Seventy years ago, a New Zealander called Edmund Hillary and a Nepali called Tenzing Norgay Sherpa became the first humans to summit Everest. It happened on May 29, 1953.
The expedition made the two men famous around the world, and it changed mountaineering forever. Hundreds of people now climb the 8,849-metre peak every year.
Goddess mother of the world
At first, Everest was known to British mapmakers only as Peak XV. The mountain was then found to be the world's highest point in the 1850s. It was renamed in 1865 after Sir George Everest, a mapping official in India.
It is on the border of Nepal and China, and climbable from both sides. It is called Chomolungma in the Sherpa language – meaning "goddess mother of the world" – and Sagarmatha in Nepali, meaning "peak of the sky".
The 1953 expedition was the ninth attempt to reach the summit, and it took another 20 years for the first 600 people to climb it. Now, that number of climbers can be seen in a single year. Every season, experienced Nepali guides set the route all the way to the summit for the climbers to follow.
Up to Base Camp
The starting point for climbs, Everest Base Camp, was once just a collection of tents at 5,364 metres high. Climbers there lived off canned foods.
The months-long journey to Base Camp was cut to eight days when a small mountain airport was built in 1964.
Now fresh salads, baked goods and coffee are available at Base Camp.
Today, climbing equipment is lighter to carry, oxygen bottles are more easily available, and tracking devices make expeditions safer. Usually, walkie-talkie radios are carried. Climbers today can call a helicopter in case of emergency.
News by telegraph
Hillary and Tenzing summited Everest on May 29, but the news only appeared in newspapers on June 2. The news had to be brought down the mountain on foot to a station in the town of Namche Bazaar, and then sent by telegraph to the British Embassy in Kathmandu.
Nowadays, excited mountaineers document their journey to Everest on Facebook, Instagram and other social media. Guides are starting to use eco-friendly practices at their camps, such as solar power.
There are many Everest records for the first and fastest feats of climbing. But some records are more for fun. In 2018, a team of British, Australian and Nepali climbers dressed in tuxedos and gowns for the world's highest dinner party at 7,056 metres up the mountain.
Fun facts
Everest is in the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. Above 8,000 metres, the air is too thin for humans to breathe, so climbers must carry bottles filled with oxygen and other gases.
Quick questions
- How did Hillary and Tenzing send the news that they had climbed Everest for the first time?
- Why is the journey to Base Camp shorter than it was before?
- Can you name two languages that are spoken in Nepal?
