Irvine. Irvine was an engineering student who, despite being an inexperienced climber, was included in the team for his ability to fix all sorts of expedition equipment, including making vast improvements to the oxygen system. The two soon became good friends as Irvine earned Mallory’s respect for his practical abilities and for being as 'strong as an ox'.
Following the expeditions first two unsuccessful attempts at the summit, Mallory selected Irvine as his climbing partner for the third attempt, a climb which has become Everest legend. At approximately 8.00am on the 8th June 1924, Mallory and Irvine set off from high camp heading for the summit. At 12:50pm the two were spotted on an area just below the Second Step, approximately 5 hours from the summit, as one tiny black dot was observed moving towards the other. This was the last time that either of them was seen alive. The question as to whether or not George Mallory and Andrew Irvine reached the top of the world still remains a mystery today. In 1999 a search expedition discovered Mallory’s body a way below the Second Step at a height of 8,159 meters (26,768 feet) suggesting he was on his way down from the mountain. However, the Kodak camera he was known to be carrying was not with him, nor was the photograph of his wife Ruth that he carried throughout the expedition and had intended to place on the summit. Did they make it to the top? You’ll have to make up your own mind.
1933 – The British returned to Everest with it’s forth expedition with a new generation of climbers. Two attempts were made, both without oxygen, however they failed to reach the summit. These are the first attempts made without supplemental oxygen.
1934 - The eccentric Maurice Wilson who despite, having no mountaineering experience but possessing an inner faith to succeed, attempts to summit Everest solo. Camped at the base of the North Col, Wilson asked his Sherpas to wait for ten days, after which they would be free to leave should he not return. That was the last time he was seen alive and so 10 days later the Sherpas returned to Darjeeling, where Tenzing Norgay reports seeing them with large amounts of money. Wilson's body was later found below the North Col at approximately 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) by members of the 1935 Reconnaissance Expedition. He was found in the remains of his tent; apparently he had died while in the act of taking off his boots. No one knows how far up the mountain he got or indeed whether he made it to the summit.
1935 – The fifth British expedition, this one being another reconnaissance mission. This was Tenzing Norgays first trip to Everest who acted as a porter during the expedition.
1936 – British expedition number six consisted of a large, strong and experienced team and had high hopes of reaching the summit. Tenzing Norgay returned for his second expedition as a porter. The early onset of the monsoon season rendered the expedition as a failure and the summit remained elusive.
1937 – Another British attempt, this time with a much smaller and less expensive expedition. The ever persistent Tenzing Norgay was again present as a porter. Due to the severe cold of their first attempt and the onset of the monsoon before their second, the expedition once again failed. However the team managed to set up high camps and make a number of serious assaults on the summit thus proving that a small expedition was sufficient to put climbers in a position to make a summit bid.
1950 – Tibet is invaded by China and falls under the communist Chinese rule. The borders are closed to Westerners and Everest expeditions from the north are no longer possible
A revolution takes place in Nepal which sees the ruling Rana family overthrown. Nepal opens it's borders to the west allowing foreign expeditions access to the southern side of Everest possible for the first time
1951 – A post monsoon (autumn) British reconnaissance expedition to the southern side of Everest first attempted to ascend the deadly Khumbu Ice fall. They almost managed to reach the Western Cwm before retreating. Sir Edmund Hillary formed part of the expedition team, his first trip to Everest.
1952 – A Swiss expedition attempted to summit both in the spring and post monsoon.
Spring Attempt: Tenzing Norgay returned to Everest again, this time however he was the expedition Sidar (head Sherpa). This was the first time he’d been to Everest since he joined an illegal, ill equipped attempt by Canadian born Brit Earl Denman which failed in 1947. The team negotiated the Khumbu icefall, passed through the Western Cwm, ascended the Lhotse Face, climbed the Geneva Spur and set up Camp IV on the South Col. After a miserable night without sleeping bags or a stove, Tenzing Norgay and Raymond Lambert made a summit attempt using oxygen but were forced to turn around just below the South Summit at an altitude of 8,595 meters (28,210 feet). The two ascended higher than anyone else had ever managed before them and despite the failure, the experience Tenzing gained was vital.
