Mount Everest - A Brief Climbing History
There is something in me which responds to this mountain and goes out to meet it; the struggle is life itself, upward and forever upward.
- George Leigh Mallory
Most histories of Himalayan mountaineering inevitably begin with reference to the moment when "Mount Everest" came into being----that is, the precise instance when, in 1852, in a small office in Calcutta, members of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India calculated the height of Peak XV to be 8,842 metres, making it the highest known point in the world. To the colonial administration, no longer was it a mere dot on a vast grid of measured, criss-crossing triangles that mapped out the Indian sub-continent. In 1865, nine years after its height was confirmed, India's Surveyor General, Sir Andrew Waugh, bestowed the name of "Mount Everest" on Peak XV in honour of his predecessor Sir George Everest, thereby ignoring the official policy that encouraged the retention of local names. Yet, Tibetans living to the north of the mountain already had a name for it, Chomolungma, which translates to "Mother Goddess of the World", while the Nepalis, on the mountain's south side, called it Sagarmatha, "Goddess of the Sky."
After an American bagged the North Pole in 1909 and a Norwegian the South in 1911, the race began for the so-called "Third Pole", Mt. Everest, then described as "the most coveted object in the realm of terrestrial exploration." Claiming the first ascent of Mt. Everest was of paramount importance to the British Empire and a preoccupation that lasted nearly half a century. In 1924, the British made a third attempt at the first ascent via the mountain's North Ridge, through Tibet, with all hopes resting with George Leigh Mallory-the so-called "Gallahad" of the British mountaineering fraternity. On June 8th, Mallory, accompanied by the inexperienced Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, set out from high on the slopes of the North Shoulder, into, what has now become, "the most famous failed summit bid in mountaineering literary history". It was the last time anyone saw Mallory or Irvine alive, and thus, since that day, climbers and historians alike have enthusiastically debated whether the two actually reached the summit. Only recently, in 1999, was Mallory's body discovered by an American team, led by Eric Simonson, but the camera-lent to Mallory by Howard Somervell for the summit attempt-was not on his person. If found, the collapsible Kodak Vestpocket Camera is hoped to illuminate whether Mt. Everest was actually summited in 1924, more than a quarter century before the accepted first ascent. Today, the search continues for Irvine.
Nevertheless, after thirty-two years, and eight attempts, Britain finally claimed the first successful ascent in 1953, this time from the Nepalese side, and the story is well known. On May 29th, members of a British expedition, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, an expedition Sherpa from Darjeeling ascended the final slopes becoming the first men to stand atop Mt. Everest. Between the two, they laid claim to five nationalities-Indian, Nepali, Tibetan, British and New Zealander, and yet, Everest "belonged" to England and continued to play a symbolic role within the shrinking empire. News of the "timely" triumph rang through the streets of Britain as cheering patriotic crowds thronged for young Queen Elizabeth's coronation, ushering in the New Elizabethan Age and better times for England.
Since 1953, Mt. Everest has continued to be a focal point for numerous groundbreaking achievements, including the American ascent of Everest's West Ridge in 1963, and the first female ascent in 1975, made by Japanese climber Junko Tabei. That same year, an all-star British team, led by Chris Bonington, successfully scaled the mountain's formidable Southwest Face. In 1978, with sensational style and effort, Tyrolean's Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler became the first climbers to summit the mountain without the aid of supplementary oxygen, achieving what was thought to be utterly impossible-Everest could be climbed without oxygen. Messner returned to Everest two years later and made the first successful solo attempt from the Tibetan side of the mountain pioneering a partially new route, again without the aid of oxygen. During the 1980s, two new routes were pushed up the imposing East, or Kangshung, Face by an American team in 1983, and an International team in 1988. With the successful ascent of the Kangshung, all the major features of the mountain had been climbed and although the subsequent decades would witness a host of creative deeds, these would chiefly amount to variations of existing routes or refinements in climbing ethics, style, and form.
Canadians have enjoyed a rich history on Mt. Everest too, albeit a generally "quiet", less sensationalized one. In fact, Canadians have been an integral part of numerous groundbreaking Everest expeditions, stretching as far back as 1921, with the first official British "reconnaissance" expedition. On that endeavour, alongside George Mallory, was Edward Oliver Wheeler, who, a surveyor on the team and later the president of the Alpine Club of Canada, discovered the hidden entrance to the East Rongbuk Glacier, which became the route of all pre-Second World War expeditions. However, one of the most remarkable Everest adventures was an unlikely attempt made by Canadian Earl Denman twenty-six years later. Even in 1947, Denman, in the company of a young Tenzing Norgay, believed that Everest could be climbed by a small group, without the use of supplementary oxygen-that "completely artificial aid". Despite Denman's seemingly progressive climbing ethic, his tenacious attempt fell short of the North Col.
Canada sent its first national endeavour to Mt. Everest in 1982, which, although being fraught "with team conflicts and inflationary budgets", put Laurie Skreslet, Pat Morrow, and four Sherpa on the top of the world. In 1983, one of Calgary's strongest climbers, Dave Cheesmond, was an A-team member of the American team that blazed an incredibly difficult line up the Central Pillar of the unclimbed Kangshung Face, and was responsible for pushing the route through the final crux pitch. Three years later, also committed to pure, "lighter" style, Canmore's Sharon Wood became the first North American woman to summit, along with Dwayne Congdon. However, "the best achievement by a Canadian", according to climbing historian Chic Scott, was Paul Teare's attempt as a member of a four-man international team that created a new line up the "Neverest Buttress" on the Kangshung Face in 1988. Since that time, there have been numerous other landmark Canadian efforts-those made by Canada's best, namely Barry Blanchard, Dan Culver, Tim Rippel, and John Evans. Records have been broken, and new ones have been forged. Recently, in 2001 for example, Calgary's Dave Rodney became the first Canadian to summit the mountain twice, while his climbing partner, Deryl Kelly, became the youngest Canadian to summit at the age of twenty-five. Still, to this date, no Canadian has reached the summit of Mt. Everest without the use of supplementary oxygen.
Compiled by Zac Robinson, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta.