Summiting Everest: How a Photograph Celebrates Teamwork at the Top of the World

Summiting Everest: How a Photograph Celebrates Teamwork at the Top of the World — page 3
Alfred Gregory George Lowe and Ang Nyima had been climbing from a high camp on the mountain Below them at the lower camps the rest of the British expedition waited anxiously They had been on the mountain since April 12 Two team members had failed to reach the summit two days ago Now another pair’s chance had come In 1856 the Great Trigonometrical Survey of British India mapped Mount Everest and found that at just over 29,000 feet 8,840 m it was the highest place on Earth Ever since then climbers and adventurers had regarded the mountain with wonder and awe Would it be possible to climb it Could a person make it all the way to the top and quite literally stand on top of the world A British expedition trekked to Everest in 1921 to examine the mountain and try to determine a route to the top Another expedition tried to climb the mountain the next year and failed Other expeditions tried and failed in 1924 1933 1936 1938 and 1952 The mountain was proving a formidable opponent Now on this May afternoon the team of Brits New Zealanders and Sherpas would try to be the first to send climbers to the top of Mount Everest and have them return alive