Mount Everest: a history of climbs to the top, tragic and successful

Everest, the famous peak that reaches a height of 8848 meters, is considered not only the highest mountain in the world, but also a symbol of man's desire to reach the unattainable. Its unique climatic conditions, sharp rocks and glaciers make climbing one of the most difficult and dangerous feats. The history of climbing Everest dates back to the 20th century, when the British launched a series of expeditions to explore the Himalayas.

How did the first expedition go? Who left a mark in history by trying to reach the top of the world? Why put in so much effort to take a few minutes to look at the beauty of the mountains from the peak?

We are confident that after reading this article, you will get answers to most of your questions and become even more courageous to go on a trip to at least Everest Base Camp, and maybe even to the coveted 8848 m mark!

Who made the first ascent of Mount Everest and when

Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay made the first successful and recorded ascent of Everest in 1953. They climbed the south face of the mountain, and their success was a landmark in mountaineering history, as it opened the region to a new era of climbing and route exploration.

Before Hillary and Tenzing made their way to the summit, there was another expedition that came very close to success - the 1924 ascent of George Lee Malory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine. It is known that this pair of climbers set out on the mountain on June 8, last seen at an altitude between 8577 m and 8625 m. There is still no answer to the question: were Malory and Irvine the first people to climb Mount Everest? Since the men did not make it down the mountain alive, we may never know for sure.

In May 1999, a research expedition tried to find them. Malory's body was lying on the north face at 8200 meters, but no one has seen any trace of Irwin or the camera they took with them. The camera, if ever found, could be proof of a successful ascent if the men did indeed reach the summit.

Members of the 1924 Everest expedition

In general, do you know how many people have climbed Mount Everest since the beginning of the routes? More than 10,000! Can you imagine? An incredible amount of strength of spirit, desire, thirst for victory is in the human character! You can also try climbing Everest and see with your own eyes this majestic mountain that inspires more than one generation of travelers and climbers!

Landmark expeditions to the highest mountain in the world

Why do people want to climb the highest mountains? The first thing that comes to mind is a challenge to oneself. Will I be able to withstand such a load? Am I capable of going this far? Will I be able to cope with all the difficulties in preparation and show my endurance on the mountain itself? These and many other questions were answered by the pioneers who climbed Everest.

Here are a few stories of successful climbing:

• In 1960, the first Chinese expedition first climbed Everest on the north face.
• In 1963, one of the most difficult ascents took place - the Americans climbed to the top along the western edge of the mountain.
• In 1975, a British expedition first reached the peak via the southwest wall.
• Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first climbers to reach the peak without oxygen masks in 1978.
• On May 4, 1982, a Soviet expedition first climbed the southwestern slope, which was previously considered impassable. The expedition included Ukrainian climbers Serhiy Bershov and Mykhailo Turkevych. They made the first ever night ascent of Everest, reaching the summit at 22:22. They tried to take pictures for evidence, but without a flash, the photos did not work in the dark. Therefore, they left an empty oxygen tank, the pennant of the Donetsk Alpine Club and the Kharkiv coat of arms on the summit. Subsequently, 7 more people climbed to the top, who saw the pennant and confirmed that the men had reached 8848 meters.
• In 2018, Taras Pozdnyi, Roman Gorodetskyi and Dmytro Semerenko successfully climbed Everest together. The extraordinary goal of the expedition was achieved: Taras Pozdnyi became the first person in the world to raise cryptocurrency to the mountain.

But regardless of the level of training, endurance, amount of effort and money spent, Everest remains one of the most dangerous peaks on the planet: one death per 10 successful ascents. And people die for a variety of reasons - from avalanches, from falling into the abyss, because of their stubbornness or wrong decisions. Here are a few such cases:

• "Green boots" is a concept that has become a folklore among those who want to climb Everest. The boots themselves belong to the Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, who, while climbing Everest, became a victim of the "Bloody May" of 1996 - a total of 15 people died during many expeditions that month. This was the largest number of victims in one month. For years, Paljor's green boots have been a landmark for those climbing the mountain.

