British Mount Everest Expedition 1953
As part of the British Mount Everest Expedition in 1953 , two climbers climbed the highest mountain on earth for the first time . Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 29th . A few days earlier, on May 26th, mountaineers Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans had already reached the southern summit, breaking the world record for mountaineers. This expedition was the eighth official British expedition to Mount Everest. The expedition was accompanied by a great deal of media interest and triggered a huge response when the success was announced on Queen Elizabeth II's coronation day .
Starting position
British mountaineers had tried several times since 1921 to climb the highest mountain on earth. In 1922 and 1924 , expeditions around the mountaineer George Mallory failed , who disappeared in 1924 with his partner Andrew Irvine . From then on, the ascent of Mount Everest was considered a national interest and the British took over the mountain for themselves. In 1933, 1935, 1936 and 1938 other British expeditions failed. All of these expeditions attempted to reach the summit via today's standard northern route from Tibet. During the Second World War and the first few years after that, the British put their efforts on hold. It was not until the early 1950s that the weakened British Empire turned its attention to the conquest of the so-called third pole. The well-known British mountaineer Eric Shipton took over the management. The British Alpine Club and the Mount Everest Committee hoped to restore the Empire's reputation by defeating the summit . With the loss of some colonies (e.g. India in 1947), efforts were made to redefine one's own role in the world and to be as strong as possible.
Exploration expedition 1951
The biggest problem with the ascent was initially the choice of the route to the mountain, because Tibet was no longer available as a travel destination after the occupation by China. The initially surprising opening of Nepal to foreigners offered a new route to Mount Everest, which was to be explored in 1951. After Shipton could be won for the expedition, the financing could also be secured. The Times bought the exclusive rights to the reports. The expedition was planned and led by Shipton in his own way quite loosely. He only took a select group of mountaineers with him and turned down many others. On the way to Mount Everest, the expedition happened upon the New Zealanders Edmund Hillary and Earl Riddifort . Because Shipton had previously had good experiences with New Zealanders, he invited them to participate in the further exploration. In the course of the expedition, Shipton and Hillary were able to discover a possibly viable route to the summit from the climb to Pumori from about 6100 m. It runs over the Khumbu Icefall , the Valley of Silence , the Lhotse Flank to the South Col and from there over the ridge to the South Summit. From there a narrow ridge leads over to the main summit.
After some difficulties, the expedition was able to find a way through the Khumbu icefall and tried to climb the Lhotse flank. Since the focus was on exploring the route, which took a long time, no attempt was made to climb it.
Swiss expedition 1952
The British actually wanted to carry out a large expedition in 1952, but the Swiss got ahead of them. They had received an ascent permit and since at that time only one country per year was permitted, the British could not send an expedition. This led to great consternation, since Everest had been viewed as a quasi British mountain. All attempts by the British to take part in the Swiss expedition failed. Thus a training expedition was sent to Cho Oyu , but it failed. The Swiss expedition was the first to use ladders to insure against the icefall and was also able to reach the South Col. The Swiss Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay reached an altitude of around 8,650 m in the pre-monsoon, a new world record for mountaineers. Norgay was seen more as an equal partner than as a carrier. This led to a strong friendship between the two mountaineers.
In the post-monsoon, an expedition was also sent to commit the Lhotse flank south of the newly named Geneva spur for the first time. But it did not reach a new record high.
Effects
Since the British only got permission to climb in 1953 and not for the following years, this expedition was considered the last chance to make the first ascent. In 1954 the Swiss were again given permission and in England it was of the opinion that this expedition would probably reach the summit. In order not to miss this last chance, great importance was attached to optimal preparation.
Preparation of the expedition
Preparations began almost immediately after the exploration expedition in 1951. At first it was clear that Shipton should take over the management again. Due to many reports, however, his suitability as a leader was questioned and he himself was not sure whether he should take it on. Shipton could not do much with the national claim and the presented exceptional position of Mount Everest. So after a while he was released from his duties and John Hunt , known as a good organizer, took over his job.
