When Edmund Hillary stepped onto the summit of Mount Everest at 11.30 on 29th May 1953 he didn’t admire the view, or dance a jig of triumph. No, he reported that the first thing he did was to look for traces of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine. The mystery of what happened to Mallory and … Read more
Andrew “Sandy” Irvine was the youngest mountaineer in the British team that took part in the third, 1924 Mount Everest expedition. He disappeared into clouds near the summit on June 8th, 1924, climbing strongly for the top with his companion George Mallory. His body has never been found. Or has it? Rumours persist that Irvine’s … Read more
Andrew “Sandy” Irvine was a young British mountaineer who took part in the third Mount Everest expedition. He disappeared into clouds near the summit on June 8th, 1924. His body has never been found. Or has it? His brother Thurston Irvine was just 10 years old when he watched Sandy Irvine embark on the SS … Read more
The summit of Mount Everest is a deadly place. There is only one-third of the amount of oxygen available to humans at sea level. The wind and the cold are life-threatening. Many summiteers keep their oxygen masks on during their few minutes on top of the highest mountain in the world. But how long could … Read more
They called her the Sleeping Beauty of Mount Everest. She lay on her back, one arm outflung, with her head pillowed on the eternal snow. Her face, now waxy in death, seemed so perfect that the new name suited her well. Francys Arsentiev reached the summit without oxygen on 22nd May 1998 in company with … Read more
Leo Oración claims to have been the first Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest, asserting that he did so on the South Col route on May 17, 2006 when he was 32 years old. But then so does Filipino Dale Abenojar, who claims he got to the top two days earlier from the … Read more
It’s the question everyone really wants to ask, but doesn’t dare to. We reveal, finally, the ugly truth about peeing and pooping on Mount Everest. To pee on Mount Everest, climbers use pee bottles in tents at night and pour the urine into the surrounding snow in the morning. To poop on Everest, you use … Read more
The great nation of India has a deep fascination with Mount Everest and has given us many fine mountaineers. We hear a great deal about the first Indian men to climb Everest, but who was the first Indian woman to climb the world’s highest mountain? The first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest was Bachendri … Read more
To be the first climber from your country to climb Mount Everest is a great ambition. But to be the first woman from your country is even harder to achieve. Stacey Allison was the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, arriving there on September 29, 1988. She showed all the usual … Read more
Many climbers dream of summiting Mount Everest, but to be the first to do so from your own country is a very special ambition. When answering the question: “who was the first Indian summiteer?” it is important to make the distinction between Indian born, and Indian citizen. Avtar Singh Cheema was the first Indian-born man … Read more
