![\""Mountaineers\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/GettyImages-1045487226-web-dd95ec1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"1921\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>At the time, the sport of mountaineering was experiencing a golden age in Europe \u2013 in part, thanks to the efforts of Britain\u2019s Alpine Club. But peak-baggers would be denied the chance to ascend Everest for decades more, because it stood in forbidden territory sandwiched between Tibet and Nepal. Following the euphemistically named Younghusband Expedition of 1903\u201304 \u2013 in effect, a British invasion \u2013 Tibet opened its borders.<\/p>\n
- Read more | In the footsteps of Sir Francis Younghusband\u2019s 1903 invasion of Tibet<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
However, the region remained highly sensitive, and access for mountaineering was barred. The first real attempt to approach Everest by a western foreigner was made in 1913 by British Army officer John Noel, who donned a disguise to cross illegally into Tibet. He travelled to within 40 miles of the mountain, becoming the first westerner to see it up close before being arrested by the Tibetans and ejected back into British territory.<\/p>\n
The \u2018third pole\u2019 for British explorers<\/h3>\n
During the 19th century, Britain \u2013 under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) \u2013 had mapped much of the globe. However, in the early 20th century the RGS fellows\u2019 noses were firmly out of joint, with Britain having been beaten to the north and south poles. In 1919, when Noel gave a lecture to the RGS about his travels, the fellows realised that the world\u2019s highest mountain offered an untouched new target for exploration, dubbed the \u2018third pole\u2019.<\/p>\n
So the RGS invited the mountaineers of the Alpine Club to join with them to form a new body: the Mount Everest Committee. At that stage, barely anything was known about Everest. Noel had identified a possible climber\u2019s route up the North and then the North-east Ridge, but nobody knew how to reach them.<\/p>\n
The first real attempt to approach Everest by a western foreigner was made by British Army officer John Noel, who donned a disguise to cross illegally into Tibet <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
The first step to solving that conundrum was the 1921 Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition, which approached from Tibet \u2013 Nepal still being closed to western foreigners. Its members, including ill-fated mountaineer George Mallory<\/a>, succeeded in surveying some 12,000 square miles of unknown terrain. During an early traverse, Mallory peered into \u2013 but could not reach, being barred by \u201ca hopeless precipice\u201d \u2013 the Western Cwm, a steep-sided hollow that would prove a key stage on the summit route.<\/p>\n
![\""Members\"]( "\\"\"1924\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Members of the 1924 British Everest expedition. Climbers Andrew \u2018Sandy\u2019 Irvine and George Mallory (back, left) failed to return from their third summit attempt; Mallory\u2019s body was found only in 1999. (Photo by J.B. Noel\/Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n Yet the answer to the main problem still eluded them: how to gain the northern ridges? The pieces started to fall into place when the team realised that a stream issuing from a stony slope must be fed by meltwater from a hidden source \u2013 the previously unknown East Rongbuk Glacier, obscured till then by high ridges. Climbing above that ice river, on 24 September 1921 a team reached the sharp edged pass known as the North Col \u2013 and the door to Everest creaked open.<\/p>\n
Early attempts on the summit<\/h3>\n
Expeditions intent on the summit followed in 1922 in 1924. The 1922 attempt included Mallory and was marred by the deaths of seven Sherpa porters during an avalanche \u2013 the first reported climbing deaths on the mountain. On the latter expedition, Mallory and his climbing companion Andrew \u2018Sandy\u2019 Irvine failed to return from their third summit at tempt; Mallory\u2019s body lay undiscovered on the mountain for three-quarters of a century.<\/p>\n
- Read more | Mystery on Everest: did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit in 1924?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Nevertheless, their achievements were considerable, not least the 1924 ascent by Edward Norton who reached a then-record altitude of some 8,573 metres before turning back, faced with tough terrain and short on time. None of the four subsequent British expeditions of the 1930s topped that record. One of the mountaineers involved with those was Eric Shipton, who went on to play an important role in Everest missions into the early 1950s.<\/p>\n
![\""Climbers\"]( "\\"\"The\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Climbers camp at around 5,100 metres during the 1952 Swiss Everest expedition. (Photo by ATP\/RDB\/ullstein bild via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n The Second World War enforced a hiatus in attempts. In 1950, though, the geopolitical situation changed. Chinese forces invaded Tibet, blocking the established approach route to Everest. Fortunately for would-be summiteers, Nepal had finally opened its borders to western mountaineers. Lurking in the archives of the RGS were pictures of Everest\u2019s South-east Ridge, captured by secret photo reconnaissance flights during the Second World War. These photos opened the possibility of a climbing route from the south, via the Western Cwm spied by Mallory back in 1921.<\/p>\n
