First ascent of Everest
Primera ascensión al Everest
- Date
- 29 de mayo de 1953 · confidence high
- Place
- Summit of Everest
- Credited to
- Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay; John Hunt's British expedition
- People
- 👤 Edmund Hillary1919–2008👤 Tenzing Norgay1914–1986
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Hillary and Tenzing reached the summit of Everest using supplementary oxygen, after three decades of British attempts and the disappearance of Mallory and Irvine in 1924. It was the highest point ever trodden by a human being.
Coordinates of the summit. Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the top in 1924 is debated; Mallory's body was found in 1999 with no conclusive proof.
What it led to
- High-altitude mountaineering and Everest tourism
- Physiology of extreme hypoxia
- Recognition of the Sherpa people
Built on
- British expeditions of 1921-1924
- Opening of Nepal to foreigners (1949)
Made possible
- Open-circuit oxygen equipment
- Oxygen-free ascents (Messner and Habeler, 1978)