• Hannelore Schmaz became the first woman and the first German citizen to die on the slopes of the mountain after successfully reaching the summit, in October 1979. She is famous because for a good 20 years her body frightened everyone who walked this way. The climber turned black in the cold, frozen in a sitting position with her eyes wide open and her hair blowing in the wind. They tried to bring the body down from the summit, but several expeditions failed, and the participants of one of them died. In the end, the mountain took pity on him, and during a severe storm in the early noughties, Annelore's body fell into the abyss.
• Babu Chiri Sherpa is a legendary Sherpa, a guide who has been to Everest 10 times. This is a man who spent 21 hours on the mountain top without oxygen, a man who climbed to the peak in 16 hours and 56 minutes, which is still a record. But the 11th expedition ended tragically. At an altitude of 6500 meters, a "child's" altitude for this guide, he was taking pictures of the mountains, accidentally miscalculated his movements, stumbled and fell into a gorge, where he died.
• Brazilian Vitor Negrete died in May 2006 while descending from the summit. It was Negrete's second ascent, and this time he planned to become the first Brazilian to climb the mountain without oxygen. On the way up, the climber made a cache in which he left food and oxygen, which he planned to use on the way down. However, on the way back, after a successful mission, he discovered that the cache had been vandalized and all the supplies were gone. Negreta did not have the strength to get to the base camp and died not far from it. It remains unclear who took the supplies and the Brazilian's life.

Tickled a little bit of nerves? Don't worry, because you don't have to go to the very top to see Everest, you can just walk at a relatively low altitude. For example, go on a trek to Everest Base Camp and see for yourself that with an experienced guide, the risk of getting into trouble is minimal. At the same time, the pleasure and unique impressions of the hike will stimulate new challenges and mountain adventures!

Our story: Ukrainians who conquered Everest

Ukraine has many talented people whom we would like to tell you about, namely that we are proud and admire their achievements:

• The first Ukrainian expedition to Everest took place in 1999. On May 8, at 4:00 a.m., the advance group consisting of the leader Vladyslav Terziul, Vasyl Kopytko and Volodymyr Horbach set out to storm Everest from an altitude of 8300 meters. At 14:11 they unfurled the Ukrainian flag at the top of the world.
• The first Ukrainian woman to climb Everest was Iryna Halay, who climbed on May 20, 2016, together with Viktor Bobko. Iryna inspires others with her love for the mountains, saying that for ten years before her, Ukrainians hardly ever climbed Everest, and now every year they raise the Ukrainian flag there.
• On May 14, 2018, 38-year-old Roman Horodechnyi became the first Lviv resident to climb Mount Everest. As a result, the flags of Lviv and Lviv region flew on this mountain. The man had been training for over six months before the climb.
• If we count the number of Ukrainians who have climbed Everest, there are more than 33 of them, of whom the youngest Ukrainian today is Yaroslav Samsonenko from Sumy. He reached the top on May 19, 2023, at the age of 23.

The founder of the Kuluar Club, Taras Pozdnyi, has a special place in this list of outstanding people. In the spring of 2018, he made his first ascent to the highest point on the planet, and then repeated it in 2021. After his successful expeditions to Everest, the climber held many meetings in Ukraine, thus developing the culture of climbing and hiking in high mountains. Taras organized several successful expeditions to other eight-thousanders, and then opened the routes he had already traveled in the "Kuluar", so now everyone can climb proven routes with Ukrainian or local team leaders.

"When climbing eight-thousanders, Sherpas (and all climbers) have a certain ritual," Taras tells us about the customs of the Himalayan people. "It's called 'puja', and it's actually an appeal to the gods of the mountain, the main message of which is to ask for permission to climb this mountain. In general, the word "conquered" should not be used for peaks. The question is: did the mountain itself notice that you conquered it? Climbers don't go to conquer, they go to visit the peak, ask for the blessing of the goddess of the peak, and only after this rite can they begin their work on the mountain.

So, after learning about so many famous people who have made so many different climbs to the top, the saying becomes obvious: every long journey begins with the first step, and behind every peak reached is a titanic work of strength and spirit of each person. Once you take the first step towards your dream, you are on the right track! Watch a video review of the challenges our Ukrainian climbers overcame while climbing Everest, get inspired and go in search of adventure with us.

Kuluar - your life-changing mountain experience!