Who first conquered Mount Everest? In what year did they conquer Everest?

The Republic of Nepal, known as the birthplace of the Buddha, is the highest mountain country in the world. On the north side it is bordered by the Great Himalayan Range, famous for several peaks exceeding 8000 meters, among which is Mount Everest - the highest mountain on the planet (8848 meters).

Everest: who conquered the place of the gods

According to popular beliefs, this place was considered the abode of the gods, so no one thought of going up there.

The top of the world had even special names: Jomolungma ("Mother is the goddess of the world") - among the Tibetans and Sagarmatha ("The forehead of heaven") - Nepalese. Everest it began to be called only since 1856, with which China, India, as well as the direct culprit of renaming - the British aristocrat, the geodetic scientist, the military one - George Everest, who was the first to determine the exact location of the Himalayan peak and its height, did not agree. In the press, there are still disputes from time to time that a mountain in Asia should not have a European name. Who first conquered Mount Everest - the peak almost every mountaineer dreams of?

Elegant beauty of the top of the world

The nature of Everest with rocks, snows and eternal ice is menacingly severe and silently beautiful. Almost always severe frosts prevail here (down to -60 ° C), frequent phenomena are avalanches and snow falls, and mountain peaks on all sides are blown by the worst winds, the speed of gusts of which reaches 200 km / h. At an altitude of about 8 thousand meters, the "death zone" begins, called such a lack of oxygen (30% of the amount present at sea level).

The risk for what?

Nevertheless, despite such cruel natural conditions, the conquest of Everest was and is the cherished dream of many climbers of the world. Stand on the top for a few minutes to go down in history, look at the world from the heights of the sky - is not this happiness? For the sake of such an unforgettable moment climbers are ready to risk their own lives. And they risk, knowing that they can stay forever in the untrodden land for centuries. Factors of possible death of a person who got there are lack of oxygen, frostbite, trauma, heart failure, fatal accidents and even indifference of partners.

So, in 1996, a group of climbers from Japan, when climbing Mount Everest, met with three Hindu climbers, who were in a faint condition. They died, because the Japanese did not help the "competitors", indifferently passing by. In 2006, 42 alpinists along with the TV channel of the channel "Discovery" indifferently passed by the slowly dying from the frigidity of the Englishman David Sharpe, besides, they tried to interview him and take photos. As a result, the daredevil, who ventured to conquer Everest alone, died of frostbite and oxygen starvation. One of the Russian alpinists Alexander Abramov explains such actions by his colleagues: "At an altitude of more than 8000 meters, a person striving to conquer the summit is completely self-absorbed and does not have the superfluity to help in such extreme conditions."

George Mallory's attempt: successful or not?

So who did conquer Everest first? The discovery of George Everest, who never conquered this mountain, triggered the unrestrained desire of many climbers to reach the summit of the world, the first (in 1921) decided George Mallory - compatriot of Everest. Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful: abundant snowfalls, strong winds and a lack of experience of climbing to such heights stopped the British climber. However, the unattainable summit attracted Mallory, and he carried out two more unsuccessful ascents (in 1922 and 1924). During the last expedition, George Mallory and his team-mate, Andrew Irwin, disappeared without a trace. The last through the gap in the clouds rising to the top of them saw one of the expedition members Noel Odell. Only after the lapse of 75 years of the American search expedition at an altitude of 8155 meters was the remains of Mallory found. Judging by their location, climbers broke into the abyss. Also, in scientific circles, when studying the same remains and their location, there was a suggestion that George Mallory is the first person to conquer Everest. The body of Andrew Irwin was found and was not.

1924-1938 years were marked by the organization of a number of expeditions, however, unsuccessful. After them, Everest was forgotten for some time, because the Second World War began.

Pioneers

Everest who first conquered? In 1952, the Swiss decided to storm the uncompromising summit, but the maximum height they passed was stopped at 8500 meters, 348 meters did not succumb to climbers due to bad weather conditions.

If we assume that Mallory could not reach the summit of the highest mountain in the world, then the question of who conquered Everest first can be safely answered - a New Zealander Edmund Hillary in 1953, and not himself, but with an assistant Sherpa Norgei Tenzing .

By the way, Sherpas (from Tibetan, "Sher" - east, "Pa" - people) are the very people without whom, perhaps, it is unlikely that someone would manage to reach such a desired peak. It is a mountain people who settled in Nepal more than 500 years ago. It is easier for Sherpas to climb Everest, because this mountain is their homeland, where every path is familiar from the very childhood.

