The youngest person to climb Everest. Amazing Everest Conquests

Today, May 23, 2013, at 9:05 am (local time), the legendary Japanese climber, 80-year-old Yuichiro Miura, climbed to the top of Everest!

With this ascent, Yuichiro Miura rewrote the age record for Everest conquerors, becoming the oldest climber to reach its peak!

Yuichiro Miura climbed Everest with the support of his team, which also included his son, 49-year-old Gota Miura.
In total, the ascent from Base Camp took 8 days. The climbers completed the last push to the summit from Camp 5 at an altitude of 8.5 thousand meters in seven hours. The final meters of the distance were complicated by constant strong winds. The ascent was made using oxygen cylinders.

Start of Yuichiro Miura's ascent to Everest, May 2013:

"I did it!"- Yuichiro said from the top of Everest on the phone. "I never thought it was possible to reach the top of Everest at the age of 80. It's the most wonderful feeling in the world, even though I'm completely exhausted. Even at the ripe old age of 80, I can still do something extraordinary."

Yuichiro and his team remained at the top of Everest for about 30 minutes, taking memorable photographs, and then began to descend to the bottom.

But this record of Yuichiro Miura can last only a few days, because next week he will be followed by the summit of Everest, even though he suffered a breakdown just a few days ago digestive system.

In addition, the team of Min Bahadur Sherkhan faced financial difficulties when they did not receive the financial assistance promised by the Nepalese government (later Purna Chandra Bhattarai, the head of the Nepalese mountaineering department, stated that this financial assistance still under consideration by the government).

Yuichiro became a famous conqueror of Everest primarily for his first ski descent from the peak in May 1970.
Yuichiro Miura is sometimes called "the man who skied down Everest for the first time", but more often he is given funnier titles, such as "the man who first skied (almost head over heels) off Everest".

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It is worth noting that this film won an Oscar in 1975 in the category "Best documentary".

Note that already in the 2000s, a rivalry developed between Yuichiro and Min Bahadur in setting the age record for climbing Everest:

The first person to enter the Guinness Book of Records was Yuichiro, who in 2003, at the age of 70, became the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

In 2008, Yuichiro, aged 75, once again climbed Everest with the goal of breaking his own age record; however, just one day before Yuichiro's ascent, on May 25, 2008, Nepalese climber Min Bahadur Sherchan summited Everest at the age of 76 years and 340 days, breaking all age records for climbing Everest.

However, in 2008, Yuichiro was awarded an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for his conquest of Everest as the only person in the world, who has climbed Everest twice at the age of over 70 years.

After his second summit of Everest, Yuichiro planned a "anniversary" climb at the age of 80; however, in 2009 he was seriously injured in a skiing accident, breaking his pelvic bones and left femur. Then, the doctors definitely said that I would have to give up climbing mountains. However, his strong determination and desire to climb Everest refuted the arguments of doctors and skeptics. Just 6 months after the accident, Yuichiro began training again

By the way, in the Miura family, Yuichiro is not the only record holder; his father, Keizo Miura, is also a very athletic and brave person.
In 1981, Yuichiro organized an ascent to the highest point in Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m). Naturally, in order to ski down from there. This time Yuichiro was not alone; his father Keizo and son Goto took part in this expedition with him.
In 1981, Keizo was 77 years old, and 22 years later, in 2003, Keizo Miura committed an act that earned him a mention in the Guinness Book of Records - he skied down the White Valley in Chamonix (France) (there are ski slopes of the highest category of difficulty there) ). It is not surprising that his grandson Goto practiced moguls for many years (this is downhill skiing on a special uneven track) and was the leader of the Japanese team in this sport.
Yuichiro Miura's further achievements were just as “modest.” In 1983, he participated in the Seven Summits program (climbing the highest points of all continents) by Rick Ridgeway and Dick Bass and on November 30 skied Mount Vinson (5140 m) in Antarctica. And in 1985, Elbrus (5642 m) and Aconcagua (6960 m) fell under his skis.

Yuichiro Miura was born in October 1932 in Aomori Prefecture (northern Honshu Island). His father raised him in an atmosphere of rigor and respect for physical education. A versatile athlete and diligent student, Yuichiro entered Hokkaido University in Sapporo. He studied to become a veterinarian. However, at this time in the northern Japanese island a real ski boom began. Physically strong and agile, Yuichiro turned out to be the strongest skier of the university, city and then the country. Participation in international competitions did not bring him much glory; he reached the level of the strongest athletes from the Alpine countries; however, he met differently-minded people who opened up other horizons for him.

Miura decided to take the most important step - he became a professional. He started at commercial events in the USA, where he impressed everyone with his composure and absolute fearlessness. The competition did not bring satisfaction, either material or moral. Yuichiro decided to seek his fortune in the nascent world of extreme skiing. The samurai achieved absolute perfection in mastery of himself and his weapons. Miura's weapon was skis. He trained selflessly, took risks and won. Soon a series of exploits began that made him a national hero. World speed record on a glacier in Cervinia (172 km/h), first ski descent from Mount Fuji (1966), first descent from McKinley (1967).

