first climbers of mount everest

[watermelony2k]

so i've spent the past few hours wiki browsing and have come across a lot of interesting stuff about the first climbers of mount everest. I had known that Hillary and Tenzing were the first ppl to succesffuly climb to the summit and come down alive, but didnt know much about the earlier atempts to scale the mountain.

here's a timeline (it's sad how many ppl have died in total and creepy how contemporary climbers often come across the perfectly preserved remains of those who tried before them):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_climbing_Mount_Everest

the story of mallory and irving's expedition strikes me as both sad and mysterious. In 1924 they made three attempts to reach the top. On their third climb they never returned. So it's a mystery whether or not they had actually reached the summit and died on the way back or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Mount_Everest_Expedition_1924

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory

years later a chinese climber saw the remains of a dead englishman who turned out to be Mallory. In 1999 an expedition was sent to determine whether or not Mallory and Irving were in fact the first men to reach the top of earth's highest summit. Both men were known to have carried cameras and it's believed that if they had reached the top, they would've taken a picture... and their bodies and equipment would have been preserved.

and here were the results of that find:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallory_and_Irvine_Research_Expedition

Many artifacts were found on the body, but no camera. Three discoveries in particular fuel continuing speculation.

• First, Mallory's goggles were in his pocket, suggesting he was descending at night when he fell (though he may have had a second pair, ripped off in his fall).
• Secondly, on an envelope he had noted the amounts of oxygen in each of their cylinders, figures which suggest a slight possibility that the pair may have taken three cylinders on their final climb, rather than two as generally believed.
• Lastly it was absence of an artifact which was perhaps most intriguing: it had been reported that Mallory carried a photograph of his beloved wife Ruth with him which he planned to place on the summit in the event of success: it was not among his many personal possessions.

I just had to share because I'm just learning about this stuff for the first time. It really fuels the imaginiation, climbers have balls of steel.

 

[Guartho]

Maybe Hillary found Mallory's body on his way up and stole his camera so no one could contest his claim.

 

[WillsBabe]

I don't know why, but I have a fascination for Everest. I would like to get to basecamp one day. Going further is out of the question for me, but I feel that would be an achievement. It is actually the only ambition I've ever had - not in that it's been a long held, or lifelong ambition, it isn't, just that in all of my life I've never had plans or ambitons, except I have had a real yearining to do that.

 

[Deckerd]

I reckon the Nepalese went up there before but didn't see what all the fuss was about.

 

[Roger Wilco]

I reckon the Nepalese went up there before but didn't see what all the fuss was about.

I doubt it. I think nobody would have thought of climbing up these mountains until a bunch of crazy Britons arrived who paid them money to do it (same as in the Alps).

 

[Deckerd]

I thought Hillary was a New Zealander.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Same thing.

 

[wew]

I guess if we're talking about Austrians, we can just refer to them as Germans.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Ouch, point taken.
(to be fair, I didn't mean Hillary specifically anyway though, but more the pioneers of climbing high mountains a century or so earlier)

 

[Shaytan]

I just had to share because I'm just learning about this stuff for the first time. It really fuels the imaginiation, climbers have balls of steel.

A little off topic (not too much) but I recommand to read The Summit of the Gods by Jiro Taniguchi. It's a manga (not an usual mangal full of magic and technology, it's a lot more mature than that) in 5 volumes. You might really enjoy it (I did)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't know why, but I have a fascination for Everest. I would like to get to basecamp one day. Going further is out of the question for me, but I feel that would be an achievement. It is actually the only ambition I've ever had - not in that it's been a long held, or lifelong ambition, it isn't, just that in all of my life I've never had plans or ambitons, except I have had a real yearining to do that.

Have you seen the Everest IMAX movie? It's about the expedition on May 8 of 1996 where eight people died on the mountain (in fact the film crew, at one point, put down their gear and followed the rescue climbers up the mountain to help).

 

[Scout101]

interesting stuff. Brave well past the point of stupidity, but very interesting to read about. Doubt there will ever be enough info to close the case, though, even with the cold preserving things so well.

 

[Michael Chris]

I've heard it's really cold. Only people I've known to have gone succeeded but did suffer some frostbite.

But he's gay

 

[Neroon]

I'm curious as to when the sherpas began to escort climbers up to the summit. The reason is I had thought the area was considered holy or sacred to the Nepalese. Obviously that isn't the case anymore, or at least not everyone considered it so sacred.

 

[WillsBabe]

I don't know why, but I have a fascination for Everest. I would like to get to basecamp one day. Going further is out of the question for me, but I feel that would be an achievement. It is actually the only ambition I've ever had - not in that it's been a long held, or lifelong ambition, it isn't, just that in all of my life I've never had plans or ambitons, except I have had a real yearining to do that.

Have you seen the Everest IMAX movie? It's about the expedition on May 8 of 1996 where eight people died on the mountain (in fact the film crew, at one point, put down their gear and followed the rescue climbers up the mountain to help).

I haven't. I have seen lots of documentaries, the latest being Everest ER (narrated by David Tennant). It scares me and fascinates me. I really have no idea why...