Theres
May 29th, 2002, 01:45 PM
it was on this day in 1953 that Edmund Hilary conquered the summit of Mt. Everest for the first time, over 29000 feet above sea level!.
he would later be knighted for this accomplishment.
but what alot of people don't know is that Aliester Crowley, a noted mountain climber, had attempted a similar feat in 1905!
Crowley's party climbed Kangchenjunga, a nearby peak of 'only' 28000 feet (slightly shorter than both Everest and K2), because the locals considered it to be the 'Home of the Gods'. in fact officials there made the party swear that they would NOT stand at the absolute summit, out of respect. it seems unlikely that our friend Mr. Crowley had any intention of honoring this request, but we will never know.
the party ran into trouble at 21000 feet when one member died. political bickering led to the party being divided in their loyalties between Crowley and Jacot Guillarmod. the majority followed Guillarmod when he decided that the expedition was over and that they should return. then disaster struck! four men were left dangling on a rope after a bad slip during the descent. an avalanche ensued, burying some of the party. the rest (except for Crowley!) hurried to the scene to help, but Crowley, perhaps still stinging from his ego conflict with Guillarmod, turned over in his tent and went back to sleep!
he made the descent alone the next day while his comrades dug furiously to retrieve their friends bodies!
abominable behavior, no doubt.
but lost in the story is the fact that at 21000 feet up the side of the third highest mountain in the world, Crowley and the rest of the party had set the world's record for the highest climb (without oxygen!), a record that would stand for over thirty years!
Kangchenjunga was finally topped in 1955 by Sir Charles Evans, who promised NOT to scale the final few feet. and that promise has been kept by every expedition to the summit since then.
for more on Hilary's famous expedition, go here... http://www.thehistorychannel.com/tdih/index.html
he would later be knighted for this accomplishment.
but what alot of people don't know is that Aliester Crowley, a noted mountain climber, had attempted a similar feat in 1905!
Crowley's party climbed Kangchenjunga, a nearby peak of 'only' 28000 feet (slightly shorter than both Everest and K2), because the locals considered it to be the 'Home of the Gods'. in fact officials there made the party swear that they would NOT stand at the absolute summit, out of respect. it seems unlikely that our friend Mr. Crowley had any intention of honoring this request, but we will never know.
the party ran into trouble at 21000 feet when one member died. political bickering led to the party being divided in their loyalties between Crowley and Jacot Guillarmod. the majority followed Guillarmod when he decided that the expedition was over and that they should return. then disaster struck! four men were left dangling on a rope after a bad slip during the descent. an avalanche ensued, burying some of the party. the rest (except for Crowley!) hurried to the scene to help, but Crowley, perhaps still stinging from his ego conflict with Guillarmod, turned over in his tent and went back to sleep!
he made the descent alone the next day while his comrades dug furiously to retrieve their friends bodies!
abominable behavior, no doubt.
but lost in the story is the fact that at 21000 feet up the side of the third highest mountain in the world, Crowley and the rest of the party had set the world's record for the highest climb (without oxygen!), a record that would stand for over thirty years!
Kangchenjunga was finally topped in 1955 by Sir Charles Evans, who promised NOT to scale the final few feet. and that promise has been kept by every expedition to the summit since then.
for more on Hilary's famous expedition, go here... http://www.thehistorychannel.com/tdih/index.html