And finally, in 1970, it was Everest's turn. Let's say right away that Miura did not descend from the top of Everest (this was done much later by Kammerlander and Karnichar). The highest point was the South Col (about 8000 meters). However, what he did is unlikely to be repeated. Miura did not slide down the slope or traverse the slope, preparing to turn with a jump at the end of the slanting descent. The Japanese reached speeds of up to 150 km per hour while descending the mountaineering route. He drove almost straight down and, to slow down, threw out a special parachute. The situation was super extreme. Either as a result of a mistake, or in an attempt to slow down, Miura falls and his uncontrolled fall resembles the fall of an inanimate object. The bergschrund, a foothill crack that should become his grave, is rapidly approaching. And suddenly a miracle happens, the skier miraculously stops. He stands on a steep slope ten meters from the crack, collects and secures the parachute. Calmly and confidently he walks around (the skis are lost) the crack. He is alive, he is collected and calm. A samurai is a samurai.

Miura is an atypical Japanese, in a country with predominantly lifetime employment, he has been in a constant work dynamic all his life. Dozens of projects, millions and millions of yen, passed through him. He rose to receive the emperor and experienced periods of stagnation, received orders, presided over various high meetings, led all alpine skiing country, taught at the university, while raising children and caring for parents. In 1981, he organized an ascent to the highest point in Africa, Kilimanjaro, which he climbed with his father (Keizo was 77 years old at the time) and his 11-year-old son Goto. In 1983, Vinson descends from the highest point of Antarctica. In 1985, after skiing from Elbrus, Miura completed a program of skiing from the seven highest peaks of the continents. It seemed that the limit of feats for one person had been exhausted. But Yuichiro returned.

He came once again to show his strength, to show how long a person should maintain physical fitness, to show how wonderful it is when representatives of different generations understand each other and do one thing together. In 2000, Miura, together with a group of students, climbed one of the five-thousanders in Nepal. And he decided that his mountaineering career could well be continued. The following year he successfully climbs Mera Peak (6476m). And in 2002, a 69-year-old Japanese climbed Cho Oyu and became the oldest climber on eight-thousanders. And here's a new try, new challenge. We see Yuichiro on the slopes of Everest. He is still serious and collected. He looks 20 years younger than his age. And it seems that nothing can stop him on the way to his goal.

Here are some representative excerpts from Rick Ridgeway and Dick Bass's book Seven Summits. Miura joined the Mount Vinson expedition in 1983. Antarctica is a very special continent. There are no boundaries, and all management essentially belongs to the scientists. There were no athletes or even just tourists there until the 80s and no one was officially going to allow them there. The cost of the program was also an important limiting factor. Therefore, even such forward-thinking people as Wells and Bass (millionaires, initiators of the program) took almost two years to organize an expedition to the highest point of Antarctica. It turned out, among other things, that there are only two planes in the world that can fly to the required point, land and rise on an untreated patch of ice. And that only 2 pilots in the world are capable of taking on such a flight. And that a number of other points must coincide, and still the success of the expedition is not guaranteed. The expedition's budget was close to a million dollars, a sum that was difficult even for Bass and Wells to pay. It’s good that they were joined by the famous skier and climber Yukio Miura, who managed to collect several hundred thousand dollars in the then prosperous Japan. In addition to them, the famous English climber Chris Bonington played a significant role in the expedition.

The flight to the Vinson area was in itself a risky climb. A private DC-3 aircraft, manufactured in 1944, was chartered. The flight took place first from Canada through California to southern Chile, then to the Antarctic base and to the summit area. When landing, ice flying ace Giles Kershaw only skied on the surface of the glacier and took to the skies again. It was reconnaissance. On the second approach, he landed successfully, having bounced around the sastrugi quite a bit. The team began the climb with enthusiasm. It seemed that there were no significant obstacles. However, the first attempt was disrupted due to strong winds. Only Bonington reached the summit. On the second attempt, on November 30, 1983, Bass and Rick Ridgeway succeeded in the ascent, followed by the others, including Wells. At the same time, Miura successfully skied almost from the very top to the base camp.

“In the hangar I met Yuichiro Miura and his cameraman Tae Maeda. Miura was dismantling equipment that took up the entire hangar. He had extremely muscular legs and a handsome, tanned and weathered face. He looked about thirty years old, maybe forty (I was amazed to learn that he was 51 years old). The temperature was normal for an Australian summer, somewhere around +30, Miura was bare-chested, wearing sports shorts and large leather boots. “New shoes,” he said smiling, “better break them in beforehand.”