Selection of the team
Shipton and Hunt both pursued the goal of putting together the most powerful team possible. However, great importance was attached to not taking professional mountaineers with you, but men who, in addition to their love of mountaineering, were also linked by their amateur status. Experienced mountaineers from previous expeditions should form the basis. Charles Evans, Alfred Gregory and Tom Bourdillon first had to be convinced by Hunt, they had tied their participation to the direction of Shipton. But they allowed themselves to be changed, in the case of Bourdillon, with much encouragement from Shipton. Together with Hillary and Lowe, 5 climbers came together. Since the mountaineering group should consist of 10 to 11 men, more participants had to be won. Particular emphasis was placed on age, mountaineering balance, availability and nationality. The group should only consist of British, with Hillary and Lowe given a special status, as they had already participated in joint expeditions. This is how George Band , Mike Westmacott, Charles Wylie and Wilfrid Noyce joined the team. Griffith Pugh also joined as a scientist and Michael Ward as a doctor. All team members were given different tasks in advance, for example Hillary had to take care of sleeping bags.
Additional oxygen
It was unanimously of the opinion that almost everything else should be subordinated to the goal of a successful ascent. Thus, the additional oxygen, which was considered indispensable, was also of great importance. The participant Tom Bourdillon developed a new, closed oxygen system together with his father, which was carried in addition to the known, but further developed, open systems.
In addition, pressure chamber experiments and the results of the exploration expedition were used. When the high camps were later set up on the mountain, carrying and using the oxygen systems was practiced again and again, and acclimatization was also carried out according to a plan if possible.
Press
As with all previous expeditions, the exclusive rights for reporting were sold to the Times this year. In the course of the expedition this turned out to be more and more of a problem because other newspapers had also sent their reporters, above all Ralph Izzard from the Daily Mail, to the area and tried all sorts of tricks to get their story.
Approach
The participants of the expedition traveled by plane to Kathmandu via Delhi. There they met at the embassy. The hired Sherpas also went there, including the most famous Sherpa at the time, Tenzing Norgay.
From Kathmandu, the expedition members hiked via Namche Bazar to the base camp.
Climbing the mountain
Upon arrival at the base camp, it was found that 15 out of 48 oxygen bottles were completely empty and replacements had to be ordered. Then the climbers began with acclimatization hikes in the surrounding mountains. These were completed on April 6th.
In order not to get caught in the monsoon, you should now start setting up the route. On April 9, inter alia Hillary, Lowe, Band and Westmacott to find a route through the Khumbu Icefall. Because it snowed the first night and there weren't enough goggles, many wearers had problems with their eyes. Nevertheless, a warehouse was set up at 5360 m. From here the route through the icefall was sought. Finding the route was complicated and on April 20th all climbers came together on the Khumbu Glacier. The base camp had previously been relocated because the legacies of the Swiss expedition of the previous year kept turning up. The top of the icefall was reached in late April. On April 25, a huge crevice at the end of the icefall could be overcome with the help of ladders. In the Western Cwm, which has now been reached, a larger warehouse was set up, which was immediately supplied with supplies. In addition, food from the previous year's expedition could be found. On May 1st the exploration of the Lhotse flank began. It was here that the use of an oxygen system in an emergency was tested for the first time on this expedition. The closed systems used here were not usable on warm days because they also generated heat. Only at higher altitudes and in colder surroundings were they an improvement over the open systems.
The next steps were planned on May 7th. The first attempts at the first ascent should take place from May 15th. The first team would be Evans and Bourdillon, who would climb with the closed oxygen system. In the event of failure, Hillary and Norgay were supposed to set up another camp with an open oxygen system 500 m above the south saddle on the Lhotse flank and dare to make the second attempt from there. The transport of the required materials had to be organized and carried out before the tests.
However, the schedule had to be changed due to snow storms and illnesses.
Attempt May 26th
On May 17, camp 7 was set up at 7,300 m in the middle of the Lhotse flank. The further rise was postponed again and again due to illnesses. The south saddle was not reached until May 21, and camp 8 was set up at 7,900 m. The first summit team stood on May 24th together with some supporters on the south saddle. Since everyone was exhausted, the first attempt at the summit was postponed to May 26th.
