Who conquered first. Who was the first to conquer Everest? In what year was Everest conquered? Sherpa local guides

The highest point of Everest (or Chomolungma) is located at 8848 meters above sea level. Exploration of this mountain peak, located in the Himalayas, began as early as the 1850s, when English surveyors working in India were creating maps. By the way, the name "Everest" was given to the top of the British geographer George Everest, who led one of the first expeditions in that area. In the same period, it was found that Chomolungma is the most high 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 has been on top of the world 21 times.

Naturally, such a peak could not but attract the attention of climbers from all over the world. However, many obstacles arose in the way of those wishing to conquer Everest, including a ban on the part of most countries in which there are climbing routes to Chomolungma, for foreigners to visit them.

In addition, a significant difficulty was the problem of breathing on high altitude, since the air there is strong and does not saturate the lungs with oxygen in the required quantities. However, in 1922, the British Finch and Bruce decided to take a supply of oxygen with them, which allowed them to reach an altitude of 8320 meters. In total, about 50 attempts were made to climb, but none of them were successful.

The first conqueror of Everest

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 summit 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 pitched a tent. The next day at 11:20 the highest peak of the planet was conquered.

The heroes of the expedition were expected to receive worldwide recognition: Queen Elizabeth II of Britain granted Hillary and the head of the expedition, John Hunt, a knighthood, and in 1992 New Zealand issued a five-dollar bill with a portrait of Hillary. Tenzing also received the St. George Medal from the British government. Edmund Hillary died of heart failure in 2008 at the age of 88.

The 1953 expedition, with which Hillary and Tenzing climbed, ended with a 15-minute stay on the mountain. Norgay left candies in the snow, and Hillary stuck a cross given to him by Army Colonel John Hunt, leader of the British expedition.

Tenzing Norgay (left) and Sir Edmund Hillary (right) during their historic ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. (Associated Press).

Sir Edmund Hillary and fellow climbers in 1953 during the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest. ( New York Times).

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stands on top of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953 after he and his partner Edmund Hillary became the first people to reach the highest point on Earth. (Edmund Hillary/Royal Geographical Society via Associated Press).

From left to right: Colonel John Hunt, Tenzing Norgay (known as Tenzing Sherpa) and Edmund Hillary. They rejoice, having returned to England, as the first people who conquered Everest. (George W. Hales/Hulton Archive via Getty Images).

Sir Edmund Hillary (left) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay smile after climbing Mount Everest in 1953. This photograph is undated and was used as a handout.
Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and his friend Sir Hillary, who passed away on January 11, 2008. He was called a great philanthropist and friend of Nepal. Hillary, who climbed Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1953, spent most of his life thereafter helping Sherpa communities in Nepal, including building hospital and school projects. (Norgay Archive via Reuters).

Facilities mass media photograph the statues of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the successful ascent of Everest. Kathmandu, Nepal, 29 May 2013.
Hillary and Tenzing were the first people to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. (Niranjan Shrestha / Associated Press).

Kancha Sherpa, member of the 1953 expedition that included Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. They conquered the top of the highest mountain in the world. Amelia Rose Hillary, granddaughter of New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, and a crowd of well-wishers near a horse-drawn carriage during the Everest Summitteers procession during the Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Kathmandu, 29 May 2013.
On May 29, Nepal celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images).

Aerial view of the center, the western shoulder of Everest and Mount Nuptse (right 8848 m), May 15, 2003 at the Nepal-Tibetan border. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images).

Buddhist prayer flags flutter from strong wind blowing towards the snowy peaks of Mount Everest (center) and Lhotse (right), near the village of Tengboche on the way to Everest in Nepal, May 14, 2003.
A team of 12 climbers from the Indian Army, Royal Nepal Army and Nepalese Sherpas scale Lhotse on Tuesday, setting a record as the most a large number of climbers, on a technically difficult peak in one day. (Gurinder Osan / Associated Press).

Drinks, rice and flour are offered at the end of the puja ceremony to the climbing team on April 7, 2003 at Everest Base Camp in Nepal.
Puja is a Buddhist ceremony performed to bless the group and their equipment for finding a safe mountain pass. Buddhist prayer flags radiate from the center of the pole. (Erich Schlegel/The Dallas Morning News via Associated Press).

