Who climbed Mount Everest. Who was the first to conquer Everest: history, interesting facts. Climatic conditions, flora and fauna
Faktrum wants to tell you a few stories about conquering Everest. We warn you: the text is not for the impressionable!
1. 40 people passing by and one Discovery TV crew
The general public first became aware of the “horrible” morals that reign on the approaches to Everest in May 2006, when the circumstances of the death of David Sharp, a British climber who attempted to conquer the peak alone, became known. He never made it to the top, dying from hypothermia and oxygen deprivation, but it is noteworthy that a total of 40 people passed by the slowly freezing math teacher, and no one helped him. Among those passing by was a film crew from the Discovery TV channel, whose journalists interviewed the dying Sharp, left him oxygen and moved on.
The general public was outraged by the “immoral” act of those who “passed by,” but the truth is that no one could help Sharpe at such a height, even with all the desire. It was simply not humanly possible.
2. "Green Shoes"
It is unknown when the concept of “green boots” came into use among Everest conquerors and became folklore. But it is known for certain that they belong to the Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, one of the victims of the “Bloody May” of 1996 - that month a total of 15 people died on Everest. This is the largest number of victims in one season in the entire history of conquering the highest peak on the planet. For years, Paljor's green boots have been a landmark for those climbing the mountain.
In May 1996, several commercial expeditions climbed Everest at once - two American, one Japanese, one Indian and one Taiwanese. They are still arguing about who is to blame for the fact that most of their participants never returned. Several films were made based on the events of that May, and the surviving participants wrote several books. Some blame the weather, some blame the guides who began descending before their clients, some blame other expeditions that did not help those in distress or even hindered them.
3. The Arsentievs
In May 1998, the couple Francis and Sergei Arsentiev attempted to conquer Everest without supplemental oxygen. The idea is daring, but quite realistic - without additional equipment (at least 10–12 kg), you can go up and down faster, but the risk of complete exhaustion from lack of oxygen is very high. If something goes wrong during the ascent or descent and climbers linger in the “death zone” longer than the physical capabilities of the body allow, inevitable death awaits them.
The couple spent five days in the base camp at an altitude of 8200 meters, twice their attempts to climb ended in failure, as time passed, so did their strength. Finally, on May 22, they went out for the third time and... conquered the summit.
However, during the descent, the couple lost sight of each other and Sergei was forced to descend alone. Frances lost too much strength and simply fell, unable to continue on her way. A few days later, an Uzbek group passed by the freezing Frances without helping her. But its participants told Sergei that they had seen his wife and he, taking oxygen cylinders, went in search... and died. His body was found much later.
The last people Frances saw and who, accordingly, saw her alive were British climbers Ian Woodall and Cathy O'Dowd, who spent several hours with the dying woman. According to them, she kept repeating “don’t leave me,” but the British could not help her and left, leaving her to die alone.
4. Perhaps the first true conquerors of Everest
It’s not for nothing that those who strive to conquer Everest say that it’s not enough to climb - until you descend, the peak cannot be considered conquered. If only because there will be no one to tell that you were really there. Such is the sad fate of climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irwin, who attempted to conquer Everest in 1924. Whether they reached the top or not is unknown.
In 1933, at an altitude of 8460 m, the hatchet of one of the climbers was found. In 1991, at an altitude of 8480 m, an oxygen cylinder manufactured in 1924 (and, accordingly, belonging to either Irwin or Mallory) was found. And finally, in 1999, Mallory’s body was found at an altitude of 8200 m. Neither a camera nor photographs of his wife were found with him. The latter fact makes researchers believe that either Mallory or both climbers still reached the summit, since Mallory, before going to Everest, told his daughter that he would definitely leave a photo of his wife at the top.
5. Everest does not forgive “not like everyone else”
Everest severely punishes those who try to act “not like everyone else.” It is not for nothing that most successful ascents are made either in May or in September-October - the rest of the year the weather on the mountain is not conducive to ascents and descents. It’s too cold (until May), weather conditions change too quickly, and the risk of avalanches is too high (in summer).
Bulgarian Hristo Prodanov decided to prove that climbing Everest in April is quite possible - to do something that no one has done before. He was a very experienced mountaineer who conquered many iconic peaks.
