This is a list of notable
expeditions to
Mount Everest. These
mountaineering expeditions were for a variety of purposes, including geographic exploration, sport, science, awareness raising, and fundraising.
There have been many expeditions throughout the 20th (1900s) and 21st (2000s) centuries, with the amount increasing dramatically in the late 20th century[1] before skyrocketing in the 2000s.
Introduction
The early slowness of expedition frequency reflected the many difficulties of mounting one at that time, which included expense, travel by conventional means from distant Europe, language and culture barriers, the need to hire large numbers of native porters, access to the mountains (including permission of respective governments), extremely limited communications, and, simply, the unknown, as no-one had ever attempted to climb so high before.
Along with explorations of both poles, the challenge of reaching the highest point on the Earth spurred a late, great burst of effort to complete the
Age of Discovery on Earth, with only the deep marine trenches remaining.
The first expedition was a reconnaissance in 1921, and after a few decades (heavily interrupted both by access problems and the Second World War, a
1953 British expedition reached the top of Everest.[1][2] Early Everest expeditions had a reputation for grandiosity, both because they were such large undertakings and the character of the elite Europeans mounting them,[2] with the 1953 expedition hiring 320 porters to carry supplies from
Kathmandu across a remote, barely explored, wilderness.[2] The 1963 American expedition had over 900 porters that carried over 25 tons of supplies, supporting a climbing crew of dozens.[3] Over time the absolute size of expeditions shrank - in part thanks to helicopter deliveries of both supplies and personnel that began to occur late in the 20th century - but, with commercial expedition companies proliferating, the number of climbers in a party that may have begun with hundreds or even close to 1,000 members in all with only as few as two summitting shrank, while the number bidding to reach the top could swell into double-digits with a single outfitter's effort.
The ninth British expedition was led by
John Hunt and organized and financed by the
Joint Himalayan Committee. Using conventional open-circuit oxygen sets, the summit of Everest was reached at 11:30 a.m. local time on May 29, 1953, by the New Zealander
Edmund Hillary[5] and
Tenzing Norgay,[6] a Nepali, climbing the
South Col route. This was the first time men had reached the top of
Mount Everest.
1963 First ascent by an American:
Jim Whittaker,[8] accompanied by
Nawang Gombu Sherpa who later went on to become the first man to climb Everest twice in 1965; first ascent of the West Ridge on May 22 by Americans
Tom Hornbein and
Willi Unsoeld.[9] Hornbein and Unsoeld descended by the South Col, making the ascent the first traverse of Everest.[10]Lute Jerstad and
Barry Bishop were the other summiteers.[11] A total of six persons reach the summit, five
Americans and one
sherpa
^Willby, Sorrel (1989).
Beyond The Icefall. The first laptop computer used at basecamp to manage team / climber logistics. National Library of Australia: Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd. pp. all.
ISBN0-86777-318-9.