The cameraman filmed while he disassembled his equipment, checked his ski bindings, and packed his backpack. Miura still planned to descend from Vinson and prepare a 90-minute broadcast for Japanese television. Miura was a modern samurai, determined to face danger on skis; folk hero so well known in Japan that he was once besieged in a Tokyo restaurant by a crowd of excited girls who tore his T-shirt and wrote their names on it with a marker.

“Our two Japanese comrades Yuichiro Miura and his cameraman Tae Maeda also climbed with us. Miura had perhaps the heaviest load of all, carrying all the ski equipment for the descent from the summit. At this tense moment, we realized how great it was that Miura and Maeda were with us on this trip, both self-possessed, hardworking and sociable. Fortunately, they both spoke good English, although Dick (Bass) was constantly trying to practice his Japanese, at the level of a tourist phrasebook."

“Frank succeeded, no doubt only because Miura, despite his own large backpack, insisted on taking part of his load. If we called Bass a dynamo for his energy, then the confident, handsome Japanese ski hero, at the age of 50, was a “superman”. Frank said he would never forget his generosity. In fact, for many months, Frank constantly spoke of Miura as one of the greatest people he had ever met."

“Frank, a professional in the film business (for the sake of the Seven Summits project, he left his post as head of Warner Brothers), believed that Miura would ski only part of the way to Camp 1. After all, on the way down there was a real icefall with cracks and towers of seracs. Frank believed that Miura would find a couple of effective shots, do a couple of takes from different angles. But it won't go straight down. He was wrong. “Miura drove from the tents of Camp 2 to Camp 1 without stopping,” Frank later said, “he flew over cracks, went around seracs at full speed, and jumped over blocks. It was the most incredible descent I have ever seen."

The youngest killer, college graduate, billionaire and others...

Society tends to revere youth - it is during this period of life that our bodies are at their strongest and most beautiful. However, many achievements often require training, preparation and wisdom. We want to tell you about ten people who achieved success, albeit in some cases very dubious, in very early age.

1. The youngest serial killer

Anyone who has spent more than ten minutes on a playground knows full well that children can be cruel. In fact, many of the antisocial tendencies that ultimately lead to more serious crimes appear at a very early age: animal abuse is an example - sometimes a boy or girl can even kill a defenseless animal.

However, finding a serial killer who has not even reached puberty is extremely difficult. The youngest famous serial killer was eight-year-old Amardeep Sada from Bihar, India. By the age of eight, Sada had already killed three people, including his young cousin and sister. After killing a neighbor's child, he was taken into custody.

All three were beaten to death with sticks and stones. What exactly was the reason for Sade’s behavior is unknown - the police, in response to the press, only replied that this boy “often smiles and asks for cookies.”

2. Youngest marathon runner

Any parent who has ever taken a small child for a walk in the park can confirm that children are not very resilient. But little boy Budha Singh, from the state of Orissa, India, does not fit this stereotype - at the age of three, Singh began participating in marathons.

The child's mother, a paralyzed beggar, was forced to sell him. The boy eventually ended up with Biranchi Das, the owner orphanage and a judo coach. One day Das caught little Budha doing something unseemly and forced him to run as punishment - Budha ran for several hours.

By the age of four, he had taken part in 48 marathons. There was some concern that Das was using Budha's abilities for personal gain, so the boy was removed from his care in 2007.

Now Budha is in a government boarding school, and Das was killed a year later in a random street incident. Interestingly, Orissa is also the birthplace of Faya Singh, the oldest marathon runner in the world, who ran the marathon distance at the age of over 100 years.

3. Youngest college graduate

Unfortunately, all young prodigies are characterized by rapid burnout caused by enormous amounts of work and complete denial of their own youth. One of these prodigies is Adragon-De Mello, who graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1988 at the age of 11. He was the youngest college graduate in history to receive a bachelor's degree in computational mathematics.

15 years later, instead of changing the world in a secret laboratory, De Mello was working at The Home Depot, a chain that sold home improvement supplies. His record was eventually broken by a boy named Michael Kearney, who graduated from college at age ten and received two master's degrees before he came of age. Kearney later participated in the show "Gold Rush", in which he won a million dollars.

4. The youngest conqueror of Everest

IN recent years Climbing Everest is becoming an increasingly commercial enterprise: after Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay climbed the peak of Everest in 1953, thousands of people managed to repeat the same achievement.

However, the climb still remains incredibly dangerous: about 10% of climbers die on the slopes of the mountain trying to conquer it. Considering the amount of experience it requires, as well as the cost of equipment (sometimes several thousand dollars for equipment), it is not surprising that most climbers are middle-aged.

One of the youngest conquerors of Everest was TV presenter Bear Grylls, who accomplished his feat in 1998 at the age of 23. But that achievement pales in comparison to Jordan Romero of Big Bear, California, who climbed Everest in May 2010—Jordan was just 13 years old when he scaled the world's tallest mountain.