In April 1984, Christo attempted to climb Everest - alone and without oxygen. He successfully summited, becoming both the first Bulgarian to set foot on the planet's highest mountain and the first person to do so in April. However, on the way back he was caught in a fierce snowstorm and froze to death.
6. The creepiest corpse on Everest
Hannelore Schmatz became the first woman and first German citizen to die while approaching the summit of Everest. This happened in October 1979. However, she is famous not only for this reason and not because she died of exhaustion on the descent, having successfully conquered Everest, but because for a good 20 years her body frightened those who tried to conquer Everest. She, blackened in the cold, froze in a sitting position towards the climbers of Everest, with her eyes wide open and her hair flowing in the wind. They tried to lower her body from the top, but several expeditions failed, and the participants in one of them themselves died.
In the end, the mountain took pity and during one particularly strong storm at the beginning of the 2000s, Hannelore’s body was thrown into the abyss.
7. Keep anniversaries alive
Sherpa Lobsang Tshering, nephew of Tenzing Norgay, the first official conqueror of Everest, decided to make the climb in May 1993 in memory of what his uncle had done. Fortunately, the 40th anniversary of the conquest of the mountain was just approaching. However, Everest does not really like “celebrants of the day” - Schering successfully climbed the highest mountain on the planet, but died during the descent, when he already believed that he was safe.
8. You can climb Everest as much as you like, but one day it will take you away
Babu Chiri Sherpa is a legendary Sherpa guide who has climbed Everest ten times. The man who spent 21 hours on top of a mountain without oxygen, the man who reached the top in 16 hours and 56 minutes, which is still a record. The 11th expedition ended tragically for him. At an altitude of 6500 meters, “children’s” for this guide, he was photographing the mountains, accidentally miscalculated his movements, stumbled and fell into a crevice, in which he fell to his death.
9. He died, but someone survived
Brazilian Vitor Negrete died in May 2006 during the descent after conquering Everest. This was Negrete's second ascent, and this time he planned to become the first Brazilian to conquer the mountain without oxygen. While ascending, he made a cache in which he left food and oxygen, which he could use on the descent. However, on the way back, after a successfully completed mission, he discovered that his cache had been plundered and all his supplies had disappeared. Negrete did not have enough strength to reach the base camp and died very close to it. Who took the supplies and the life of the Brazilian remains unclear.
Why did Ringo Starr leave the Beatles?
Why did women start wearing bras?
Why did people decide that the Earth is flat?
The Republic of Nepal is known as the highest mountainous country in the world. On the northern side it is bordered by the Great Himalayan Range, famous for several peaks exceeding 8000 meters, including Everest - the highest on the planet (8848 meters).
Everest: who conquered the place of the gods
According to popular beliefs, this place was considered the abode of the gods, so no one thought of climbing there.
The top of the world even had special names: Chomolungma (“Mother - Goddess of Peace”) among the Tibetans and Sagarmatha (“Forehead of Heaven”) among the Nepalese. They began to call it Everest only in 1856, with which China, India, and the direct culprit of the renaming did not agree - the British aristocrat, geodesist, military man - George Everest, who was the first to determine the exact location of the Himalayan peak and its height. Disputes still arise from time to time in the press that a mountain located in Asia should not have a European name. Who was the first to conquer Everest - the peak that almost every climber dreams of?
The graceful beauty of the top of the world
The nature of Everest with rocks, snow and eternal ice is menacingly harsh and silently beautiful. Here, severe frosts almost always prevail (down to -60 °C), avalanches and snow falls are frequent, and the tops of the mountains are blown from all sides by fierce winds, the gust speed of which reaches 200 km/h. At an altitude of about 8 thousand meters, the “death zone” begins, so called for the lack of oxygen (30% of the amount present at sea level).
Risk for what?
Nevertheless, despite such harsh natural conditions, conquering Everest was and is the cherished dream of many climbers around the world. Standing at the top for a few minutes to go down in history, to look at the world from heavenly heights - isn’t this happiness? For such an unforgettable moment, climbers are ready to risk their own lives. And they take risks, knowing that they can remain in an untrodden land for eternity. Factors in the possible death of a person who ends up there are lack of oxygen, frostbite, injury, heart failure, fatal accidents and even the indifference of partners.
