On 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stood atop the highest mountain in the world, where no one had ever stood before. This magnificent volume celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of their historic climb, and chronicles the history of Everest exploration from the early years of the twentieth century to the present. It is the first and only book on the subject to benefit from complete access to the Royal Geographical Society’s astonishingly rich collection of photographs, documents, and artefacts. Painstakingly selected from over 20,000 subjects, more than 400 photographs—many never before published—record the surveying, planning, reconnaissance expeditions, and ascents that the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club jointly launched—beginning in 1921 and culminating in Hillary and Norgay’s landmark feat. Among the memorable photographs reproduced here are the first aerial views of Mount Everest; the last known photograph of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who perished soon afterward on the slopes of Everest; Hillary’s iconic photograph of Tenzing Norgay standing triumphant on Everest’s summit; images showing the daily experience of expedition members along with the dangers they faced; portraits of the life and customs of the Sherpas and the other Tibetan peoples; and the spectacular beauty of the Everest massif itself. These unique and breathtaking images are prefaced by Sir Edmund Hillary and his Holiness the Dalai Lama, and are accompanied by chapters written by renowned mountaineer Stephen Venables; the well-known mountain journalist and climber Ed Douglas; Judy and Tashi Tenzing, grandson of the famed Sherpa Tenzing Norgay; and noted historian John Keay. The result is a work of lasting significance that captures as never before the sense of discovery, excitement, achievement, and exhilaration experienced over the years by those who are brave and determined enough to challenge the world’s greatest mountain.
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