After Everest, he also conquered Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua, McKinley, Puncak Jaya and the Vinson Massif in Antarctica - all of which he managed to do before he was 15 years old. He is currently working on his autobiographical book entitled The Boy Who Climbed Everest: The Jordan Romero Story.

5. Youngest person on the Billboard chart There is no shortage of young musicians, but not all of them make it onto the charts until they are old enough and popular. That all changed in early 2012 when Blue Ivy Carter, daughter of megastars Jay-Z and Beyoncé, made a cameo appearance on her father's song "Glory" the day after she was born.

The song tells the story of a father's love for his child. It even contains the words: “The best thing I have created is you.” As you might expect, Blue Ivy's contribution to the video was minimal, but millions of Jay-Z fans cried. This turned out to be quite enough to secure a place on the chart and earn the status of the most young man ever to appear on the Billboard rankings. Together with her father’s name, the girl’s name was for some time in 74th place among the hundred most popular hits.

6. Youngest drill instructor

Donnie Dunagan was a child actor, starring in the 1939 films Son of Frankenstein and The Tower of London. True, his most famous role was voicing Bambi in the Walt Disney cartoon of the same name. This became his last film role - soon after this his parents divorced, and he had to work and seek refuge in a boarding house. At age 18, he joined the Marine Corps and became the youngest drill instructor in the world.

Dunnagan's military career took him to Vietnam, where he was wounded. He was eventually promoted to major before retiring in 1977. During his stay in Marine Corps Donnie kept his film work a secret - it became known only in June 2005. Now 79 years old, Donnie says he has learned to appreciate his fame.

7. The youngest suicide

Of course, the youngest suicide is a tragic record. It was six-year-old Samantha Kiberski from Oregon, who hanged herself on December 2, 2009.

The first-grader was sent to her room after an argument with her mother as punishment, where the girl wrapped a belt around her neck and secured it to the bed. After her seemingly lifeless body was discovered, she was taken to hospital where she later died.

Police believe it was an accident, but government medical experts ruled it a suicide, leading to debate about whether children that age can even understand the consequences of making such a decision.

8. Youngest billionaire Most of us at least sometimes dream of fabulous riches, castles and Ferraris. Unfortunately, the reality is much harsher: few of us become millionaires, much less billionaires. Most millionaires got their wealth through a series of smart financial decisions or simple luck. However, with the advent of the Internet, the number of very young rich people has increased. The most obvious candidate for the title of the youngest billionaire in the world at first glance is Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook - he became a billionaire at the age of 23 in 2007 . However, Zuckerberg had to give part of his fortune to his college roommate Dustin Moskovitz, who came up with the name of the social network. Despite the fact that Dustin has not been with the company for a long time, his share as owner is 6%. And yes - he is exactly eight days younger than Zuckerberg.

Most of us imagine our grandmothers as old ladies who dye their hair, bake cookies and send us 1000 rubles for our birthdays. However, several women became grandmothers before they even reached the age of 20.

The youngest grandmother in the world is considered to be a girl named Mama Tzu, who worked in a brothel in the town of Kalambar, Nigeria. Mama Tzu was eight years old at the time of her daughter's birth, and her daughter gave birth to her child at the age of eight and a half, so Mama Tzu became a grandmother at 17 years old - at this age many girls from developed countries They haven’t even had time to lose their virginity yet.

However, this story took place in the 19th century, and there is no documentary evidence. A more official contender for the title of youngest grandmother is Romanian Rifka Stanescu, although she only became a grandmother at the age of 23. Stanescu's grandson, two-year-old Ion, is already engaged to his eight-year-old neighbor.

10. The youngest American veteran of World War II

Most 12-year-old boys are interested in games and maybe a little girls, but Calvin Graham has a completely different personality. Graham enlisted with the US Navy after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At age 12, he fought in the Pacific - during the Battle of Guadalcanal, he acted like a hero and received multiple shrapnel wounds.

It must be said that for the time being the army knew nothing about his age. After he was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, his mother told the command that her son was, in fact, a minor. Instead of being sent home, the Navy command placed the young man under house arrest in his own cabin for three months - for lying.

His childhood decision to serve haunted him for the rest of his life. Graham was stripped of his awards and spent years fighting for medical benefits. He eventually joined the Marines when he turned 17, but was forced to resign after being wounded in his back.

Over the years, various presidents have petitioned for it, including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Graham never received his Purple Heart back while he was alive - he was given the award back only after his death, 50 years after receiving it.

Everyone knows that Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world (relative to sea level). And our 18 crazy facts will make you dream of climbing this unique mountain!