So, in 1996, a group of rock climbers from Japan met with three Indian climbers who were in a semi-fainting state. They died because the Japanese did not help their “competitors” and passed by indifferently. In 2006, 42 climbers, along with Discovery Channel television crews, indifferently walked past an Englishman who was slowly dying from hypothermia, and also tried to interview him and take photographs. As a result, the daredevil who risked conquering Everest alone died from frostbite and oxygen starvation. One of the Russian climbers, Alexander Abramov, explains such actions of his colleagues as follows: “At an altitude of more than 8,000 meters, a person striving to conquer the peak is completely occupied with himself and does not have extra strength to provide assistance in such extreme conditions.”
George Mallory's attempt: successful or not?
So who was the first to conquer Everest? The discovery of George Everest, who had never conquered this mountain, was the impetus for the unbridled desire of many climbers to reach the top of the world, which George Mallory, Everest’s compatriot, was the first to decide on (in 1921).
Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful: heavy snowfalls, strong winds and lack of experience in climbing to such a height stopped the British climber. However, the unattainable peak beckoned to Mallory, and he made two more unsuccessful ascents (in 1922 and 1924). During the last expedition, his teammate Andrew Irwin disappeared without a trace. One of the expedition members, Noel Odell, was the last to see them through a gap in the clouds rising to the top. Only after 75 years, an American search expedition discovered Mallory’s remains at an altitude of 8155 meters. Judging by their location, the climbers fell into the abyss. Also in scientific circles, when studying the same remains and their location, an assumption arose that George Mallory was the first person to conquer Everest. Andrew Irwin's body was never found.
The years 1924-1938 were marked by the organization of a number of more expeditions, although unsuccessful. After them, Everest was forgotten for some time, because the Second World War began.
Pioneers
Who conquered Everest first? The Swiss decided to storm the unconquered peak in 1952, but the maximum height they climbed stopped at 8,500 meters; 348 meters was beyond the reach of climbers due to bad weather conditions.
If we assume that Mallory was unable to reach the top of the world's highest mountain, then the question of who was the first to conquer Everest can be safely answered - New Zealander Edmund Hillary in 1953, and not by himself, but with an assistant - Sherpa Norgay Tenzing .
By the way, Sherpas (from Tibetan, “sher” - east, “pa” - people) are the very people without whom, perhaps, hardly anyone would have been able to reach such a coveted peak. They are a mountain people who settled in Nepal more than 500 years ago. It was the Sherpas who were the easiest to climb Everest, since this mountain is their homeland, where every path is familiar from childhood.
Sherpas are reliable helpers on the way to the top
Sherpas are very good-natured people who are not capable of causing offense to anyone. For them, killing an ordinary mosquito or field mouse is considered a terrible sin, which must be prayed for very strongly. The Sherpas have their own language, but nowadays they almost all speak English. This is the great merit of Edmund Hillary, the first conqueror of Everest. As a token of gratitude for the invaluable help, he built a school at his own expense in one of the main villages.
Although, with all the penetration of civilization into the lives of the Sherpas, their way of life remains largely patriarchal. Traditional settlements are stone two-story houses, on the ground floor of which livestock is usually kept: yaks, sheep, goats, and the family itself is usually located on the second floor; There is also a kitchen, bedrooms, and a living room. Minimum furniture. Thanks to pioneer mountaineers, electricity recently appeared; They still don’t have gas or any kind of central heating. They use yak dung as fuel for cooking, which is first collected and dried on stones.
The inaccessible Mount Everest... Who was the first to conquer this distant peak: or George Mallory? Scientists are still looking for the answer today, as well as the answer to the question of what year Everest was conquered: in 1924 or 1953.
Everest Conquest Records
Everest has succumbed to more than one person; even records were set for a temporary ascent to the top. For example, in 2004, Sherpa Pemba Dorj reached it from base camp in 10 hours 46 minutes, while most climbers take up to several days to complete the same operation. The fastest person to descend the mountain in 1988 was the Frenchman Jean-Marc Boivin, although he made the jump on a paraglider.
