In this article, we'll examine the history of climbing Mount Everest, see what routes most climbers use and find out what climbers take with them to survive the trek.
Everest hasn't always been considered the king of mountains. It wasn't until 1852 that a Bengali mathematician and surveyor named Radhanath Sikhdar determined that 'Peak XV' was actually the highest point on the earth. In 1865, Sikhdar's discovery was confirmed. India's Surveyor General Sir Andrew Waugh renamed the mountain Mount Everest after Sir George Everest, the previous Surveyor General and the person overseeing the original survey that listed 'Peak XV.'
The Nepalese who live to the south of Mount Everest have always known that it was special. They called it Sagarmatha, which is translated variously as 'goddess of the sky' and 'forehead of the sky.' The Tibetans living north of the mountain called it Chomolungma, or 'mother goddess of the world.'
Politics kept would-be climbers out of Everest for many years following its discovery, because neither the Nepalese nor Tibetan governments welcomed strangers into their countries. But in 1921, after much diplomatic negotiation, Tibet opened its borders and the first of many British expeditions began on the mountain's north side.
One of these expeditions included British nationals George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Their 1924 expedition was Mallory's third trip to the mountain. In a 1922 attempt, climbers reached record altitudes before deteriorating weather conditions forced them to turn back. During that attempt, an avalanche killed seven Sherpas.
On the morning of June 8th 1924, Mallory and Irvine left the highest camp on Everest bound for the summit. At 1 p.m. they were seen climbing the mountain, behind schedule but still making progress towards the top. After that, they were never seen again. In 1999, a team of investigators located Mallory's body on the north face of Everest around 27,000 feet. There is some debate over whether Mallory and Irvine made it to the top, but most believe that they did not.
In 1949, the political situation around Everest reversed and Nepal opened its borders, one year before the Chinese government closed Tibet. Climbers shifted their approach to the south and in 1953, someone finally made it to the top. Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand mountain climber and beekeeper, and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, are the first people credited with reaching the Mountain's summit. Theirs would be the first of many notable firsts on Everest:
