Mount Everest
On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary, who died on Friday, January 11 2008, became the first person, along with sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to climb Mount Everest. At 8,848m (29,029ft), it is the highest mountain in the world.
Although not perhaps the most exciting shot out there, Google Earth’s terrain feature lets you see how high it really is.
Ascending the southeast ridge from the base camp at 5,380m (17,600ft), Hillary and his sherpa finally arrived at 11:30am, and stayed at the summit for just fifteen minutes. News of his success reached the soon-to-be Elizabeth II on the day of her coronation, and New Zealander Hillary was knighted in July of that year.
Everest is fraught with danger, and 120 bodies are thought to still remain on the mountain. Even so, more than 2060 individuals have ascended it from the surprisingly busy base camp, where you can even get internet access for $1 per minute!
Read about Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and Mount Everest at Wikipedia.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in; there were over 55 of you, so it would probably require a page of its own!
Sir Edmund sadly died last night, at the age of 88.
Oh yes, you said. :-s
88’s a good old age. I only wish I could do something as exciting as climb Everest in my life.
RIP Sir Edmund.
Great, I spent so much time trying to locate base camp, only to find that there is a link at the end of the story |-(
But the imagery has some strange effects here and there: Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth and Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
@dr.R - the strange effects will be due to the steepness of the terrain, which causes foreshortening of the imagery, so that when that image is stretched back over the terrain data, it has to be stretched to fit.
I thought George Mallory was the first to reach the summit of Everest. Hillary and Norgay were the first to summit and make it back down.
@myquealer - The last known sighting of George Mallory was a few hundred metres below the summit, so whether he reached it is a subject of debate. Some think he died before he got there, some believe he reached it and died on the way down.
There is a really interesting for and against at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory#Did_Mallory_and_Irvine_summit_Everest.3F
What is certain is that Hillary and Norgay were the first to get to the top and arrive back at Base Camp successfully.
Rob, well put. Indeed, the last known sighting of the duo was at about 12:50 PM on June 8, 1924, by their teammate Noel Odell. While his recollection of the exact location morphed slightly over time, he definitely placed them within 1000 vertical feet of the summit. I would venture that there is a reasonable chance the two reached the top on that day - but, unfortunately, we have no proof that they DID, nor do we have proof that they DID NOT reach the summit.
Regardless, Hillary & Tenzing made the first roundtrip…which is the only way for a summit to truly count. As we always said guiding on Mt. Rainier: the summit is optional, the descent is mandatory!
-Jake Norton
http://www.mountainworldproductions.com
Thanks for the lovely images.
I did want to point out that the phrasing of the post, particularly this sentence: On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary, who died on Friday, January 11 2008, became the first person, along with his sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to climb Mount Everest.
is a little… odd. The way your post is phrased, it makes it sound as if Tenzing Norgay was not a person, but rather a… breed of dog (the Tibetan Sherpa, AKC standards to come?) or something. Perhaps a rephrase along the lines of “Sir Edmund Hillary, who died on Friday, January 11 2008, and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first people to climb Mount Everest,” would be sufficient.
Well said JM but given that Sherpa is an ethnic group and not a synonym for porter or guide, referring to Tenzing Norgay as “his Sherpa” still makes it sound like a breed of dog. The word ‘his’ is inappropriate in my view.
@ JM, ajho
I have changed the wording appropriately, I in no way meant to belittle the extraordinary effort of Norgay either; it was an incredible feat by both involved!
Cheers!