British mountaineering photographer Jonathan Griffith ascends the headwaters of Mount Everest on April 27, 2013. (AFP/Getty Images).

An aerial view of Mount Everest in a range of about 140 km (87 miles), northeast of Kathmandu, January 14, 2011.
The government has said it plans to double the number of foreign visitors who come to Nepal each year to one million tourists in 2011. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images).

Members of the E3 99 Everest Extreme Expedition climb a 19,500-foot glacier crevice on Mount Everest in Nepal on May 13, 1999.
They check vital signs and collect Additional information about hypoxia and acclimatization. (Associated Press).

Climbers pass through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, which lies on their way to Everest near Everest Base Camp. Nepal, 18 May 2003.
The safety of climbing to the top depends on the weather. Many teams, including a joint Indo-Nepalese, Korean and Japanese team, have abandoned their attempt to climb the world's highest peak. (Gurinder Osan / Associated Press).

View of the Khumbu Icefall, which is the first obstacle on the way to climbing Everest. View from Everest Base Camp in Nepal, May 17, 2003. (Gurinder Osan / Associated Press).

Climbers from different countries descending the Khumbu Icefall on their way back from Base Camp on May 22, 2013 after climbing Everest.
May is the most popular month for climbing Everest due to more favorable weather. Earlier this month, 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura became the oldest conqueror of Everest. And Raha Moharrak is considered the first woman from Saudi Arabia, which also climbed to the highest peak. (Pasang Geljen Sherpa/Associated Press).

Aerial photography of Everest Base Camp. Big tent city, full of climbers at an altitude of 18,000 feet, which is located at the foot of Everest on the border of Nepal and Tibet. May 15, 2003.
A record 1,000 climbers plan to summit Mount Everest to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of the world's highest mountain. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images).

A golden glow at the top as the sun sets behind the tallest mountain in the world, which is located in the center of the frame. View from Kalapathar, on the way to Everest, Nepal, November 15, 1983.
Thousands of climbers and mountain lovers gathered in Kathmandu to take part in various celebrations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest, which was made by Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953. (Bikas Das / Associated Press).

Japanese professional skier and mountaineer Yuichiro Miura, aged 80, advances against the backdrop of icefall towards C2 Base Camp on his way to the world's highest peak, Mount Everest. Nepal, 16 May 2013. (European Pressphoto Agency).

80-year-old Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura stands on top of Mount Everest. He became the oldest person to climb the highest mountain in the world on May 23, 2013.
Miura, who has already climbed the peak when he was 70 and 75 years old, reached the peak at 9:05 am local time, according to officially confirmed data. (MIURA DOLPHINS Co., Ltd via Associated Press).

Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura displays a victory sign upon arrival at the airport after climbing Mount Everest. In Kathmandu on May 26, 2013.
Miura, who has had four heart surgeries, reached the summit of Everest last Thursday and became the oldest person to scale the world's highest mountain. He first climbed Everest in 2003 and repeated the feat five years later. Miura broke the record of the previous oldest climber, Min Bahadur Sherkhan of Nepal, who reached the summit at the age of 76 in 2008. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters).

Two people (lower left) are standing next to campground at the foot of Earth's highest peak, Everest. Tibetan autonomous region, Chinese People's Republic, October 13, 2011.
Tibet is a vast land with harsh land, arid, brown plateaus and majestic mountain ranges. Religion is an integral part of life for Tibetans, so many take part in religious pilgrimages hundreds of kilometers to visit the region's monasteries and sacred places. (Barbara Walton / European Pressphoto Agency).

Members of an expedition climbing Mount Everest (locally known as Chomolungma) make a slow climb up the mountainside on May 19, 2005. (Suolang Luobu / Associated Press).

This image shows mountain guide Adrian Bellinger of the Alpenglow Expedition on May 18, 2013 in Nepal. Climbers head to the summit of Mount Everest, in the Khumbu region of the Himalayas.
Last Wednesday, May 29, 2013, Nepal celebrated the 60th anniversary of the summit of Mount Everest by honoring the climbers who followed in the footsteps of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. (Adrian Ballinger/Alpenglow Expeditions via Associated Press).