Post Monsoon: Tenzing Norgay returned again as Sidar for the post monsoon attempt. The attempt however is fraught with bad luck and Sherpa Mingma Dorje is killed by falling ice on the Lhotse Face. This was the first death on Everest in 20 years and is the first reported death on the southern side of the mountain. A camp was established on the South Col however the arrival of the extreme winter cold puts an end to the attempt.
1953: The British returned to Everest with an expedition under the leadership of Colonel John Hunt. Returning as Sidar, Tenzing Norgay was yet again present on another Everest expedition. Also in the team was a New Zealander by the name of Edmund Percival Hillary who was returning to Everest after joining the 1851 British reconnaissance expedition. Hillary, despite being a gangly 6ft 5in, was physically strong, had great endurance and had been a keen climber ever since his school days.
Hillary and Tenzing were teamed together as the second pair to be given the chance to attempt to reach Everest's summit during the expedition. The first pair of Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans came within 100 metres of reaching the top, however due to strong winds, a dwindling oxygen supply and shear exhaustion they were forced to turn back. Two days later it was the turn of Hillary and Tenzing. At approximately 6:30am the pair departed Camp IX on the South East Ridge using open circuit oxygen sets. By 9:00am they had reached the South Summit, before tackling a 40 foot vertical section of rock now known as the Hillary Step. Then at 11:30am on the 29th May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to set foot on summit of the world’s highest peak. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending. When they eventually reached the South Col they were met by George Lowe to whom Hillary famously stated "Well, George, we knocked the bastard off."
1956 – A successful Swiss expedition from the south on which four men successfully reached the summit of Everest and two became the first men to climb to the top of the main summit of Lhotse via the very difficult North Ridge.
1960 – A huge team of 214 men and women from Tibet and China make an assault on Everest from the north following the route established by George Mallory and the British expeditions of the 1920’s. The summit team had great difficulty in ascending the Second Step and even resorted to removing their boots and climbing up bare foot and utilising a 'shoulder up' (one climbed on anothers shoulders to reach the top of the step). Despite these difficulties they managed the only documented successful ascent without the ladder (placed there by the 1975 Chinese expedition) and a team of three, Wang Fu-chou, Chu Yin-hua and Gonpa, eventually made it to the summit in the dark and marked the first successful ascent of Everest from the north side. For many years the success of the expedition was doubted by many Western climbers, however for most it is now regarded as a remarkable climbing achievement.
1960 also saw the first Indian expedition who made their attempt from the south. They were however unsuccessful and were forced to retreat after reaching the South Summit due to a violent storm and driving snow.
1962 – An illegal four man American expedition enter Tibet without a permit and without the support of porters. Amazingly they managed to reach the base of the North Col in 19 days after a grueling schedule of shuttling loads up the mountain three times daily. After some near misses and limited rations the team admitted defeat and somehow managed to cross back into Nepal without being caught.
Also in 1962 a second Indian expedition failed to reach the summit after the weather once again prevented them ascending the southeast route.
1963 – A large, and costly, American expedition with over 900 porters and 29 tons of food make set up camp below the Khumbu. On May 1st Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Everest after ascending the Southwest route used by Tenzing and Hllary. However this was only the first achievement of the American expedition. Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld attempted to summit from the previously unclimbed western side. After nearly being blown off the West Shoulder, squeezing through what is now called the Hornbein couloir and ascending a 60 foot headwall the pair reached the summit on May 22nd. They were then forced to descend the mountain down the Southeast Ridge and made the first ever traverse of Everest before having to bivouac high on the mountain in the extreme cold. The two climbers made it down safely but Unsoeld later lost most of his toes to frostbite.
1965 – The third and finally successful Indian expedition succeed when they make it to the summit from the Southeast Ridge route.
1966 to 1969 – Everest attempts from the south are were not possible this period as Nepal was closed to mountaineering due to the increasingly politically tense environment antagonized by India and China. Attempts from the north were also not possible as Tibet remained closed to all Western foreigners.