The 1951 Everest Reconnaissance Expedition<\/h3>\n
The Mount Everest Committee duly reconvened as the Joint Himalayan Committee. Once again, the challenge was to find a way onto the mountain. As Mallory had observed on first viewing the Western Cwm, its glacier looked \u201cterribly broken and steep\u201d \u2013 the infamous Khumbu Icefall. The 1951 Everest Reconnaissance Expedition, led by Shipton and including the New Zealander Hillary, aimed to find a route through. Hillary was the first to gain the top of the Icefall, but found access to the Western Cwm barred by a massive crevasse.<\/p>\n
- On the podcast | Ed Caesar on the wild plan in the 1930s for Maurice Wilson to fly from England to Everest in a Gipsy Moth plane, and then climb to the top of the mountain solo<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Geographical features weren\u2019t the only obstacles. The Joint Himalayan Committee was slow in submitting paperwork to the Nepalese government for a 1952 expedition, and a Swiss team secured the mountain for that year. Fortunately for the British, though the Swiss pioneered a route from the head of the Khumbu Icefall up to the South Col and onto the South-east Ridge, they were brought to a halt below the South Summit.<\/p>\n
Lacking direct experience of Everest \u2013 specifically, of the \u2018pyramid\u2019 system, whereby supplies are carried up the mountain camp by camp in progressively reducing quantities to equip the highest for the summit attempt \u2013 the Swiss team\u2019s build-up proved inadequate. Critically, they didn\u2019t get workable stoves to their top camp, so were unable to melt ice for water. Also, the oxygen sets they brought were designed for miners, not mountaineers, and could deliver oxygen only when the climbers were resting.<\/p>\n
Who led the 1953 expedition?<\/h2>\n
By 1953, Britain could not only call upon experience from eight previous expeditions but also on physiological research from the Second World War. Even so, the pressure was on \u2013 and other countries were waiting in the wings. If the first ascent of Everest were to be made by a British expedition, it had to succeed that year. They could no longer afford the sporting approach of the pre-war era.<\/p>\n
It was assumed that the hugely experienced Shipton would lead the next expedition. However, he saw himself more as a mountain explorer than a climber \u2013 and, frankly, he was bored with Everest. His unsuitability became clear while leading Britain\u2019s 1952 expedition to Cho Oyu (8,150 metres). Regarded as the most straightforward of the 8,000-metre peaks in the region, the attempt was seen as a rehearsal for Everest \u2013 but the expedition was a dismal failure.<\/p>\n
It was assumed that the hugely experienced Eric Shipton would lead the next expedition. However, he saw himself more as a mountain explorer <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Among his most strident critics was Griff Pugh, the expedition\u2019s physiologist. During the Second World War, he had undertaken extensive research on high-altitude acclimatisation for mountain troops. Clearly, oxygen would have to be used on Everest, but Pugh also realised the critical importance of drinking water at altitude, calculating that up to 4 litres a day would be necessary. Having observed Shipton on Cho Oyu, Pugh felt strongly that his leadership wouldn\u2019t deliver success.<\/p>\n
Though publicly supportive of Shipton, in private Hillary concurred: \u201cIn my opinion, Eric is quite unsuitable as an Everest leader.\u201d So the 1953 Everest expedition leader was Colonel John Hunt. A competent rather than outstanding mountaineer, he brought to the mission a soldier\u2019s focus and a staff officer\u2019s skills in organisation and logistics.<\/p>\n
The expedition\u2019s specialist equipment<\/h3>\n
The expedition made best use of many materials developed during the war: nylon for clothing and tents, insulated boots and aluminium equipment, but also lightweight walkie-talkies and nutritious, compact ration packs. Down clothing, filled with goose or duck feathers for insulation and worn by only one climber pre-war, was standard issue. Oxygen systems were greatly improved. Critically, the expedition carried Primus stoves, adapted by Pugh to work efficiently at altitude, to melt ice for all-important drinking water.<\/p>\n
Peak performance: the packing list for the 1953 expedition\u00a0<\/h4>\n
Down clothing<\/h6>\n
By 1924, climbers on Everest sported a well-designed clothing system made with the best wool, silk and cotton available. In 1953, nylon was used; however, the main leap forward from earlier expeditions was the down suit, filled with goose or duck feathers providing excellent insulation.<\/p>\n
Nylon<\/h6>\n
Nylon was woven with cotton for the windproof suits used in 1953. But the new material proved most useful in ropes: being stronger than natural fibre, it absorbs the shock of a falling climber, and doesn\u2019t become heavy when damp, nor rigid when frozen.<\/p>\n
Boots<\/h6>\n
