The Himalayas were mapped for the first time in 1590 by a Spanish missionary to the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar. The heights of the Himalayan peaks were first measured correctly in the middle of the 19th century. It was only in 1856 that a British mapping team established Peak XV at 8,848m (29,028ft) as the highest point on earth. Mt. Everest was named in 1865 honoring surveyor Sir George Everest.
The first organized attempt to reach the summit was made from the northern (Tibetan) side in 1922. Why climb it? "Because it's there," was the classic answer of British mountaineer George Mallory, who disappeared into the clouds near the top on his fatal second attempt from Tibet in 1924. Twenty-nine years later, on 29th of May 1953, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa made it from Nepal (South Col). Since then, more than 550 climbers from some 20 countries have accomplished the feat. Wang Fu-Chou in a Chinese expedition team reached the summit for the first time via the North Col. route. Mrs Junko Tabei of Japan was the first woman to stand on the top of the world, on 16th of May 1975, and another Japanese, Yuichiro Miura, was the first to ski back down, in 1970.
Climbers, nowadays, seek their firsts by attempting new and difficult routes and methods. Reinhold Messner from Italy has climbed Everest twice without oxygen , once in a four-day dash. Two Sherpas have climbed it five times or more -- the record of 9 successes with the local Nepali Ang Rita Sherpa. The youngest person to have climbed Everest is Shambu Tamang of Nepal -- reaching the summit on 5th of May 1973 when he was 19. The oldest person to have climbed Everest is Ramon Blanco Suarez of Venezuela -- reaching the summit on 7th of October 1993 when he was 60. An Everest expedition was televised live for the first time on 5th May 1988 when a team of mountaineers on China-Japan-Nepal Friendship Expedition criss-crossed the summit from both the North and South Col. simultaneously. The first Disabled Ascent of Everest took place on May 27,1998.
Everest expeditions have so far claimed more than 95 lives, including 40 Sherpas. The climb may only be undertaken with the government's permission.
Factoid: The first recorded ascent of
a Himalayan peak was a 19,411 ft prominence near Reo Parigal attained
in 1818 by the Gerard brothers.
Source: Bill Aitken, 100 Himalayan Quiz, Rupa Paperback,
1995
(Compiled information
from various sources. I welcome updates, corrections etc.
Photo Courtesy: Pradeep Basyal)