First Success

At 11:30 a.m. on May 29th 1953 two climbers, Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, successfully climbed to the peak of Everest.These two paved the way for other sucessful expeditions and silenced the critics who thought the 8,850 meter mountain was unclimbable. People in Great Britian at the time were estatic. Since their decine in world power after World War II England was looking for something to revive their spirits and after hearing the news of the reaching of the peak of Everest they were more excited than when their queen was being crowned...

"People of a certain age remember vividly to this day the moment when, as they waited on a drizzly June morning for the Coronation procession to pass by in London, they heard the magical news that the summit if the world was, so to speak, theirs."

When Sir Edmund Hillary returned he was knighted by the queen and his image was on postage stamps , books, and movies. On the other side if the world Tenzing became a hero to the people of India, Nepal, and Tibet.

The story of Beck Weathers

Befor 1996 Beck Weathers had been an average guy. His child hood had consisted of traveling from one military base to another until he landed in Wichita Falls. He then graduated college went on to medical school to become a doctorthen got married and had two children of his own. After turning 40 he decided that he was in need of a new hobby in his life to keep him entertained. Even though Beck was not the most experienced of his fellow climbers on Everest his deternmination earned the respect of other climbers. Like Jon Krakauer commented... " Even though his inflexible new boots had chewed his feet into hamburger, Beck kept hobbling upward day in and day out, scarcley mentioning what must have been horrific pain." After Beck lacerated his corneas by accidentaly rubbing some ice crystals into his eyes he had to turn around and head down. Jon Krakauer was convincing him to turn back with him and let him be Beck's "eyes" until Jon said something of Mike Groom and Yasuko coming down, and Beck decided to wait for them to take him down instead of Jon. When rescuers found him he was in deep stages of hypothermia and had unzipped his jacket complaining of being hot. He lost part of his nose, cheek, and almost both of his hands. Doctors were able to take muscles from his back to repair one of his thumbs.

First Woman to Reach the Summit of Mount Everest

On May 16, 1975 Junko Tabei was able to breath fresh mountain air from a height of 8,484 meters. This Japanese climber became the first woman to reach the summit of mount Everest in that day. Her expedition was led by a Sherpa guide. After coming down from the mountain Junko said..."I can't understand why men make all this fuss about Everest--it's only a mountain". The now seventy year old is still addicted to climbing and has reached the peak of all seven peaks. Her accomplishments came 22 years after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing but are nothing short of amazing even if she does not think so herself.

The ultimate goal

The goal of Mt. Everest is one of the few things that drives many people and joins many from different nationalities together. Whether they come down the mountain alive or dead they have already earned respect from people all over the world. These people have guts. When they reach the peak of the mountain they are standing on land higher than what you would be in a plane, their base camp is higher than what a helicopter can reach. the danger is beyond beleif one false step or miscalculation of weather can be difference between life or death. The oldest person on the climb with Jon Krakauer was 47 and died 20 ft away from the base camp. You have to wonder was it because her body had already been depleted of all its resources and just couldn't make it that last few feet or was it becauseshe could barely see past her her hand in the snow and thought she was much farther away from what she actually was? Most people do not understand why someone would waste so much time and energy to get somewhere and then once your their you only stay for a few minutes. These are the bravest people in the world there's no denying it.

All the Lives it's Taken

"Mountains don't kill people, they just sit there..." Once said Ed Viestursbut but about 185 people have died on that mountain and some of their bodies are still up there even from the first climb. They only found one of the dead bodies.In the 1996 disaster there are still eight bodies resting in the cold air in the himylayas.

works cited

"1980 - 1989." 20th Century History. 17 May 2010 http://history1900s.about.com/od/1980s/qtmteverest.htm.

"Junko Tabei at AllExperts." Expert Archive Questions. 17 May 2010 http://en.allexperts.com/e/j/ju/junko_tabei.htm.

Krakauer, Jon. Into thin air: a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster. New York: Villard, 1997.

"Mount Everest Quotes." Mt Everest Info Guide for Expeditions and Travel. 17 May 2010 http://www.mnteverest.net/quote.html.

Ullman, James Ramsey. Americans on Everest; the official account of the ascent led by Norman G. Dyhrenfurth. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1964.

Robert Geisenhoff, interveiw; 5/16/10