\u201cOne pound on your feet equals five pounds on your back,\u201d or so the old hiker\u2019s saying goes. Though the boots worn in 1953 were excellent, those used in 1924 were equally well designed \u2013 the lightest ever worn high on Everest, even today. No climber wearing either design succumbed to frostbite.<\/p>\n
Crampons<\/h6>\n
These were needed on snow and ice but, despite an emerging trend to use crampons with \u2018front points\u2019, the British mountaineers preferred to cut steps in the ice, and went for an older design.<\/p>\n
Oxygen<\/h6>\n
Supplementary oxygen would be needed high on Everest. Early oxygen sets were too heavy, but efforts during the Second World War led to the development of bottles that could hold enough to compensate for the weight of the sets.<\/p>\n
Stoves and fuel<\/h6>\n
Everest has been climbed many times without bottled oxygen \u2013 but never without plenty of drinking water. By 1953, it was understood that up to 4 litres a day would be required; climbers carried specially adapted stoves and sufficient fuel to melt enough ice for drinking water.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
The crevasse at the head of the Khumbu Icefall would be bridged by Duralumin ladders. However, as the expedition\u2019s chief Sherpa (the Himalayan people who traditionally portered and assisted on the mountains) Tenzing Norgay pointed out, there were many other crevasses in the Icefall that would slow down the movement of supplies. His solution: have pine trees felled and the trunks carried in to span these fissures.<\/p>\n
By this time, Tenzing had been on Everest six times \u2013 more than any other climber \u2013 and had climbed high on the South-east Ridge with the Swiss in 1952. As the most experienced member of this expedition, it was no surprise when Hunt chose him to join one of the summit parties. The traditional relationship between British and Sherpa was friendly but paternalistic, essentially that of client and hired hand.<\/p>\n
![\""Sherpa\"]( "\\"\"Sherpa\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Sherpa cross a pine log spanning a crevasse during the 1953 expedition. The idea of felling and using tree trunks for this purpose was Tenzing\u2019s. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n With the Swiss it was more equal: both were mountain peoples, with no legacy of empire to hinder relations. To be fair to the British and Hunt, there was a genuine desire to see a Sherpa on the summit: they were very capable mountaineers, and they deserved to be there.<\/p>\n
Hunt didn\u2019t always get it right, as demonstrated by an early incident in Kathmandu. The climbers were housed in some comfort in the British embassy; the Sherpa contingent, billeted in garages, showed their displeasure by urinating in the road outside. The matter was dealt with effectively, but it did show that colonial attitudes were being challenged.<\/p>\n
Preparing for the push in 1953<\/h3>\n
The expedition made good progress under Hunt\u2019s leadership, establishing Advance Base Camp at 6,400 metres on 1 May. Following setbacks and challenges, on 21 May Wilfred Noyce and Sherpa Annullu reached the South Col. A heroic effort by a follow-on Sherpa party led by Charles Wylie ensured that sufficient logistics were at the base of the South-east Ridge for two or three summit attempts.<\/p>\n
On 26 May, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon were climbing on the South-east Ridge using the theoretically more-efficient but temperamental closed-circuit oxygen sets. Though this equipment malfunctioned, they succeeded in reaching the South Summit. Before retiring, they got a good view of the ridge beyond, noting a formidable step barring the ridge. On 28 May, a high camp was established at around 8,500 metres by Hillary and Tenzing, with George Lowe, Alf Gregory and Ang Nyima in support.<\/p>\n
Tenzing had been on Everest six times \u2013 more than any other climber <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
New Zealander Hillary had been chosen for a summit attempt thanks to his experience and ability on ice and snow, honed on the heavily glaciated mountains of his homeland. Tenzing was selected as probably the strongest climber overall.<\/p>\n
How did Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay make their ascent?<\/h2>\n
Waking at 4am, Hillary and Tenzing emerged from their tent and shouldered the reliable open-circuit oxygen sets. They reached the South Summit at 9am before embarking on the final knife-edge ridge, with its challenging step \u2013 subsequently named after Hillary, who climbed it first. At the top, he signalled Tenzing to come up, where he \u201ccollapsed at the top like a giant fish\u201d \u2013 or so Hillary said.<\/p>\n
![\""Hillary\"]( "\\"\"Hillary\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Hillary and Tenzing on the South-east Ridge, the day before their summit push. (Photo by Alfred Gregory\/Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n At times, the ridge seemed \u201cnever ending\u201d and a \u201cgrim struggle\u201d \u2013 till, suddenly, the slope \u201cinstead of rising, now dropped sharply away\u201d \u2013 and the summit was theirs. Keen to avoid claiming precedence, Hillary wrote in The Ascent of Everest<\/em> that \u201cwe<\/em> stood on top.\u201d Much later, Tenzing revealed that Hillary had reached the summit a few steps before him.<\/p>\n
