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Bhutia
Tensing
A New Zealand beekeeper and a Nepalese porter presented Queen Elizabeth
today with her most
spectacular coronation gift - man's first conquest of icy Mount Everest,
tallest mountain in the world.
A message from the British expedition, led by Col. John Hunt, said that
E.P. Hillary, 34-year-old
New Zealander and fabled guide, and porter Bhotia Tensing had reached the
top of the mountain
which towers between 29,002 and 29,010 feet.
A coronation-eve announcement by Buckingham Palace disclosed that the British
expedition has
planted the Union Jack on Everest. A palace spokesman described the dramatic
news as a
coronation "gift".
A message from Hunt relayed to the palace said, "All is well."
The Queen led a nation bursting with pride in cheering the conquerors of
Everest. Reports said she
had been awakened to hear the news.
On this, her day of majesty, she took time to send a cable of congratulations
to the expedition
"Please convey to Col. Hunt and all members of the British expedition my
warmest congratulations
on their great achievement in reaching the summit of Mount Everest (Signed)
Elizabeth R." read the
telegram to the British minister in Katmandu, Nepal.
The Duke of Edinburgh sent this telegram to Col. Hunt "Everybody is delighted
with the wonderful
news. Well done. Congratulations to you all. Philip."
London newspapers hailed the achievement as the beginning of a new Elizabethan
era of British
daring. They compared the deed with the triumphs of Captain Cook, Sir Francis
Drake and Robert
Scott, Antarctic explorer.
That a New Zealander and a tribesman from Britain's long-time ally, Nepal,
won the final victory was
looked upon here as another symbol - like the coronation - of Commonwealth
unity. It is reported
they carried Nepal's flag to the top, along with the Union Jack.
Prime Minister Churchill today wired congratulations to Col. Hunt: "My
congratulations on this
memorable British achievement in which the whole world has been interested
for so may years."
London sandwich vendors and newspaper hawkers did lively trade and the
news that Mount Everest
had been conquered spread rapidly along the coronation procession route.
"We did it; we did it" shouted many, slapping each other on the back.
Impromptu cheerleaders quickly took over and called for three cheers for
the dauntless mountain
climbers.
Fair weather and improved oxygen equipment were given much of the credit
for the success of the
expedition, the 11th to attempt the feat in more than 30 years. More than
15 mountaineers lost their
lives in the previous attempts.
The climbers raced against the approaching storms of the summer monsoons.
It had been reported
previously that they had failed to reach their goal during the brief spell
of good weather and had given
up hope.
Other Everest expeditions had been beaten back by the numbing cold, fierce
winds and lack of
oxygen that produces extreme weariness and plays mental tricks with climbers
at the extreme
Himalayan heights. Eight of the previous attempts had been by Britons.
The victory over Everest was especially sweet for Bhutia Tensing, who Himalayan
experts say has
climbed more peaks in the range than anyone else. Last year, with Raymond
Lambert, famed
alpinist, he climbed to within 800 feet of Everest's top, but they were
driven back by wind blasts
hurling stones and chunks of ice and by lack of oxygen.
The Hunt expedition carried new light-weight oxygen apparatus, radios to
pick up weather reports
from Indian, and newly designed mortars to last away dangerous overhanging
ice.
Some 400 Nepalese bearers packed the gear over trails from Namche Bazar,
the village nearest the
base of the mountain.
Eight advance camps were spotted up the mountain slopes. The last shelter,
from which the final
attacks were launched, was about 2,000 feet from the summit.
The Sherpa guide who reached the top, Bhutia Tensing, is a 39 year-old
native veteran of more
Everest attempts than any other man on earth.
With 362 porters, 20 Sherpa guides and 10,000 pound of baggage, the 13-man
team left Katmandu
March 10. Thus they took 80 days from start to finish.
The Britons wore special clothing, including an outer suit of cotton windproof
material; smock with
protective hood and trousers double-lined with nylon; two featherweight
jerseys and one heavy
pullover, a special type of climbing boot with no nails' close-fitting
silk gloves and an outer gauntlet of
wind proof cotton.
The sleeping bags were made in Canada, New Zealand and Britain in accordance
with special
designs. The tents were made of cotton-nylon specially proofed to be tough
and resistant to the
savage winds.
The 42 year old Hunt utilized military tactics and all the knowledge he
had gained in World War II as
chief intructor at the commando mountain and snow warfare school.
Hunt and his climbers went around almost three sides of the towering mountain,
establishing their
first camp on Khumbu glacier, and then ascending 11,000 feet along a steep
and narrow trail.
Reaching the foot of Lhotse glacier, Everest's "south peak," Hunt set up
another camp. Then began
a rugged climb to the 26,000-foot level, to a ridge running from Lhotse's
summit to the top of the
world. I was on this ridge that the Swiss quit.
Only 800 feet from the top, Hunt's climbers got a break in the weather.
Then they launched the final
assault.
It was planned that the final sprint to the top and back to the advance
camp would be made in one
day because it was believed nobody could live through a night in the bitter
cold and rarified
atmosphere at the summit.
Two British climbers, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, disappeared into
the mists on Everest in
1924 and were never seen again. Hunt's party hoped to find their bodies
in the ice and solve the
mystery of whether the pair ever reached the peak.
Everest was first seen by westerners in 1849 and was named in 1855 for
Sir George Everest, a
surveyor general of India. Its Tibetan name is Chomolungma.
Earlier northern routes toward the summit were through Tibet, but they
were closed when the
Chinese Communists took over the kingdom. A British expedition under Eric
Shipton marked out the
new southern approaches in 1951.
The British victory over Everest was expected to spur - rather than deter
- efforts of other climbers to
reach the top of the peak. Climbs already are "booked" for 1954 with the
Nepal government, which
must approve them, by a French expedition in the spring and a Swiss group
in the autumn. An
Italian team has asked permission for an attempt in 1959.
Known as the "Tiger of the Snows", Tensing is uneducated, semi-literate
and utterly fearless. He
carries no life insurance. For his labors he receives 225 rupees ($47.25)
a month plus a three rupee
(63 cents) daily "snow allowance".
A friend of Tensing, a man of few words, quotes him as saying that, after
16,000 feet, one "does not
feel hungry or thirsty" and "cannot remember his family or homelife". He
is completely possessed
with reaching the summit.
GEORGE
MALLORY