1975 – On the 16th May 1975, Junko Tabei of Japan became the first woman to reach the summit by climbing the Southeast ridge route as part of the Japanese Ladies Expedition Team.
1978 – Up until 1978 many scientists, doctors and mountaineers alike believed that climbing Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen was impossible. However on May 8th 1978 Reinhold Messner of Italy and Peter Habeler of Austria became the first people to reach the summit of Everest without the use of bottled oxygen. Some regard this as the first 'true' ascent of Everest and Messner achieved his goal of doing it 'by fair means or not at all.'
1979 – Hannelore Schmatz becomes the first woman to die on Everest as she perished from exhaustion on her descent from the summit.
1980 - Reinhold Messner again proved everyone wrong as he became the first solo climber to successfully climb Everest. Ascending from the north side he climbed for 3 days entirely alone and without supplemental oxygen before reaching the summit on the 20th August 1980.
Also in 1980, Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy, both of Poland, make the first winter ascent of Everest earlier that year on the 17th February 1980.
1988 – Lydia Bradey of New Zealand became the first woman to summit Everest without the use of bottled oxygen.
1990 - Andrej & Marija Stremfelj from Slovenia became the first married couple to summit together.
Also in 1990 Noel Roche and his son Roche Bertrand aka Zebulon became the first father and son to summit together. On the decent they climbed down to the South Col but flew the rest of the way down on a tandem paraglider.
1996 – Spring of 1996 was the deadliest season on Everest. Fifteen climbers died on the mountain during two days of horror when a mountain top crowded with climbers was hit by a surprise and fierce storm on May 10th. Six people died on the South Col route, as chronicled by Jon Krakauer's best selling book 'Into Thin Air' and four others died on the north side. Amongst the victims were two highly skilled and respected mountaineers Rob Hall and Scott Fisher.
1999 – Babu Chiri Sherpa climbed to the summit and slept there, the first and the only person ever to do so. He stayed on the summit for a total of 21 hours and 30 minutes before descending.
2000 – Early on October 7th 2000, having reached the summit, the Solvenian Davo Karnicar put on his skis and set off down the South Face of Everest. Five hours later he safely arrived at base camp and became the first person ever to completely descend on skis.
2001 – American Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to summit Everest.
Also in 2001 Marco Siffredi became the first person to snowboard from the summit all the way to base camp.
2003 - American Gary Guller become the first person with only one arm to Summit Everest.
Also in 2003, three brothers, Da Nuru Sherpa, Jangbu Sherpa and Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa all summated Everest on the same day.
2005 – On May 14th 2005 the first helicopter landing on Everest's summit was achieved. French test pilot Didier Delsalle flew the Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopter with its unmodified turbo engine to the top of Everest twice and landed on the summit on both occasions. Although initially giving him clearance, Delsalle was later in trouble for flying in Nepalese airspace without permission.
On the 30th May 2005, Nepalese couple Pem Dorjee and Moni Mulepati were the first people to be married on the summit of Everest.
2006 - Kit Deslauriers became the first woman to ski down from the summit of Everest.
On May 15 2006, after forty days of climbing, Mark Inglis became the first ever double amputee to reach the summit of Everest. While acclimatising at 6,400 metres (21,000 feet), a fixed-line anchor failed, resulting in Inglis falling and breaking one of his carbon fibre prosthetic legs in half. It was temporarily repaired with duct tape, while a spare was brought up from base camp.
2006 was also possibly the most controversial year in Everest's history. British climber David Sharp died on the North Col having been passed by 40 climbers heading for the summit none of which made an attempt to rescue him. Sir Edmund Hillary (first person to summit Everest) condemned the actions of the climbers stating 'I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top. It was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say good morning and pass on by'.
2011 – Steve and Sarah of the Patch Expedition reach the summit via the Southeast ridge and fly a flag with the pictures of all the people that sponsored them on the top of the world. The flag was the largest ever to be flown on the summit of Everest and had and on it were 50,000 pairs of eyes taking in the breath taking views from the highest point on Earth.