According to official figures based on a 1954 measurement, Mount Everest reaches a height of 8,848 meters. Satellite measurements taken in 1999 showed the mountain to be 1.83 meters higher, but this information is disputed

At the highest point of Everest, a person receives only a third of the amount of oxygen that he usually inhales. It's not a matter of a different air composition, but a lower pressure

Wind speeds on the mountain sometimes exceed 200 mph

Reinhold Messner was the first to climb the mountain alone and without the use of oxygen in 1980

Frenchman Marco Siffredi and Austrian Stefan Gatt snowboarded down the mountain in 2001

The oldest person to conquer Everest is 80-year-old Yuichiro Miura from Japan.

The youngest person to reach the summit of Everest was 13-year-old Jordan Romero. In May 2010, the young American broke the previous record of 15-year-old Min Kipa Sherpa

The tallest man-made structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (829 m). Everest is more than 10 times taller than this structure!

The first tweet from the top of Everest was sent by Kenton Cool in 2011. He wrote: "Climbing Everest number 9. First tweet from the highest point in the world thanks to weak 3G signal."

Every year the mountain becomes higher by 4 mm due to the upward thrust created by two opposing tectonic plates

Everest can now be seen on Google Maps, although it never reached the summit. In 2011, the team spent 2 weeks climbing 70 miles to base camp and taking photographs along the way.

Australian Tim McCartney-Snape became the first person to reach the summit from sea level without supplemental oxygen in May 1990.

The first phone call was made from the top of Everest in the summer of 2013. However, Nepalese officials were not too impressed and considered it illegal.

The record for the longest time spent on the summit of Everest belongs to Babu Chiri Sherpa. In 1999 he stayed here for 21 hours

In 2004, a wedding took place on the top of Everest. Moni Mule Pati and Pem Dorjee Sherpa, a couple from Nepal, kept their plans secret from other climbers until they reached the peak

Everest is famous for its traffic jams. Sometimes there can be several hundred climbers on the summit at the same time

The mountain was named after George Everest in 1856. He was the chief surveyor of India, but he himself never saw the peak

1974 was the last year during which no one climbed Everest

Everest is the world's highest peak located in the Himalayas. Every year, a great many professional climbers and extreme sports enthusiasts try to conquer it. But is it that simple? Of course, such ascents require certain knowledge and thorough preparation.

The first attempt to measure the height of Everest was recorded in 1856 - according to the data obtained, the height of the summit was 29,000 feet (8839 meters). However, according to measurements taken by Chinese scientists during an expedition to Everest in May
2005, the height of the mountain was 8844.43 meters (± 21 cm) above sea level.

At the highest point of the mountain, you will inhale only a third of the amount of oxygen you normally breathe. The reason for this is low air pressure.

Every year since 1969, at least one person has died while climbing Everest. The only year without deaths on the mountain was 1977.

At times, wind gusts on the mountain reach almost 200 km/h, and the temperature drops to -40°C.

According to statistics, for every 10 successful ascents to Everest, there is one fatality.

A total of about 200 dead bodies rest on the slopes of the mountain, which are physically impossible to lower and bury. They are original landmarks for the conquerors of Everest.

In 1980, an Italian of German origin, Reinhold Messner, amazed the whole world by managing to climb the peak alone and without oxygen tanks.

In May 2001, 23-year-old Marco Siffredi snowboarded from the planet's highest peak along the Norton Couloir, which runs down the center of Everest's North Face. In 2002, he again decided to conquer the peak, but disappeared without a trace.

80 years is the age of the oldest conqueror of Everest - the Japanese Yuichiro Miura.

Well, the youngest climber to reach the top of Everest was 13-year-old American Jordan Romero, who managed to break the record set before him by 15-year-old Nepalese Ming Kipa.

In 2011, the first message appeared on Twitter, sent directly from the top of Everest. User Kenton Cool wrote: “Top of Everest 9 times! The first tweet from the top of the world, made thanks to a weak 3G signal."

Every year, Everest rises approximately 4 millimeters higher due to the movement of two tectonic plates.

On Google you can see images from Everest - but without photographs of the summit. In 2011, the Google team spent 2 weeks walking about 140 kilometers and taking many pictures along the way.

Tim McCartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer became the first Australians to reach the summit, and at the same time the first to climb the North Face without oxygen (May 1990).

In the summer of 2013, the first telephone call was made from the top of Everest. The Nepalese authorities, however, were not impressed and even declared the incident illegal.

In 2007, Bear Grylls became the first person in the world to paramotor in the Himalayas higher than Everest.

In 1999, Nepalese Babu Chiri Sherpa spent more than 21 hours on the summit of Everest without using oxygen equipment. He also set a speed record, reaching the summit in 16 hours and 56 minutes.

Nepalese Moni Mule Pati and Pem Georgi Sherpa became the first couple in history to get married on top of the world (2004).

There are also traffic jams on Everest. Sometimes hundreds of tourists want to conquer the peak at the same time.

Everest received its name in honor of the British geographer George Everest in 1856.

1974 was the last year in history during which no one conquered Everest.

