Introduction | Gallery  |  Did you know  |  Map

Frigid Determination

On the unforgiving slopes of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, foreground, and Tenzing Norgay plod up the Southeast Ridge on their way to Camp IX, where they spend a bitter cold night at 27,900 feet (8,500 meters). The following day—May 29, 1953—they become the first to reach the top of the world's highest peak, which pierces the clouds at 29,035 feet (8,850 meters).

Stars, Stripes, and Summits

Americans make their first successful summit of Everest in the spring of 1963. Here, two climbers from the team traverse the Lhotse Face on their way to the Geneva Spur, the South Col, and the Southeast Ridge leading to the peak. In all, four climbers reach the top via this route, including National Geographic writer and photographer Barry Bishop. Two others make the first ascent up the West Ridge.

Woman on Top of the World

"I squat down, feeling hard as stone. I want only to rest a while, forget everything. At first there is no relief. I am leached, completely empty." Italian Reinhold Messner describes his ordeal of August 1980, when he becomes the first to summit Everest alone—without oxygen. Here he poses at the peak near a tripod left five years earlier by a Chinese team.

In All Its Glory

The radiant blush of a cloud at the summit of Everest, at right, suggests a regal crown—and hints at danger. This is a lenticular cloud, which indicates the presence of strong winds at the summit, perhaps even a jet stream raking the peak. Jet-stream winds can jump quickly from 30 to 175 miles an hour (50 to 280 kilometers an hour) and have been known to blow climbers off their feet.

Solo Portrait

Japanese climber Junko Tabei in 1975 becomes the first woman to summit Everest, and later scales the rest of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. Her achievements brought reflection. "A person can only leave the history of her life behind her," she says. "It is important to enrich one's mind with the feelings that emerge from being in touch with the beautiful and precious nature of our globe."

Traffic Jam

A climbing conga line winds its way up the Southeast Ridge on May 16, 2002, when 61 people reached the top via this route. To avoid the crowd, an expedition mounted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent waited until May 25. Peter Hillary (son of Edmund) and Brent Bishop (son of Barry) both reach the summit in a heartfelt tribute to their history-making fathers. A documentary about the anniversary expedition will air on the National Geographic Channel April 27.