Mount Everest or Sagarmatha (top of frame) is the highest peak in the world at 8848 meters. A bird's eye view of the 6,812-meter Ama Dablam mountain (below), on April 22, 2007. (Desmond Boylan/Reuters).

Climbers advance towards the summit of Everest on May 18, 2013 in the Khumbu region of the Nepalese Himalayas.
In Nepal, the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the conquest of Everest was held on May 29, 2013. (Adrian Ballinger/Alpenglow Expeditions via Associated Press).

Pictured are unidentified climbers descending Everest on May 19, 2009.
A group of top Nepalese climbers are planning a risky expedition to clean up Everest. Decades of climbing the most high peak the world took their toll. “Everest is losing its beauty,” says 30-year-old Namgyal Sherpa. “The top of the mountain is currently littered with oxygen tanks, old prayer flags, ropes and abandoned tents. For several years, at least two corpses have been lying here.” (AFP/Getty Images).

Tents glow like clouds at dusk at Everest Base Camp in Nepal on May 22, 2003.
Many teams rescheduled their climb attempt due to bad weather, but some managed to reach the top of Chomolungma with south side. The Indian-Nepalese army team was the first to rise this season on Thursday morning. (Gurinder Osan / Associated Press).

Climbers overcome mountain range just below Hillary's Step on May 18, 2013 as they make their way to the summit of Everest in the Khumbu region, in the Nepalese Himalayas.
Sixty years ago, Sir Edmund Hillary and his partner Tenzing Norgay became the first people to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest, the high point on the ground. It happened on May 29, 1953. (Adrian Ballinger/ALPENGLOW EXPEDITIONS, via Associated Press).

Faktrum wants to tell you some stories about conquering Everest. Warning: the text is not for the impressionable!

1. 40 passers-by and one Discovery TV crew

For the first time, the general public learned about the "terrible" morals that prevail on the approaches to Everest in May 2006, when the circumstances of the death of David Sharp, a British climber who tried to conquer the summit alone, became known. He never made it to the top, dying from hypothermia and oxygen starvation, but it is noteworthy that a total of 40 people passed by the slowly freezing mathematics teacher, and no one helped him. Among those who passed by was a film crew from the Discovery TV channel, whose journalists interviewed the dying Sharpe, left him oxygen and moved on.

The general public was indignant at the "immoral" act of the "passers", 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 not known when the concept of "green shoes" entered the everyday life of the conquerors of Everest and became folklore. But it is known for certain that they belong to the Indian climber Tsevang Palzhor, one of the victims of the "bloody May" of 1996 - a total of 15 people died on Everest that month. This is the largest number of victims in one season in the history of conquering the highest peak on the planet. For years, the green boots of Paljoros have been a guide for those who climb the mountain.

In May 1996, several commercial expeditions climbed Everest at once - two American, one Japanese, one Indian and one Taiwanese. About who's to blame most of their participants never returned, they are still arguing. Several films have been made based on the events of that May, and the surviving participants have written several books. Someone blames the weather, someone blames the guides who started descending before their clients, someone else blames the expeditions that did not help those in distress or even hindered them.

3. Spouses Arsentiev

In May 1998, Francis and Sergei Arsentiev attempted to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. The idea is daring, but quite real - without additional equipment (at least 10–12 kg), you can climb and descend faster, but the risk of complete exhaustion from lack of oxygen is very high. If during the ascent or descent something goes wrong and the climbers stay in the "death zone" longer than the physical capabilities of the body allow, they will inevitably die.

The couple spent five days in the base camp at an altitude of 8200 meters, twice their attempts to climb ended in failure, time passed, and strength left with it. 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 go down alone. Frances lost too much strength and just fell, unable to continue on her way. A few days later, an Uzbek group passed by freezing Francis without helping her. But its participants told Sergei that they saw his wife and he, taking oxygen cylinders, went in search of ... and died. His body was found much later.

The last people Francis 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 “do not leave me”, but the British could no longer help her and left, leaving her to die alone.