Sherpas are reliable assistants on their way to the top

Sherpas are a very good-natured people, unable to inflict hurt on anyone. For them, killing an ordinary mosquito or a field mouse is considered a terrible sin, which requires a lot of begging. The Sherpas have their own language, but at present they practically all speak English. This is the great merit of Edmund Hillary - the first conqueror of Mount Everest. As a token of gratitude for his invaluable assistance, he built his own school in one of the main villages.

Although with all penetration into the life of the Sherpas of civilization, their way of life remains largely patriarchal. Traditional settlements are stone two-story houses, on the first floor of which usually contain cattle: yaks, sheep, goats, and the family itself, as a rule, is located on the second floor; There are also a kitchen, bedrooms, a common room. Furniture minimum. Thanks to climbers, pioneers, electricity appeared not so long ago; Gas or some kind of central heating they still do not have. As fuel for cooking they use yak litter, which is pre-collected and dried on stones.

Inaccessible mountain Everest ... Who first conquered this distant peak: Edmund Hillary or George Mallory? The answer scientists are looking to this day, as well as the answer to the question of what year they conquered Everest: in 1924 or in 1953.

Everest Records

Everest succumbed to more than one person, even records were set for a temporary ascent to the summit. For example, in 2004 the Sherp Pemba Dorzh reached her from the base camp in 10 hours 46 minutes, while the majority of mountaineers for the same operation takes up several days. Faster than all down the mountain in 1988, the Frenchman Jean-Marc Boevin, however, he made the jump on a steamer.

Women who conquered Everest, in no way inferior to men, also persistently and persistently overcoming every meter of the rise upward. The first representative of the weak half of humanity in 1975 was the Japanese Junko Tabe, in 10 days - Phantoga, a Tibetan mountaineer.

Who first conquered Everest among the elderly? The oldest conqueror of the summit is the 76-year-old resident of Nepal - Ming Bahadur Sherhan, and the youngest - the 13-year-old American Jordan Romero. The persistence of another young conqueror of the "top of the world" - the 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsery, whose first attempt was unsuccessful due to lack of strength and frostbite of the hands of both hands, is of interest. Upon the return of Tembe, five fingers were amputated, which did not stop him, he conquered Everest in his second ascent.

Among disabled people there is also the first person who conquered Everest. It's Mark Inglis, who climbed to the top of the world in 2006 with the help of prostheses. The hero even joked that unlike other climbers, he will not frostbite his toes. And he frostbitten feet earlier, when trying to climb to the highest peak of New Zealand - the peak of Cook, after which they were amputated to him.

Apparently, Everest has some kind of magical power, if hundreds of climbers come to it. Conquering him once again more than once returned, trying to do it again.

The beckoning peak is Everest

Who first conquered Mount Everest? Why are people so drawn to this place? There are many reasons for explaining this. The tickling of nerves, the lack of thrills, the desire to test oneself, the boredom of everyday life ....

Texas millionaire Dick Bass - a man who conquered Everest. He, not being a professional climber, was not going to spend years on careful preparation for a dangerous climb and decided to conquer the peak of the world at once, as they say: here and now. Bass was ready to pay any money to someone who would contribute to the embodiment of his seemingly unrealistic dream.

Dick Bass still managed to conquer the summit of Everest, and assistants in the expedition was the assembled team, which provided the millionaire with comfort when climbing up; People carried all the cargo, tents, oxygen bottles, water, food. So to speak, the climb was an "all inclusive" type, and this served as the beginning of commercial travel to the summit.

Since then, since 1985, everyone can conquer the summit, having enough money for this. To date, the cost of one such climb varies from 40 to 85 thousand dollars, depending on the side of the climb up the mountain. If the journey is from the side of Nepal, then it is more expensive, because it requires a special permission of the king, worth 10 thousand dollars. The remaining amount is paid for the organization of the expedition.

And even there was a wedding ...

In 2005, Mona Mule and Pem Georgie played at the top of the world a wedding. Having climbed up, the newlyweds took oxygen masks for several minutes , wearing traditional colored garlands on their necks. Then Pem anointed the scarlet powder with his bride's forehead, which symbolized marriage. The newlyweds were kept a secret from everyone: parents, acquaintances, team-mates on the expedition, because they were not sure of the successful outcome of the planned event.

So how many people have conquered Everest? Surprisingly, today there are more than 4000 people. Spring is the most optimal period for ascending weather conditions. True, such idyll lasts a little time - only a few weeks, which climbers try to use as fruitfully as possible.

According to statistics, of those who storm Mount Everest, one in every ten perishes, and most of the accidents occur during the descent, when the forces are almost gone. Theoretically, you can conquer Everest in a few days. In practice, however, gradualness and an optimal combination of ups and downs are required.