The women who conquered Everest are in no way inferior to men, also stubbornly and persistently overcoming every meter of the climb to the top. The first representative of the weak half of humanity in 1975 was the Japanese Junko Tabei, 10 days later - Phantog, a Tibetan climber.
Who was the first senior person to conquer Everest? The oldest conqueror of the summit is 76-year-old Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherkhan, and the youngest is 13-year-old American Jordan Romero. Of interest is the persistence of another young conqueror of the “top of the world” - 15-year-old Temba Tseri Sherpa, whose first attempt was unsuccessful due to lack of strength and frostbite on both hands. Upon his return, Tembe had 5 fingers amputated, which did not stop him; he conquered Everest on his second ascent.
Among the disabled is also the first person to conquer Everest. This is Mark Inglis, who rose to the top of the world in 2006 using prosthetics.
The hero even joked that, unlike other climbers, he would not get frostbite on his toes. Moreover, his legs were frostbitten earlier, while trying to climb the highest peak in New Zealand - Cook's Peak, after which they were amputated.
Apparently, Everest has some kind of magical power if hundreds of climbers rush towards it. The one who conquered him once returned more than once, trying to do it again.
Alluring peak - Everest
Who was the first to conquer Everest? Why are people so drawn to this place? There are quite a lot of reasons explaining this. Tickling nerves, lack of thrills, the desire to test yourself, the boredom of everyday life...
Texas millionaire Dick Bass is the man who conquered Everest. He, not being a professional climber, was not going to spend years carefully preparing for a dangerous climb and decided to conquer the peak of the world right away, as they say: here and now. Bass was ready to pay any money to anyone who would help make his seemingly unrealistic dream come true.
Dick Bass was still able to conquer the top of Everest, and the expedition’s assistants were an assembled team that provided the millionaire with comfort while climbing; people carried all the cargo, tents, water, food. So to speak, the ascent was all-inclusive, and this served as the beginning of commercial travel to the summit.
Since then, since 1985, anyone who has enough money to do so can conquer the peak. Today, the cost of one such ascent varies from 40 to 85 thousand dollars, depending on the side of the climb up the mountain. If the journey takes place from Nepal, then it is more expensive, because a special permission from the king is required, costing 10 thousand dollars. The rest of the amount is paid for organizing the expedition.
And there was even a wedding...
In 2005, Mona Mulet and Pem Georgi had a wedding on top of the world. Having climbed up, the newlyweds took off the traditional colored garlands around their necks for a few minutes. Pem then anointed the forehead of his bride with scarlet powder, symbolizing marriage. The newlyweds kept their act a secret from everyone: parents, acquaintances, expedition partners, because they were not sure of the successful outcome of the planned event.
So how many people have summited Everest? Surprisingly, today there are more than 4,000 people. And the most optimal period for climbing in mild weather conditions is considered to be spring and autumn. True, such an idyll does not last long - only a few weeks, which climbers try to use as fruitfully as possible.
According to statistics, every tenth of those who storm Everest dies, and most of the accidents occur during the descent, when there is practically no strength left. Theoretically, Everest can be conquered in a few days. In practice, gradualness and an optimal combination of ascents and rests are required.
The highest point of Everest (or Chomolungma) is located 8848 meters above sea level. Research on this mountain peak, located in the Himalayas, began in the 1850s, when English surveyors working in India were creating maps. By the way, the name “Everest” was given to the peak by the British geographer George Everest, who led one of the first expeditions in that area. During the same period, it was established that Chomolungma is the highest mountain, although specific data on its height were constantly subject to adjustment, being in the range from 8839 meters to 8872.5 meters.
Representatives of the Sherpa people are the most frequent guests of Everest as expedition guides. They also own almost all climbing records. For example, Appa Tenzing was on top of the world 21 times.
Naturally, such a peak could not help but attract the attention of climbers from all over the world. However, many obstacles stood in the way of those wishing to conquer Everest, including a ban on foreigners visiting them from most countries in which the routes to climb Mount Chomolungma are located.
In addition, the problem of breathing at high altitude presented a significant difficulty, since the air there is strong and does not saturate the lungs with oxygen in the required quantities. However, in 1922, the Englishmen Finch and Bruce decided to take a supply of oxygen with them, which allowed them to reach a height of 8320 meters. In total, about 50 ascent attempts were made, but none of them were successful.