Mount Everest is the highest point on the planet. Its height, according to various sources, ranges from 8844 to 8852 meters. Everest is located in the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and China. At the top of Everest, located in China, strong winds blow at speeds of up to 200 km/h, and the air temperature drops to -60 °C at night.

The history of conquering the highest point on the planet began in 1920, when the Dalai Lama first allowed British climbers here. According to statistics, about 1,500 people have climbed the mountain since then...
...and according to various estimates, from 120 to 200 people of different nationalities (including Russians) remained there forever. Both new and experienced climbers die on Everest. But not many people know that the dead remain where their fate overtook them. Everest has long been turned into a cemetery. Bodies lie on the slopes of Everest for years, some for decades, and no one is in a hurry to bring them down for burial.

Anyone who plans to climb to the top must understand that he has a chance of not returning. When climbing, not everything depends on you. Hurricane wind, a frozen valve on an oxygen cylinder, incorrect timing, an avalanche, exhaustion, etc. - all this can lead to the death of a climber.

The first conqueror of Everest and his first victim was the British climber George Mallory. In 1924, he and his group went to the top, but at an altitude of 8500 meters they lost sight of him, and for as much as 75 years. For many years they wondered whether Mallory had reached his highest point, and only in 1999 his remains were found very close to it. The body with a broken hip lay towards the top, which means that until the last seconds of his life the Englishman tried to literally crawl up the mountain of his dreams.

Alas, he was not the hero of Everest: only in 1953 did New Zealander Edmund Hillary, together with a Nepalese Sherpa, reach the peak of Everest. And after these two to Everest with different sides brave souls were selected from many countries of the world. For some it became simply a personal feat, others set historical records here.

But man does not always triumph over harsh nature. Submitting to the people, the mountain collects a ransom of their lives. More than 200 people have died on Everest in 60 years. Until the 90s, the mortality rate here was a record 37%; in recent years it has dropped to 4%.
Even on neighboring Himalayan peaks, also above 8,000 meters, this percentage is higher. But it is on Everest that death takes on its most dramatic overtones. People die here not only from injuries and fatigue, but often because of the vain indifference of their neighbors.
A simple example: in 1996, a group of Japanese climbers, while climbing, came across three freezing Indian colleagues. The Japanese went further to the top, all the Indians died. In 1998, rock climber Sergei Arsentiev and his American wife Frances made an oxygen-free ascent of Everest, but the mountain did not let them go. The couple missed each other in a snowstorm, Sergei, while searching for his wife, went missing, his body was found only a few years later. And Frances died for two days on the descent. Several groups passed by without providing any assistance. And only another British couple interrupted their expedition in an attempt to save the dying woman. They could no longer do anything, and almost dying from the cold themselves, they returned back. A year later, the Woodhalls finally made their ascent and saw a dead woman in the place where they left her last time. For the next 8 years they saved money to return to Everest in order to bury Frances. After all, climbing the mountain is not cheap. For access to the mountain alone, the Chinese side charges $5,500 for a group of 20 people, and the Nepalese side charges about 70 thousand for a team of seven climbers.

Another Everest tragedy shocked the whole world in 2006. 42 people walked indifferently past David Sharp, who was dying without oxygen! One of them were television crews from the Discovery Channel, who asked Sharpe a couple of questions, gave him oxygen and left him alone.

Climbing Mount Everest is the dream of many people, both experienced climbers and beginners. Some of them managed to accomplish this dangerous feat, while the rest are only inspired by their determination and strength of character.

Mount Everest has attracted many visitors and, unfortunately, has taken many lives along the way. dangerous path. However, the thirst for adventure never ceased to pull along, and today Mount Everest for many still remains big goal. In this article we will talk about important points associated with the world's highest mountain.

Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth, reaching 8848 meters above sea level. The first climbers to conquer this peak were New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his guide Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who climbed it on May 29, 1953 at 11:30 am. And although the success of this enterprise is attributed to the entire group, Tenzing later admitted that it was Edmund Hillary who first set foot on the top of this mountain!

Mount Everest is part of the Himalayan mountains and is located between the Sagarmatha region, Tibet, Nepal and China.

Mount Everest also goes by other names! In Tibet it is known as "Qomolangma" or "Qomolangma". The Chinese translated its name as "Shèngmǔ Fēng", but it is rarely used. Locals in Darjeeling call it "Deodungha", which means "Holy Mountain".

Although Mount Everest is known as the highest peak above sea level, there are actually others on Earth high mountains. If measured from the foot, then the most high mountain Mauna Kea volcano is considered to be located on Hawaiian Islands. Its height from the base is 10,200 m, but it rises only 4,205 m above sea level.

There are two important routes leading to the summit of Mount Everest. One such route follows the southeastern mountain range from Nepal, and the other follows the northeastern mountain range from Tibet. The first one is considered to be relatively easier to climb. In addition to these routes, there are others that are not used as often.