It was very cold on May 26th. After Bourdillon and Evans woke up at 5 a.m. and had breakfast, they wanted to leave at 6 a.m. But they lost another hour due to problems with the oxygen equipment. They could not begin the ascent over the southeast ridge until around 7:20 a.m. Their ascent went quite well at first, they managed about 300 meters of altitude an hour. After a few hours, however, the slopes became steeper and more difficult and they could not keep up the pace. Around 11 a.m. they changed the oxygen bottles at Evans' suggestion. According to Evans calculations, they would reach the summit in 1.5 hours and with the remaining bottle they would have breath for 5 hours. This change turned out to be fatal a short time later because the new Evans soda lime container was defective. Nevertheless, they arrived at the south summit ( 8,750 m ) at around 1:20 p.m. , setting a new altitude record for mountaineers. Looking at the summit ridge, Evans estimated that it would take them about 3 hours to reach the summit, but they only had oxygen for 2.5 hours. Evans wanted to turn around, but Bourdillon took the risk and attempted the descent without additional oxygen after reaching the main summit. They started the descent around 1.30 p.m. Since Evans' oxygen device was still not working properly and he was running out of strength, he slipped several times, but could be held by his partner. Since at some point both of them were at the end of their tether, they slip together, but were able to avert the deep fall. Around 3:30 p.m. they were both back on the south saddle.
First ascent
Due to bad weather, the next attempt to climb, this time by Hillary and Norgay, had to be postponed for a day. Lowe, Gregory and the Sherpa Ang Nyima carried heavy loads up the ridge to the south summit on May 28, in order to set up a final camp there at 8,420 m . Hillary and Norgay stayed there the night before they climbed the summit. For the night they had two spare oxygen bottles, the bottle that was originally intended could not be used because a connector was missing. They drank and ate a lot. At 6:30 a.m. on the morning of May 29th, they left their tent and began to climb. At 8,530 m they found two oxygen bottles from Evans and Bourdillon, in which there was still oxygen for an hour and could be used as a reserve for the way back. Hillary and Norgay reached the south summit around 9:30 a.m. On the now adjoining summit ridge Hillary climbed ahead until they came to a twelve meter high rock step , which was later called the Hillary Step . At this point they still had oxygen for three hours. While Norgay was securing now, Hillary tried to climb over this key point. Then the way was less difficult. At 11.30 a.m. they reached the summit. There they hugged. Hillary also took a photo of Norgay, but since he could not handle a camera, there is no photo of Hillary on the summit. According to other sources, Hillary forgot to ask Norgay for a photo of himself. After about 15 minutes they made their way back. At 2 p.m. Hillary and Norgay were back at their high camp, taking a break. Around 4 p.m. they were back on the south saddle. Noyce was waiting for them there, and he had already prepared drinks and food for them. At 5.30 p.m. Noyce put out a big "T" with sleeping bags, the agreed-upon sign for the successful ascent to the base camp. However, the sign could not be seen further down through the clouds.
After the first ascent
The news of the successful ascent was sent to Europe as soon as possible. James Morris of the Times managed to get the news to Namche Bazar by June 1, from where it was carried to England. She arrived there on June 2nd, Queen Elizabeth II's coronation day.
On the way back, attempts were made again and again in India to drive a wedge between Norgay and the rest of the expedition. Norgay's achievements were overlooked, the achievements of the others devalued. Norgay himself resisted this representation.
Kathmandu was reached on June 13th. As it has been claimed over and over again in the past few days that Norgay reached the summit before Hillary, Hunt corrected this on June 14. But he emphasized that the exact order was not important.
literature
- Mick Confrey: Everest 1953 - The long way to its summit . ISBN 978-3-492-40457-0
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mick Confrey: Everest 1953 - The long way to its summit. Munich 2013. pp. 26, 27
- ↑ Mick Confrey: Everest 1953 - The long way to its summit. Munich 2013. p. 32
- ↑ Mick Confrey: Everest 1953 - The long way to its summit. Munich 2013. pp. 57–63
- ↑ Mick Confrey: Everest 1953 - The long way to its summit. Munich 2013. pp. 71–78
- ↑ Mick Confrey: Everest 1953 - The long way to its summit. Munich 2013. pp. 124–125
- ↑ Mick Confrey: Everest 1953 - The long way to its summit. Munich 2013. Pages 108–112