- Read more | The conquest of Everest: photographs of the 1953 expedition\u00a0from the private archives of George Lowe<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
As for Hillary relieving himself, it demonstrated an important point. Pugh\u2019s insight on drinking enough water had been crucial, as had Hunt\u2019s logistical planning. That ensured sufficient supplies of oxygen, stoves and fuel to melt ice at the final camp. Britain\u2019s pre-war gentlemanly, rather amateur approach had been replaced by hard-nosed professionalism.<\/p>\n
Timeline: the steps to the summit of Everest<\/h4>\n
1852<\/h6>\n
Radhanath Sikdar of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India calculates that the mountain known simply as Peak XV is the world\u2019s highest. It is subsequently \u2013 and somewhat controversially \u2013 named after the former surveyor general of India, George Everest.<\/p>\n
1913<\/h6>\n
Young British lieutenant John Noel slips illegally over the border from India into Tibet, approaching to within 40 miles of Everest. Before being arrested and deported, he identifies a climber\u2019s route up the mountain\u2019s northern ridges.<\/p>\n
1919<\/h6>\n
Noel delivers a lecture to the Royal Geographical Society. This enthuses fellows to establish (with the British Alpine Club) the Mount Everest Committee, targeting the so-called \u2018Third Pole\u2019.<\/p>\n
1921<\/h6>\n
A British reconnaissance expedition explores, surveys and maps the Everest massif from the Tibetan side, identifying a viable approach route to the mountain\u2019s northern ridges.<\/p>\n
1922 & 1924<\/h6>\n
During two further British expeditions, climbers work their way up the North and North-east Ridges. On the latter mission, Edward Norton reaches about 8,573 metres \u2013 within 300 metres of the top. George Mallory and Andrew \u2018Sandy\u2019 Irvine disappear a few days later on a further summit attempt.<\/p>\n
1933 to 1938<\/h6>\n
Four expeditions return to Everest; none climbs higher than Norton\u2019s record altitude.<\/p>\n
1951<\/h6>\n
The Everest Reconnaissance Expedition makes the first ascent of the Khumbu Icefall from the recently opened Nepali side \u2013 China having invaded Tibet in 1950, closing off the northern approach.<\/p>\n
1952<\/h6>\n
A Swiss expedition gains permission from Nepal to mount the only expedition on Everest this year, climbing high on the South-east Ridge but stopping short of the summit.<\/p>\n
1953<\/h6>\n
Rattled by the Swiss effort, the British Everest Expedition is determined to achieve the first ascent. On 29 May 1953, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stand on the summit.<\/p>\n
1975<\/h6>\n
Dougal Haston and Doug Scott become the first Britons to reach the summit, climbing via the tough South-west Face on an expedition led by Chris Bonington.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
Much has been made of how the news was whisked to London by Times<\/em> correspondent James Morris in time for the coronation of Elizabeth II four days later. But as Mike Westmacott, the climber who escorted Morris down through the Icefall, later commented: \u201cYes, we were keen to get the news out, and James was worried about losing the scoop, but we\u2019d largely forgotten about the coronation. It was an accident, but a happy accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid talk of a new \u2018Elizabethan Golden Age\u2019, the ascent was the icing on the cake for 2 June 1953. \u201cAll this \u2013 and Everest too!\u201d cheered the Daily Express<\/em>. That day was a watershed, redolent with postwar hopes for a more meritocratic society. The British mountaineering establishment, too, was being challenged by a new generation of climbers. Two years later, on 25 May 1955, the first ascent of the world\u2019s third-highest summit, Kangchenjunga, was achieved by Joe Brown, a working-class plumber from Manchester (albeit with the middle-class George Band).<\/p>\n
- Read more | The conquest of Everest: photographs of the 1953 expedition\u00a0from the private archives of George Lowe<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
- On the podcast | Ed Caesar on the wild plan in the 1930s for Maurice Wilson to fly from England to Everest in a Gipsy Moth plane, and then climb to the top of the mountain solo<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
- Read more | Mystery on Everest: did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit in 1924?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
![\""Members\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/GettyImages-1045488104web-4c93d40.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"1924\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Climbers\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/GettyImages-1173943961-web-297dc4a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"The\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Sherpa\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/GettyImages-964846044-2afc01e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Sherpa\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Hillary\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/GettyImages-964846036-10755ff.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Hillary\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>