4. Perhaps the first true conquerors of Everest

It is not for nothing that those who seek to conquer Everest say that it is not enough to climb - until you descend, you cannot consider the conquered peak. If only because there will be no one to tell that you really were there. Such is the sad fate of climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irwin, who attempted to conquer Mount 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 was found, manufactured in 1924 (and, accordingly, belonged to either Irwin or Mallory). And finally, in 1999, Mallory's body was found - at an altitude of 8200 m. Neither a camera nor a photograph of his wife was found with him. Last fact leads researchers to believe that either Mallory, or both climbers, did reach 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. Too cold (before May), changing too fast weather, 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 what no one has done before him. He was a very experienced climber who had scaled many iconic peaks.

In April 1984, Christo undertook the ascent of 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 fell into a severe snowstorm and froze to death.

6. The creepiest corpse on Everest

Hannelore Schmatz became the first woman and the first German citizen to die on the approach to the summit of Everest. It happened in October 1979. However, she is known not only for this reason and not because she died of exhaustion on the descent, having successfully conquered Everest, but because for another good 20 years her body frightened those who tried to conquer Everest. She, blackened in the cold, froze in a sitting position in the direction of climbing Everest, her eyes wide open and her hair blowing in the wind. They tried to lower her body from the top, but several expeditions failed, and the participants of one of them died themselves.

In the end, the mountain took pity and during one particularly strong storm at the beginning of the "zero" Hannelore's body was thrown into the abyss.

7. Keep Anniversaries Alive

Sherp Lobsang Shering, nephew of Tenzing Norgay, the first official climber of Everest, decided in May 1993 to make the ascent 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 "anniversaries" - 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 want, but one day he will take you.

Babu Chiri Sherpa is a Sherpa legend, a guide who has been to Everest ten times. The man who spent 21 hours at the top of the mountain without oxygen, the man who climbed to 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, "childish" for this guide, he photographed the mountains, accidentally miscalculated his movements, stumbled and fell into a crevice, in which he crashed to 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 be the first Brazilian to summit the mountain without oxygen. Climbing, 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 successful mission, he found that his hiding place had been devastated and all supplies had disappeared. Negreta did not have enough strength to reach the base camp and he died not far from it. Who took the supplies and the life of the Brazilian remained unclear.

The idea to conquer the highest mountain first occurred to a person, most likely in the deepest antiquity, long before the appearance of any kind of civilization, but only on May 29, 1953 at 11:30 am, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people, who conquered Everest, a mountain - the height of which is 8850 meters.

The news became known to the whole world on June 2, the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which the British hailed as a good omen for the future of their country.

Everest - the majestic Chomolungma, is located on top of the Great Himalayas in Asia on the border between Nepal and Tibet. In Tibetan, this peak is called Chomolungma, which means "Mother Goddess of the Earth", English title given in honor of Sir George Everest, a 19th century British geographer in India. The top of Everest makes up two-thirds of the thickness of the Earth's entire air atmosphere. This is almost the maximum cruising altitude of jet airliners. The oxygen content there is extremely low, and the temperature is very low, the weather is completely unpredictable and very dangerous.

The first recorded attempt to climb Mount Everest was made in 1921 by a British expedition that traveled over 400 miles of difficult terrain across the Tibetan plateau to reach the foot of this great mountain. strong storm forced them to interrupt their ascent, but the members of the expedition, among whom was George Lee Mallory, famous at that time, determined a possible route for climbing the peak from north side. When asked by a journalist "Why do you want to climb this mountain?" Mallory joked: "Because it exists."

During the second British expedition in 1922, climbers George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce reached a height of 8230 meters. In Mallory's next attempt that same year, seven Sherpa porters died in an avalanche. The tribe of Sherpas, who have long lived in the high-mountainous province of Khumbu, from the first attempts to conquer Everest, assisted in expeditions because of their ability to easily endure high altitudes.

In 1924, on the third British expedition to Everest, Edward Norton reached a height of 8500 meters without the use of oxygen apparatus. After him, Mallory and Andrew Irwin, who went to storm the peaks, climbed to about the same height, but after that no one else saw them alive. In 1999, Mallory's body was found on the slope of Everest. Whether he and Irvine reached the summit or not remains a mystery.

