Remembering Everest climbers
Published in Nepal Travel Trade Reporter in 2003
Long before Mount Everest was known to the outside world, this highest peak was not given a particular. It was called Peak B and Peak XV before 1852. But in 1865, to honour the Surveyor-General of India who first mapped it in 1852, Peak XV was given the name of Mount Everest, named after Sir George Everest. Nepalese historian Babu Ram Acharya named it as Sagarmatha in Nepali, whereas it is called Chomolunngma in Tibetan and Qomolangma in Chinese.
Though mission to conquer the highest mountain had begun in the earlier part of 20th century, the first major attempt was made by George Mallory, a British schoolteacher and nudist and Andrew Irvine, a student at Cambridge on June 8, 1924. They attempted to reach the top of Mount Everest from their camp at 26,800 feet. But they died and the body of Mallory was found May 1, 1999 on a ledge at 27,000 feet which confirmed that they had reached very near to the summit.
In 1934 Maurice Wilson, soldier and mystic, attempted to scale Everest while relying on fasting and prayer but he failed. In 1935 Charles Warren, pediatrician, attempted to scale Mt. Everest. He found the body of Maurice Wilson and Wilson's diary. He also failed on two other attempts. W.H. Tilman, a great explorer, navigator climbed upto 27000 ft in 1938. But he made Nepal popular by writing books on his experience in climbing.
French mountaineer Maurice Herzog climbed Annapurna in 1950 and wrote a book on his experience called Annapurna,First Conquest of an 8000-Meter Peak : (26,493 Feet) which exposed the beauty of Nepal to the western world. Thus Pokhara came into the tourism map of the world.
Ten more expeditions over a period of thirty years failed to conquer Everest, with 13 losing their lives. Then, on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper, and Tenzing Norgay, an acclaimed Sherpa climber, became the first to reach the roof of the world. Led by Sir John Hunt, they climbed to commemorate the accession of throne by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. John Hunt and Edmund Hillary had been given knighthood whereas Tenzing Sherpa received George Medal. Ascent on Mt. Everest 50 years ago brought Nepal into limelight and has started to know in the outside world as a country of Mt. Everest. For Hillary and Tenzing, it was their last expedition. Tenzing joined Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling as its Director and later led trekking group in Nepal and India. Hillary opted to serve Sherpa’s villages by opening schools and hospitals. H later became the High Commissioner(Ambassador) of New Zealand to India and Nepal. Tenzing died in Darjeeling on May 9, 1986 and was given state honour by the government of India. His body was buried in the premises of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.
In 1965 Col. Jimmy Roberts first hired Khumbu Sherpas to serve his clients on adventure "treks." The term originally was used by the British during the Boer War to describe a slow journey by oxcart. His first trekkers were 3 middle-aged American women from the Midwest. He became the pioneer of trekking in Nepal especially in the Annapurna Region. He settled in Nepal and died a few years ago in Pokhara.
But on May 8, 1978, two Tyrolean mountaineers, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, achieved the impossible. Messner had resolved that nothing would come between him and the mountain; he would climb Everest without supplemental oxygen or not at all. At the summit he described himself as "nothing more than a single narrow gasping lung." Two years later Messner quashed all skepticism when on August 20, 1980, he again ascended Everest without oxygen, this time solo (another Everest first). By 1996 more than 60 men and women had reached the top relying on their own gasping lungs.
Between 1921 and 2003, Everest has been climbed by more than 1400 people from thirty countries. More than 175 have lost their lives, making the odds on not coming down alive about one in eight. But it still allures many climbers from around the world giving tough challenge to climb it. Sir Edmund Hillary and Junko Tabei, first lady to climb Everest say Everest is in need of rest for some time. They believe that Everest should not be made cheap by allowing anybody to climb it. But if Nepal stops people from climbing Everest, it would lose millions of dollar in terms of royalty and its people would deprive of jobs.
Long before Mount Everest was known to the outside world, this highest peak was not given a particular. It was called Peak B and Peak XV before 1852. But in 1865, to honour the Surveyor-General of India who first mapped it in 1852, Peak XV was given the name of Mount Everest, named after Sir George Everest. Nepalese historian Babu Ram Acharya named it as Sagarmatha in Nepali, whereas it is called Chomolunngma in Tibetan and Qomolangma in Chinese.
Though mission to conquer the highest mountain had begun in the earlier part of 20th century, the first major attempt was made by George Mallory, a British schoolteacher and nudist and Andrew Irvine, a student at Cambridge on June 8, 1924. They attempted to reach the top of Mount Everest from their camp at 26,800 feet. But they died and the body of Mallory was found May 1, 1999 on a ledge at 27,000 feet which confirmed that they had reached very near to the summit.
In 1934 Maurice Wilson, soldier and mystic, attempted to scale Everest while relying on fasting and prayer but he failed. In 1935 Charles Warren, pediatrician, attempted to scale Mt. Everest. He found the body of Maurice Wilson and Wilson's diary. He also failed on two other attempts. W.H. Tilman, a great explorer, navigator climbed upto 27000 ft in 1938. But he made Nepal popular by writing books on his experience in climbing.
French mountaineer Maurice Herzog climbed Annapurna in 1950 and wrote a book on his experience called Annapurna,First Conquest of an 8000-Meter Peak : (26,493 Feet) which exposed the beauty of Nepal to the western world. Thus Pokhara came into the tourism map of the world.
Ten more expeditions over a period of thirty years failed to conquer Everest, with 13 losing their lives. Then, on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper, and Tenzing Norgay, an acclaimed Sherpa climber, became the first to reach the roof of the world. Led by Sir John Hunt, they climbed to commemorate the accession of throne by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. John Hunt and Edmund Hillary had been given knighthood whereas Tenzing Sherpa received George Medal. Ascent on Mt. Everest 50 years ago brought Nepal into limelight and has started to know in the outside world as a country of Mt. Everest. For Hillary and Tenzing, it was their last expedition. Tenzing joined Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling as its Director and later led trekking group in Nepal and India. Hillary opted to serve Sherpa’s villages by opening schools and hospitals. H later became the High Commissioner(Ambassador) of New Zealand to India and Nepal. Tenzing died in Darjeeling on May 9, 1986 and was given state honour by the government of India. His body was buried in the premises of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.
In 1965 Col. Jimmy Roberts first hired Khumbu Sherpas to serve his clients on adventure "treks." The term originally was used by the British during the Boer War to describe a slow journey by oxcart. His first trekkers were 3 middle-aged American women from the Midwest. He became the pioneer of trekking in Nepal especially in the Annapurna Region. He settled in Nepal and died a few years ago in Pokhara.
But on May 8, 1978, two Tyrolean mountaineers, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, achieved the impossible. Messner had resolved that nothing would come between him and the mountain; he would climb Everest without supplemental oxygen or not at all. At the summit he described himself as "nothing more than a single narrow gasping lung." Two years later Messner quashed all skepticism when on August 20, 1980, he again ascended Everest without oxygen, this time solo (another Everest first). By 1996 more than 60 men and women had reached the top relying on their own gasping lungs.
Between 1921 and 2003, Everest has been climbed by more than 1400 people from thirty countries. More than 175 have lost their lives, making the odds on not coming down alive about one in eight. But it still allures many climbers from around the world giving tough challenge to climb it. Sir Edmund Hillary and Junko Tabei, first lady to climb Everest say Everest is in need of rest for some time. They believe that Everest should not be made cheap by allowing anybody to climb it. But if Nepal stops people from climbing Everest, it would lose millions of dollar in terms of royalty and its people would deprive of jobs.
posted by Sarad @ 6:43 AM
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