The first conqueror of Everest
In 1953, New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary took part in an expedition carried out by the British Himalayan Committee. At that time, the Nepalese government only allowed one per year, so Hillary happily agreed, realizing that this was a very rare opportunity. In total, the expedition included more than four hundred people, most of them were porters and guides from the local Sherpa people.To date, more than four thousand people have conquered Everest, while about two hundred climbers have died on its slopes.
The base camp was set up at an altitude of 7800 meters back in March, but the climbers set out to conquer the peak only in May, having spent two months acclimatizing to high-mountain conditions. As a result, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa climber Tenzing Norgay set out on May 28. In one day they reached a height of eight and a half kilometers, where they set up a tent. The next day at 11:20 a.m. the highest peak on the planet was conquered.
World recognition awaited the heroes of the expedition: Queen Elizabeth II of Britain awarded Hillary and the head of the expedition, John Hunt, a knighthood, and in 1992 New Zealand issued a five-dollar banknote with a portrait of Hillary. Tenzing received the St. George Medal from the British government. Edmund Hillary died of heart failure in 2008 at the age of 88.
A memorial stone to Russian climbers who did not return from the top of Everest stands near the village of Dugla
In the 30 years since our compatriots first conquered Everest on May 4, 1981, more than 50 people died on its slopes. Some of them, unburied, still lie on the top.
We must hurry, there will be a snowstorm soon,” Prem warned.
We'll make it. What's the point of hanging around in a frozen hut heated by yak dung?
A couple of minutes later the snowstorm covered us from behind with a prickly snow hood.
In the gray-gray darkness, Natasha filmed Ksyusha in the spirit of Norshtein: “The Hedgehog is looking for the Little Bear in the fog.” We were having fun, Prem was nervous and pushing. Soon the Hedgehog was no longer visible in the lens, and Prem lost his way, but said nothing and went ahead.
We followed in his footsteps. The path was covered with snow, we walked through the wet snow on the edge of a cliff, as if on a tightrope. There was an abyss below, but I didn’t see it: the earth and sky were mixed up, as if in a mixer, and it was difficult to understand where one ends and the other begins, where to put your foot and stick a stick so as not to fly into this damn abyss. All hell has broken loose. I remembered my family and friends, who must now be sitting at the dacha by the fire, barbecuing and drinking wine, and here you are, like a complete fool, hanging over the abyss on one leg. And then no one will call your death “smart”, because you got yourself stuck, and you were warned...
I sobbed, or rather even sobbed from the hopelessness of the situation, but quickly slowed down so as not to waste my energy on nonsense. A brilliant idea came to mind to stop and wait for the snowstorm to pass.
But then Prem turned around and walked in the opposite direction. We all went up together and visibility became better. In the distance we noticed a stone on which the wind was fluttering colorful Buddhist flags with mantras. Obviously, some person hung them there, and that means we are not alone in this silent space. Prem walked forward and happily waved his hands at us
Come here! I found the way!
The snowstorm is over. The white fangs of the mountains appeared from the gray clouds, and the abyss yawned.
It’s good that we didn’t see this when we walked,” Oksana said, looking into the very mouth. - But the worst thing is still the suspension bridges.
No, the worst thing is going down the rocks that turn over under your feet,” Natasha objected.
I said nothing because I love suspension bridges and descents. But I will never forget this monstrous road over the abyss in a snowstorm.
We were all wrong. Our “hell” fears actually seemed like a mild fright when the next day we reached Everest Base Camp (5364 m), located on the Khumbu Glacier.
PART 2
Abnormal
“Don’t go there, there’s nothing to do there,” said our guys, who were returning from visiting the base camp to spend the night in Gorak Shep (5170 m) - the highest mountainous settlement on the planet. “You better come with us, we’ll celebrate our ascent.”
Have you already managed to climb to the top?
No, are we crazy?
During the season (March - late May and August-October), about 200 “abnormals” from all over the world gather in BC and prepare to conquer the highest point on Earth. This year, due to the large influx of climbers, the Nepalese government even threatened to limit the flow of tourists so that there would be no tourists on the climb to Everest - just think about it! - congestion.
