A Comprehensive Climbing History of Mt Everest from the Earliest Expeditions to Today.
-Mount Everest Then and Now-
Each year, climbers from across the globe trek to the Himalayan monarch to test their mettle against more than five and a half vertical miles of mountain. While alpinism is better understood and relatively safer than half a century ago, its coldest realities remain.
On May 1st, 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Everest. With the help of his Sherpa guide Nawang Gombu- who, two years later, would go on to be the first man to summit Everest twice- Whittaker made history. His achievement came a decade after New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay claimed first summit. Back then the Nepalese government allowed only one expedition a year. Just three weeks after Whittaker stood atop Everest, four other Americans from his team followed suit. Barry Bishop and Lute Jerstad took the summit from the South Col, the last camp on the Southeastern ridge of Everest, as Whittaker had. Tom Horbein and Willi Unsoeld met Bishop and Jerstad at the top after breaking the first, treacherous ascent of the Western ridge. In less than a month, the American expedition, led by Swiss transplant Norman Dyhrenfurth, put five men on the summit-as many as during the entire decade before them.
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10 май 2021
