The Summit

On May 28th Hillary and Tenzing and their support party wearily make their way up the mountain stopping to take on more supplies from the impressive dump of stores.

For a long time the ridge runs remorselessly upwards with no hope of a platform for a tent. But by mid-day Lowe, Gregory and Sherpa Ang Nima reach the South-East ridge where camp is made at a height of almost 28000 feet. At three o’clock in the afternoon George Lowe, Alfred Gregory and Ang Nima leave Hillary and Tenzing to a lonely night on the ridge before they tackle the summit the next morning.

The climb to the summit of Everest along the ridge is much harder than they imagine and says much for the skills and stamina of the two climbers. Moving one at a time they follow the summit ridge, cutting steps all the way and keeping as close as possible to the rocks, to avoid the enormous snow cornices which hang over the Kangshung Face of Everest, dropping all the way into Tibet thousands of feet below. Higher, the dark rocks near the top of the ridge form a steep rock step which is the main difficulty. Here they had to jam and crampon their way up a kind of chimney between the rock and the ice, until they gained the crest above. The ridge seemed unending until, at last, in front of them was one last dome of glistening white snow, with blue sky behind it. Then, to quote Hillary: "a few more whacks of the ice axe in the firm snow and then we stood on top".