The major expeditions to Mount Everest
1920 - 1990 (1)

1921 : this year saw the first expedition to Everest. In fact, it was a British reconnaissance expedition led by the British lieutenant-colonel, C.K.H Howard-Bury. The aim of the expedition was to explore the approaches from the Rongbuk glacier towards the North Face of the giant mountain.

1922 : one year later, the British climbers returned to Everest, once again from the north, and hence from Tibet, as Nepal at that time was still a closed and forbidden kingdom. For the first time, an altitude of 8 320 m was reached using oxygen. Seven sherpas lost their lives, swept away by an avalanche, as they were still in the process of reaching the North Col.

1924 : the third major British expedition on Everest by the northern slopes. This expedition was marked by the death of the famous British climber, G.H. Leigh Mallory (he's the one who was asked one day why he wanted so much to tackle this mountain, replying: "Quite simply, because it's there!"). member of the expedition saw Mallory and his companion for the climb, A.C. Irvine, at an altitude of 8 450 m. We will never know whether they reached the summit or not.

1934 : the first attempt to climb Everest alone by Maurice Wilson, a former captain in the British army, and a little off the planet with it, it would appear. His body was discovered, intact, 56 years later, on the route up the North Col at an altitude of 6 400 m by Chinese climbers (1960).

1951 : first reconnaissance expedition (British again) on the south slopes through Nepal, which had just opened it borders to foreigners (1949). The famous New Zealand climber, Edmund Hillary, was a member of this expedition, which explored the Khumbu glacier (the classic route for an ascent by the South Col).

1953 : historic victory by Edmund Hillary and the sherpa Tenzing Norgay, on 29th May at the summit Everest, by the South Col, considered from that time on as the classic route par excellence. The expedition (British) was run by Colonel H.C.J. Hunt; in addition to the usual high-altitude porters, the expedition included a correspondent from The Times, a cameraman and a doctor specialising in physiology (for more detailed information about this historic day, see the section " 29th May 1953").

1954 : first aerial photos taken of Everest by an Indian Air Force Liberator.

1963 : first "crossing" of Everest by a team of American climbers. Departing from Nepal, they reached the summit via the very long West Ridge (never climbed successfully until then). After bivouacking at 8 600 m and meeting their expedition companions who had reached the summit via the South Col, T. Hornbein (who gave his name to the corridor) and W. Unsoeld descended via the usual route of the Khumbu glacier.

1966 : a Chinese expedition attempted to reach the summit via the North route. Out of the 26 participants, just two climbers made it back to base camp.

1970 : a 34-strong Japanese expedition, visited Everest to film a descent on skis from the South Col. The skier, Y. Miura, is said to have reached a speed of 150 km/h before being slowed down by parachutes.

1975 : Junko Tabei, a Japanese climber, became the first woman to set foot on the summit of Everest. She was a member of a women-only expedition that tackled the giant via the usual route (South Col).

1975 : a British expedition led by the renowned climber, Christian J.S. Bonington tackled the fearsome south-east route, a sheer drop of 2 500 metres, never successfully climbed until then. On 24th September, D. Scot and D. Haston reached the summit. A famous film, THE HARD WAY, was made of this adventure by the BBC, which went with the expedition.

1978 : first ascent of Everest without the support of oxygen by Reinhold Messner and P. Habeler. They were part of an Austrian expedition.

1980 : 20th August, Reinhold Messner became the first mountaineer in the world to conquer the giant on his own. The Austrian climber took a route parallel to the North-East Ridge, crossed what is called the Great Corridor and reached the summit in three days. Alone and without oxygen...

1980 : first winter ascent, achieved by a team of Polish climbers which put two men on the summit on 17th February.

1986 : the Swiss climbers, Erhard Loretan and Jean Troillet, who were members of a Franco-Swiss expedition aiming to conquer the North Face, managed for the first time to climb the north slopes via the Hornbein corridor (which had been attempted eight times in the past), and reached the summit after just 31 hours in an express ascent! The ice and snow conditions were so favourable that the descent from the summit to the foot of the North Face took just three and a half hours!

1988 : a tripartite expedition, made up of Nepalese, Chinese and Japanese, managed to film live and for the first time in the world, climbers reaching the summit. This was the largest expedition ever organised on Everest. Consisting of 252 climbers, it cost NTV (Nippon TV Network), the main sponsor of the operation, the mere bagatelle of 21 million dollars...

1989 : the first 100% Belgian expedition 100%, organised by the Belgian Himalayan Club tackled the roof of the world in December, taking the usual route (South Col). The party had to beat a retreat just 150 metres from the summit because of the death of a sherpa.

1990 : a red-letter date for Belgian mountaineering. The Flemish climber, Rudy Van Snick, who was on his third attempt on the roof of the world, this time with an international expedition that included Peter Hillary, the son of Edmund Hillary, reached the summit of Everest by the South Col on 10th May at 6.30 in the morning, Belgian time.