# Climbing Everest **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371 "2008-01-13T07:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/1 "2008-01-13T07:05:50Z")
Ok, How do we really know you made it to the top? Seriously…who’s there to witness it? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/2 "2008-01-13T07:22:34Z")
[Photographs](http://www.guardian.co.uk/everest/story/0,,957519,00.html) are usually taken, for one thing. Even in 1953. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/3 "2008-01-13T07:40:58Z")
But that is just some guy standing on some snowy slope somewhere. Doesn’t look to be convincingly atop anything. The slope appears to keep going up to the right of the photo. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/4 "2008-01-13T07:45:30Z")
True, but reports from the time say that Hillary took a number of photographs of the scenery atop the mountain. Can’t find them online, but that’s not to say they don’t exist. Are _all_ photographs of climbers who made it to the top after Hillary similarly in doubt, as well as statements by witnesses? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/5 "2008-01-13T07:51:09Z")
I love this from the contemporary article: \*Mr E. P. Hillary, aged 34, is a beekeeper in New Zealand. \* Since I am at this moment watching a one hour documentary about his life on Australian TV, it seems in retrospect so oddly understated. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/6 "2008-01-13T07:53:38Z")
That’s why I put in my post in the obit thread over at MPSIMS that the beekeeper had a good innings. Understatement was one of his bywords. Cool guy, Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/7 "2008-01-13T07:55:10Z")
I’m just joshing. I read _Into Thin Air_ and know lots of people have made it and found the relics of previous successful attempts. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/8 "2008-01-13T07:55:57Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] Ok, How do we really know you made it to the top? Seriously…who’s there to witness it? :dubious: [/QUOTE] These days you’re unlikely to be alone. Something like 500 people made it to the summit last year during the two month climbing season. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/9 "2008-01-13T08:01:09Z")
I heard some Australian who knew him well (didn’t catch the name) talking about how Hillary didn’t think much of climbing Everest and was prouder of the building he did for the Sherpas. He said that when Hillary talked about building schools he actually meant physically doing it - being there with a hammer and nails. Apparently even when he was High Commissioner to India his contract allowed him to take leave to go to Nepal and work as a builder. So yeah, pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/10 "2008-01-13T08:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] I’m just joshing. I read _Into Thin Air_ and know lots of people have made it and found the relics of previous successful attempts. [/QUOTE] A heck of a lot of relics. The slopes are even an archaelogical site (I think they’re still looking for the 1920s Brit expedition which didn’t make it). ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/11 "2008-01-13T08:23:31Z")
**Ice Wolf** , the body of George Mallory was [found](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory) in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/12 "2008-01-13T08:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=Intelligently Designed] **Ice Wolf** , the body of George Mallory was [found](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory) in 1999. [/QUOTE] And, as I said, and your link confirms, they’re _still_ looking. Thanks for the info on Mallory’s body being found (I didn’t know that, so cheers) – they’re still looking for Irvine and expedition debris, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/13 "2008-01-13T08:33:03Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] A heck of a lot of relics. The slopes are even an archaelogical site (I think they’re still looking for the 1920s Brit expedition which didn’t make it). [/QUOTE] IIRC, the thinking _now_ is that they _did_ make it to the top, but that they succombed on the way down. I remember hearing something about a recent expedition to the mountain which used the same kind of clothing and gear as the 1920s effort. They managed to make it up and back, I think (or at least got _very_ high up before heading back down, they did survive), and they seemed to think that it was possible. Hillary was an extremely cool dude (BTW, he eventually had to give up his beekeeping as he was too busy with his other work. In short, he was _busier_ than a bee! ;)). The others who’ve climbed Everest? Not so much. Apparently, there’s oodles of _trash_ up there now, and that’s even _after_ an expedition in the late 1980s (partially funded by _Mother Earth News_) to go up there and clean the place up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/14 "2008-01-13T08:39:06Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] IIRC, the thinking _now_ is that they _did_ make it to the top, but that they succombed on the way down. I remember hearing something about a recent expedition to the mountain which used the same kind of clothing and gear as the 1920s effort. They managed to make it up and back, I think (or at least got _very_ high up before heading back down, they did survive), and they seemed to think that it was possible. [/QUOTE] The poor bugger had no witnesses or even photographic evidence that’s been found to prove it for certain. Poor soul. As **Jinx** raises in his OP – without witnesses, who’s to know? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/15 "2008-01-13T08:44:29Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] The poor bugger had no witnesses or even photographic evidence that’s been found to prove it for certain. Poor soul. As **Jinx** raises in his OP – without witnesses, who’s to know? ☹ [/QUOTE] Well, if he left something on the summit that someone finds, then I suppose we’d have proof. However, the title should still go to Hillary, as he was _successful_ in the attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/16 "2008-01-13T08:56:53Z")
There’s a risk that some of the evidence may already have been [souvenired](http://classic.mountainzone.com/everest/99/north/disp4-21simo.html). > [@](#): > > While most of the debris that a climber encounters is post 1980, there are nonetheless a dwindling number of '20s-'30s artifacts (as climbers take home souvenirs). ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/17 "2008-01-13T11:16:26Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] … the title should still go to Hillary, as he was _successful_ in the attempt. [/QUOTE] … **and** Tenzing. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/18 "2008-01-13T11:46:41Z")
Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but could I broaden the question by asking how anyone proves that they have climbed a certain mountain? This months National mag has an article on Polish climbers in the 80’s/90’s and their solo climbs and I was thinking “Well what’s stopping them from only going half-ways but claiming that they made it to the top?” Do you have to take photos? Is the climb peer-reviewed? IS climbing an honorable sport in which no-one ‘cheats’? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/19 "2008-01-13T11:52:23Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] But that is just some guy standing on some snowy slope somewhere. Doesn’t look to be convincingly atop anything. The slope appears to keep going up to the right of the photo. [/QUOTE] The linked article you refer to has a cropped, blurry version of the photo. Here is a link to the actual color picture taken by Sir Edmund. Tenzing Norgay is clearly standing on a ridge or slope that is higher than any surroundings. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TenzingonSummit.jpg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TenzingonSummit.jpg) Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371/20 "2008-01-13T12:30:16Z")
[QUOTE=Ponster] Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but could I broaden the question by asking how anyone proves that they have climbed a certain mountain? This months National mag has an article on Polish climbers in the 80’s/90’s and their solo climbs and I was thinking “Well what’s stopping them from only going half-ways but claiming that they made it to the top?” Do you have to take photos? Is the climb peer-reviewed? IS climbing an honorable sport in which no-one ‘cheats’? [/QUOTE] Read _Into Thin Air_ by Jon Krakauer which has amazing tales of mountain climbing, including people claiming to have climbed mountains when virtually carried up by support personnel. The book has more detail than his original article but it is fascinating enough and it is [all here](http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_1.html) on the Outside site. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climbing-everest/433371.md?page=2)