The route to Everest in Nepal is now the most popular among tourists - this is true. From Lukla itself, numerous groups of experienced climbers and teapots like us go to Namche, from where they scatter to different peaks. There are so many people here that traffic jams form on the narrow mountain roads - you have to let entire delegations through or overtake where the road allows. Add to this the accompanying Sherpas and local residents who rush through the mountains with their trunks on their heads like mountain goats. I’m not even talking about all the shepherds who walk their donkeys, cows, yaks and jupis here (Russian tourists simply have “assholes”). Prem said that jupi is a hybrid of cows, which do not rise above 3000 meters, and yaks, which do not descend below 5000. How they were bred is a complete mystery. And when these hairy “butts” with horns come towards you, you have to slam into the mountain, squeezing everything you can squeeze into yourself, and depict a rock bas-relief until they pass by.
Many wealthy people, especially from Russia, in order not to jostle and interfere with others’ climb, prefer to conquer the base camp by helicopter. It costs 6 thousand dollars. Here they take pictures in the costumes of rock climbers and ice climbers, breathe in the rarefied mountain air and, full of impressions, fly back to Lukla or Kathmandu.
But imagine that climbers, standing in an oxygen mask at an altitude of 8 thousand meters on the edge of a crevice, ask each other: “Who is the last to climb Everest? I’m behind you” - I can’t. I also cannot imagine that the Nepalese government would voluntarily give up the several million dollars that climbing Sagarmatha (the Nepalese name for Everest) brings them. Otherwise, climbers will take their money to the Chinese and will climb Chomolungma (the Tibetan name for Everest) through the North Col - it’s even cheaper.
Here are some prices:
The right to climb Everest for a group of 20 people from Tibet costs 5.5 thousand dollars.
The right to climb from Nepal costs 50 thousand dollars for 7 team members. The team can be increased by 5 people at a cost of 10 thousand dollars for each additional tourist. For the right to take the classic route through the South Col, you need to pay an additional 20 thousand (70 thousand dollars in total).
For the final throw to the top, you need to stock up on two oxygen cylinders (10–12 hours of work), which cost more than a thousand dollars and weigh 10 kg together with the mask and reducer. Another one or two spare cylinders are usually set aside for the descent halfway to the top. Climbers who reached Everest claimed that without oxygen, the speed decreases by 3–4 times.
So those interested can already line up for the fall.
Despite the exorbitant prices, many climbers choose to climb from the Nepalese side, believing that it is easier, warmer and less windy. The ascent to the summit itself starts from the South Col between Mounts Everest and Lhotse from an altitude of 7900 meters. They usually leave at midnight. The climb is much faster than in the north.
You can get to the base camp (5000 m) at the foot of the North side by jeep. And then - on yaks to the advanced base camp (6400 m). From the Rongbuk glacier, the ascent goes to the North Col (Chang La Pass) and from there along the long northern ridge leads to the summit. The most dangerous place here is the “Second Stage”. At an altitude of 8790 meters there is a cliff of rocks several meters high. The situation is aggravated by hurricane winds blowing gusts of up to 200 km/h.
Base camp
From afar, like a clap of thunder, the growing sound of an avalanche came to us. We looked back and at the foot of the neighboring mountain we saw a cloud of snow dust rising like a nuclear mushroom.
“This glacier has gone down,” Prem said admiringly and took out a “soap box” from his pocket. - It’s good that we didn’t go downstairs.
A few kilometers from the collapse, like yellow pimples on the rough tongue of the Khumbu glacier, the climbers’ tents swayed in the wind.
Where's the party? - we asked, looking at the deserted camp. Apart from two idiots from New Zealand who were taking pictures at the “talking stone” with their pants down, and a bunch of curious tourists who, like us, came to see the heroes of Everest, there was no one there. The foreigners immediately awarded me three cameras and asked: “Photo, please!”
Are you on Everest? - we asked them.
Noo-noo,” the foreigners shook their heads and went to the tents to take pictures.
Like three heroes standing at the “talking stone,” we tried to find an answer from him: where should we go next?
The answer came down to us from somewhere under the clouds and waved its trekking poles in a friendly manner. It was 33-year-old Nepalese Shriya from Canada, with whom we had tea last night in Lobuche.