In addition, on August 20, 1980, Reinhold Messner made the first solo ascent to the summit of Mount Everest. This time he used a rather difficult route passing through the northwest side.

In 2007, Australian climber Christian Stangi achieved the fastest ascent of Everest. He climbed to the top along the northeastern mountain ridge.

Many daredevils were destined to die on the way to conquer the highest peak in the world. Many factors could have contributed to this, including lack of oxygen, extreme weather conditions, exhaustion, frostbite, etc. In 1996 alone, at least 15 people died attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

But, despite the consequences, only a few who wish are able to resist trying their hand at such a dangerous business. In this article we have only scratched the surface of the enormous difficulties that face people who dare to push the boundaries of the possible.

The Republic of Nepal is known as the highest mountainous country in the world. On the northern side it is bordered by the Great Himalayan Range, famous for several peaks exceeding 8000 meters, including Everest - the highest on the planet (8848 meters).

Everest: who conquered the place of the gods

According to popular beliefs, this place was considered the abode of the gods, so no one thought of climbing there.

The top of the world even had special names: Chomolungma (“Mother - Goddess of Peace”) among the Tibetans and Sagarmatha (“Forehead of Heaven”) among the Nepalese. They began to call it Everest only in 1856, with which China, India, and also the direct culprit of the renaming did not agree - the British aristocrat, geodesist, military man in one person - George Everest, who was the first to determine the exact location of the Himalayan peak and its height. There are still disputes in the press from time to time that a mountain located in Asia should not have European name. Who was the first to conquer Everest - the peak that almost every climber dreams of?

The graceful beauty of the top of the world

Everest nature with rocks, snow and eternal ice menacingly stern and silently beautiful. Severe frosts (down to -60 °C) almost always prevail here, and avalanches and snow falls, and the tops of the mountains are blown from all sides by fierce winds, the gust speed of which reaches 200 km/h. At an altitude of about 8 thousand meters, the “death zone” begins, so called for the lack of oxygen (30% of the amount present at sea level).

Risk for what?

However, despite such cruel natural conditions, conquering Everest has been and is the cherished dream of many climbers around the world. Standing at the top for a few minutes to go down in history, to look at the world from heavenly heights - isn’t this happiness? For such an unforgettable moment, climbers are ready to risk their own lives. And they take risks, knowing that they can remain in an untrodden land for eternity. Factors in the possible death of a person who gets there are lack of oxygen, frostbite, trauma, heart failure, fatal accidents and even the indifference of partners.

So, in 1996, a group of rock climbers from Japan met with three Indian climbers who were in a semi-fainting state. They died because the Japanese did not help their “competitors” and passed by indifferently. In 2006, 42 climbers, along with Discovery Channel television crews, indifferently walked past an Englishman who was slowly dying from hypothermia, and also tried to interview him and take photographs. As a result, the daredevil who risked conquering Everest alone died from frostbite and oxygen starvation. One of the Russian climbers, Alexander Abramov, explains such actions of his colleagues as follows: “At an altitude of more than 8,000 meters, a person striving to conquer the peak is completely occupied with himself and does not have extra strength to provide assistance in such extreme conditions.”

George Mallory's attempt: successful or not?

So who was the first to conquer Everest? The discovery of George Everest, who had never conquered this mountain, was the impetus for the unbridled desire of many climbers to reach the top of the world, which George Mallory, Everest’s compatriot, was the first to decide on (in 1921).

Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful: heavy snowfalls, strong winds and lack of experience in climbing to such a height stopped the British climber. However, the unattainable peak beckoned to Mallory, and he made two more unsuccessful ascents (in 1922 and 1924). During the last expedition, his teammate Andrew Irwin disappeared without a trace. One of the expedition members, Noel Odell, was the last to see them through a gap in the clouds rising to the top. Only after 75 years, an American search expedition discovered Mallory’s remains at an altitude of 8155 meters. Judging by their location, the climbers fell into the abyss. Also in scientific circles, when studying the same remains and their location, an assumption arose that George Mallory was the first person to conquer Everest. Andrew Irwin's body was never found.

The years 1924-1938 were marked by the organization of a number of more expeditions, although unsuccessful. After them, Everest was forgotten for some time, because the Second World War began.

Pioneers

Who conquered Everest first? The Swiss decided to storm the unconquered peak in 1952, but the maximum height they climbed stopped at 8,500 meters; 348 meters was beyond the reach of climbers due to bad weather conditions.

If we assume that Mallory was unable to reach the top of the world's highest mountain, then the question of who was the first to conquer Everest can be safely answered - New Zealander Edmund Hillary in 1953, and not by himself, but with an assistant - Sherpa Norgay Tenzing .