Several similar attempts to reach the summit from the north from Tibet were unsuccessful. After World War II, Tibet was closed to foreigners. In 1949, Nepal opened its doors to the outside world, and in 1950 and 1951 several British expeditions undertook exploratory ascents along the southern route.

In 1952, a member of the Swiss expedition Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached an altitude of 8600 meters, but were forced to turn back due to stormy winds and severe cooling. Having learned about the advances of the Swiss, the British organized a large expedition in 1953 under the command of Colonel John Hunt. In addition to the best British climbers, the expedition included New Zealanders George Lowe, Edmund Hillary and experienced Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. By the way, they write that Edmund Hillary was not a professional climber, but an ordinary beekeeper.

In April and May, a route was laid through the Khumbu Glacier and through Lhotse along the southern slope. Having prepared several intermediate camps, the expedition began the ascent. The members of the expedition were equipped with special insulated boots and clothing, and also had a walkie-talkie and oxygen apparatus.

On May 26, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon made the first assault on the summit, but they had to turn back, the summit of Everest remained intact, due to the failure of one of the oxygen tanks, he did not reach only 300 feet.

On May 28, Hillary and Norgay tried again. With the help of escorts, they set up a high-altitude camp at 27,900 feet. Having somehow spent the night there, in the morning they set off. At 9 o'clock in the morning they reached the South Summit. Then we spent more than an hour on overcoming the rock that stood in the way.

After that, having crossed the last snowdrifts, at about 11 hours and 30 minutes, the climbers were at the top of the peak. We spent about 15 minutes at the top. Hillary took a picture of Tenzing at the summit, but refused to be photographed himself. Then they started the return descent.

In the upper camp they were met by escorts. After their descent into base camp John Hunt sent a runner with a message to Namche Bazaar from where a coded message was sent to London.

On June 1, on the eve of her coronation, Queen Elizabeth II learned of this achievement. And the next day, the news spread all over the world. That same year, Hillary and Hunt were knighted by the Queen. Tenzing was unable to receive a knighthood for political reasons, but instead received the St. George Medal as a reward. So Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay entered world history people to whom the most high mountain in the world.

In 1960, a Chinese expedition was the first to climb Chomolungma from Tibet, and in 1963, James Whittaker became the first American to climb Mount Everest. In 1975, Junko Tabei from Japan became the first woman to reach the summit. Three years later, Italy's Messner and Austria's Peter Habeler achieved what was previously considered impossible, climbing the summit without oxygen.

For all the time, almost two hundred climbers died trying to conquer the mountain. The biggest tragedy occurred in 1996, when eight climbers from different countries died during a severe storm. But despite all these dangers, Everest still attracts many climbers from all over the world who want to visit the roof of the world. The flow of those going to storm does not decrease.

Video: Who was the first to conquer Everest?

Everest. Mysterious Mountain peak majestic and formidable at the same time. Everest inspires artists and poets, for example, Nicholas Roerich has a stunningly majestic painting “The Himalayas. Everest".

And at the same time, Everest, the mountain that claimed many human lives, did not forgive mistakes and neglect. Over 250 people have died in the known history of climbing Everest.

Collapses, avalanches, rarefied air, snowstorms, Everest has prepared many surprises and trials for climbers.

Chomolungma, as Everest is otherwise called, was discovered by Europeans back in the 19th century. At the same time, the height of the mountain was calculated and the assumption was made that it was the highest in the world.

In 1921, a British-funded reconnaissance expedition took place, including George Mallory, who became the first person to set foot on Everest. However, the summit was never conquered. This was followed by the second and third British expeditions.

With the members of the third British expedition, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who died during the ascent, there are disputes that have not subsided so far. Were they able to conquer the summit of Everest? A question that still does not have a clear answer.

According to the existing official version Everest was conquered much later. Only in 1953 the mountain peak was conquered. On May 29, 1953, the members of the next, sixteenth expedition, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, reached the goal.

So who was the first in the world to conquer Everest? Will we agree with the generally accepted version and consider the discoverers of Everest Edmund Hillary and Tenzin Norgay, who left sweets buried in the snow at the top.

Or shall we try to unravel the riddle of the climbers of the third expedition? Perhaps this question should be answered by each of us.