We rushed into her arms as if we had not seen each other for a hundred years.
It’s strange, the Nepalese in the Himalayas measure distances in hours: to the monastery - two hours, to the village - four and a half, and to Everest - seven days. And time here seems to be measured in kilometers. You walked 17 km today, and 12 km ago you met Russian tourists, 5 km ago you drank tea, and after 3 km you will go to bed. But as soon as you freeze in place, time goes somewhere without you.
In the mountains, to go up, you have to go down,” Shriya explained the intricacies of mountaineering. First down - to acclimatize and breathe oxygen, then up - to put up a tent, throw a ladder over the gorge and down again - to spend the night.
When I climbed to the second camp (6600 m), a Sherpa who had already conquered Everest six times walked in front of me. He did not attach the safety rope to the railing and fell into the crevice, spattering the ice with blood.
After this incident, the elderly German woman gave up climbing. She sat silently next to us in Lobuche and mechanically drank tea, staring at one point. Her ascent, for which she had been preparing for many years, ended at an altitude of 6600 meters.
Tomorrow I’ll go there,” she said and pointed to the road along which the climbers go into the sky.
Hillary and I spent the night in a small tent at 8,500 meters, the highest altitude a person has ever slept at. The night was cold. Hillary's boots were stiff from the cold, and we ourselves were almost numb. But when we crawl out of the tent at dawn, there is almost no wind. The sky is clear and cloudless. This is good. We look up. Week after week, month after month, all we do is look up. Here it is, the top of Everest! But now it looks different, it’s so close to it, just a stone’s throw away - only three hundred meters. This is no longer a dream floating high in the clouds, but something real, tangible - stone and snow on which a person’s foot can tread. We're getting ready to go. We must take the top. This time, with God's help, we will achieve our goal...
This is how Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, one of the two conquerors of the famous eight-thousander, Chomolungma, or Everest, described the morning of May 29, 1953. A few hours later, at 11:30 am, he and New Zealander Edmund Hillary climbed to the highest point on the Earth's surface - 8850 meters above sea level.
For a long time after their triumphant return, disputes continued about whose foot was the first to set foot on the “Top of the World.” Actually, there were three versions: that Norgay was first, that Hillary was ahead of him, and also that both of them, holding hands together, simultaneously stepped to the top. After the travelers returned “from heaven to earth,” they signed an official statement in which (perhaps deliberately) they made one “generalization.” They stated that they "reached the top almost simultaneously." This “almost” added not only oil, but downright gasoline to the fire of debate about who was “the best.” Later, Norgay will write in his book (again, very ambiguously) that he was first all the time, but just before the top he gave up the right to take the first step to Hillary.
However, each of the friends, of course, slightly “pulled the blanket over themselves” when describing the assault on Everest. In her book “Climbing Everest,” Hillary writes that he had to literally drag his partner, who did not have enough oxygen. At the same time, according to the New Zealander, Norgay “was choking, like a huge fish pulled out of the sea.” In turn, in the book “Tiger of the Snows” Norgay wrote that everything was not so scary - they just walked, insuring each other. No one was choking, no one was convulsing - they calmly moved towards the top.
The first ascent of the mountain, to which climbers from many countries aspired, was as honorable as conquering space or landing on the moon. At the top, Hillary and Norgay decided to place the UN flag over the flags of the countries participating in the expedition to avoid scandals and disputes. However, disputes and scandals still arose. Everyone appreciated the altruism of the climbers, but began to discuss the second, third and fourth places on the pole - there were flags of Great Britain, Nepal and India.
In general, the installation of the British flag on the “Top of the World” seems to be a very controversial action. Hillary was a New Zealander, and this country gained independence back in 1931. Nevertheless, he hoisted the Union Jack over the mountain, for which he later received a knighthood from the Queen in London and the prefix “Sir,” which he added to his name.
Having ascended the mountain, the pioneer climbers jumped a little in joy, planted flags, and then ritually buried several talismans in the snow at the top - their own, as well as those that were given to them by friends who were waiting for them in the lower camp. Norgay claimed that the items were candy canes, a stub of a red and blue pencil, a small rag cat and a crucifix.