By the way, Sherpas (from Tibetan, “sher” - east, “pa” - people) are the very people without whom, perhaps, hardly anyone would have been able to reach such a coveted peak. They are a mountain people who settled in Nepal more than 500 years ago. It was the Sherpas who were the easiest to climb Everest, since this mountain is their homeland, where every path is familiar from childhood.

Sherpas are reliable helpers on the way to the top

Sherpas are very good-natured people who are not capable of causing offense to anyone. Murder for them common mosquito or a field mouse is considered a terrible sin that needs to be prayed for very strongly. The Sherpas have their own language, but nowadays they almost all speak English. This is the great merit of Edmund Hillary, the first conqueror of Everest. As a token of gratitude for his invaluable help, he own funds built a school in one of the main villages.

Although, with all the penetration of civilization into the lives of the Sherpas, their way of life remains largely patriarchal. Traditional settlements are stone two-story houses, on the ground floor of which livestock is usually kept: yaks, sheep, goats, and the family itself is usually located on the second floor; there is also a kitchen, bedrooms, and a living room. Minimum furniture. Thanks to pioneer mountaineers, electricity recently appeared; They still don’t have gas or any kind of central heating. They use yak dung as fuel for cooking, which is first collected and dried on stones.

The inaccessible Mount Everest... Who was the first to conquer this distant peak: or George Mallory? Scientists are still looking for the answer today, as well as the answer to the question of what year Everest was conquered: in 1924 or 1953.

Everest Conquest Records

Everest has succumbed to more than one person; even records were set for a temporary ascent to the top. For example, in 2004, Sherpa Pemba Dorj reached it from base camp in 10 hours 46 minutes, while most climbers take up to several days to complete the same operation. The fastest person to descend the mountain in 1988 was the Frenchman Jean-Marc Boivin, although he made the jump on a paraglider.

The women who conquered Everest are in no way inferior to men, also stubbornly and persistently overcoming every meter of the climb to the top. The first representative of the weak half of humanity in 1975 was the Japanese Junko Tabei, 10 days later - Phantog, a Tibetan climber.

Who was the first senior person to conquer Everest? The oldest conqueror of the summit is 76-year-old Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherkhan, and the youngest is 13-year-old American Jordan Romero. Of interest is the persistence of another young conqueror of the “top of the world” - 15-year-old Temba Tseri Sherpa, whose first attempt was unsuccessful due to lack of strength and frostbite on both hands. Upon his return, Tembe had 5 fingers amputated, which did not stop him; he conquered Everest on his second ascent.

Among the disabled is also the first person to conquer Everest. This is Mark Inglis, who rose to the top of the world in 2006 using prosthetics.

The hero even joked that, unlike other climbers, he would not get frostbite on his toes. Moreover, his legs were frostbitten earlier, while trying to climb the highest peak in New Zealand - Cook's Peak, after which they were amputated.

Apparently, Everest has some kind of magical power if hundreds of climbers rush towards it. The one who conquered him once returned more than once, trying to do it again.

Alluring peak - Everest

Who was the first to conquer Everest? Why are people so drawn to this place? There are quite a lot of reasons explaining this. Tickling nerves, lack of thrills, the desire to test yourself, the boredom of everyday life...

Texas millionaire Dick Bass is the man who conquered Everest. He, not being a professional climber, did not intend to spend years on thorough preparation to a dangerous ascent and decided to conquer the peak of the world immediately, as they say: here and now. Bass was ready to pay any money to anyone who would help make his seemingly unrealistic dream come true.

Dick Bass was still able to conquer the top of Everest, and the expedition’s assistants were an assembled team that provided the millionaire with comfort while climbing; people carried all the cargo, tents, water, food. So to speak, the ascent was all-inclusive, and this served as the beginning of commercial travel to the summit.

Since then, since 1985, anyone can conquer the peak if they have enough money to do so. cash. Today, the cost of one such ascent varies from 40 to 85 thousand dollars, depending on the side of the climb up the mountain. If the journey takes place from Nepal, then it is more expensive, because a special permission from the king is required, costing 10 thousand dollars. The rest of the amount is paid for organizing the expedition.

And there was even a wedding...

In 2005, Mona Mule and Pem Georgi had a wedding on top of the world. Having climbed up, the newlyweds took off the traditional colored garlands around their necks for a few minutes. Pem then anointed the forehead of his bride with scarlet powder, symbolizing marriage. The newlyweds kept their act a secret from everyone: parents, acquaintances, expedition partners, because they were not sure of the successful outcome of the planned event.

So how many people have summited Everest? Surprisingly, today there are more than 4,000 people. And the most optimal period for climbing gentle weather conditions considered spring and autumn. True, such an idyll does not last long - only a few weeks, which climbers try to use as fruitfully as possible.

According to statistics, every tenth of those who storm Everest dies, and most of the accidents occur during the descent, when there is practically no strength left. Theoretically, Everest can be conquered in a few days. In practice, gradualness and an optimal combination of ascents and rests are required.