In such events, the first words spoken by the pioneers after they have reached their goal are very important. History has brought them to us. Norgay claimed that he said in his language: "Tuji chey, Chomolungma" (Thank you, Everest). Hillary is also believed to have uttered the historic phrase. “We have curbed the bastard!” the climber allegedly shouted.
The pinnacle of death
There is no doubt that the New Zealander, unlike the Sherpa, treated Everest rather disrespectfully. Since 1852, when English topographers calculated that Chomolungma, called "Peak 15" in English catalogues, was in fact the highest mountain in the world, countless attempts have been made to climb it. However, the highest mountain turned out to be the most dangerous. In the entire history of climbing Everest, 175 people have died (in total, approximately 1,200 climbers have reached the summit). In May 1996, nine people froze to death on the slopes of the mountain at once - of the entire expedition, only one American, Beck Weathers, managed to survive, who subsequently had to amputate both hands and nose.
Many of the dead were never found, as happened with the expedition of the British George Mallory and Andrew Irwin. They were last seen on June 8, 1924, at an altitude of approximately 8,500 meters, quite close to the summit. They disappeared into a cloud, and since then nothing more has been known about them. Many believe that they could have reached the summit and died on the way back, but after the summit was examined from an airplane, no traces of climbers were found on it. Mallory's body was found only in 1999 at an altitude of 8230 meters, which also spoke in favor of the version of death on the descent. The climbers had a camera with them, but it could not be found.
Another mystery of Everest was the Soviet expedition, led by a certain Pavel Dachnolyan, which attempted to take Everest in 1952. Almost nothing is known about it - the attempt to storm the mountain was strictly classified, which gave rise to many rumors about it. Allegedly, members of the expedition were transported to Lhasa on military aircraft, the group began climbing and regularly communicated by radio. Then the Soviet climbers stopped communicating. They apparently died, their bodies could not be found, and the unsuccessful attempt to climb was hidden.
Anniversary
Everest received its “European” name at the end of the century before last. British Survey officials named the mountain after the chief of the Indian Colonial Survey Committee. Before this, the mountain was called Chomo-Kankar, Sagarmatha and Chomolungma. Even before the British calculated the height of the mountain, the Sherpas called it the “mother of mountains,” “queen,” and “goddess of the winds.” At its foot there are two Buddhist monasteries - Rongbuk in Tibet and Tyangboche in Nepal. That is why Tenzing Norgay brought sweets to the mountain and thanked it after the ascent - the locals worshiped the mountain, loved and respected it.
May 29 has become a national holiday in Nepal. In 2003, climbers from all over the world came to see it. Sir Edmund Hillary also arrived with his 50-year-old son (Norgay died in 1986), who also conquered Everest a year ago. During the celebration of the half-century anniversary of the capture of Chomolungma, two ascents to it will be made.
However, the holiday was overshadowed by a tragedy that increased Everest's death toll by two more people - on May 28, a Mi-17 helicopter of the local airline Simrik Airlines crashed in Nepal during preparations for the celebrations. There were 8 people on board - two Nepalese pilots, a flight engineer from Kyrgyzstan and five passengers. The pilot and one of the passengers were killed.
The holiday was not cancelled. All climbers know that death on the slopes of one of the most dangerous peaks in the world can happen at any moment. However, this does not stop daredevils - every year more and more people, risking their lives, try to climb Everest in order to look down on this world at least for a short time.
Facts from the history of climbing Everest
The first woman to conquer Chomolungma was the Japanese woman Junko Tabei. She reached the top of the mountain on May 16, 1975. She will also participate in the celebration of the anniversary of the first ascent.
Soviet climbers first climbed Everest in 1982. Eleven people took part in the expedition.
In 1978, Austrian Peter Habeler and Italian Reinold Messner climbed Chomolungma without oxygen equipment. Two years later, Messner repeated this climb alone.
American Eric Weihenmeyer became the first blind climber to conquer the highest mountain on Earth.
On April 26, 2003, an Internet cafe opened on one of the slopes of Everest. Access to the Internet is carried out using a wireless connection of the WiFi standard. The ground station transmits data to the AAP-1 satellite, which in turn transmits it to a receiver in Taipei. Then, through the fiber optic channel, the user gains access to any network segment.