Mount Everest. Standing at 29,031 feet tall or 8,848 meters, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth. And despite standing among some of the other
highest peaks and the highest mountain range, as Colonel Howard-Bury said, it stands alone -
a true monarch among mountains. For this reason, it goes without saying why it's
a prestigious accomplishment to conquer Everest. It's implicit in the fact that you cannot find
anything higher to climb. But interestingly, due to a combination
of its popularity and it not being so technically challenging
compared to some of the other 8,000-meter peaks, modern-day Everest has almost lost
some of this prestige. The total number of ascents is almost double that
of the next most-climbed 8,000-meter peak. And in recent years, it's come under scrutiny
for being more like a tourist destination than the pinnacle of climbing accomplishment. Paying your way to the top and being the
5,657th person to climb Everest doesn't quite have the same ring to it
as being the first ever person to step foot on the highest mountain on Earth. But over a hundred years ago, before a map
of the area had even been made, a team of some of the most ambitious
mountaineers to ever walk the Earth would make the first ever attempt
to climb Mount Everest. This is their story. [music] Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Everest
is that despite being widely recognized as the tallest mountain in the world today,
it wasn't always considered to be the highest. For many years, Everest was thought to be smaller
than a neighboring mountain, Kanchenjunga. This was due in large part to the fact that
from the Indian side of the mountain, only the tip of Everest is visible among
an array of peaks. From the north side, in Tibet,
Everest is much more prominent than the surrounding mountains and is clearly
the largest among them. However, few people lived in or visited the region,
so it wasn't widely known about. And even for those who lived in the region,
it was hard for them to definitively say that this one was the largest anywhere on Earth,
even if it was the largest in the area. For this same reason, surveying the mountain
was completed from the Indian side where it wasn't well seen. Then, because of this, it was also named after
the surveyor general of India who directed the triangulation. Interestingly, unlike many other colonial pursuits, native names were used to name
mountains whenever possible, and Everest was only given a name
when no native name had been assigned. Later, it was learned that from Tibet,
the mountain was named Chomolungma, which translates to
"Goddess Mother of the Mountains". It also has a Nepalese name, Sagarmatha,
but this wasn't learned until later either. By the time it was discovered, the name "Everest" was thought to be
too well established to be changed. Another surprising aspect of Everest history is that despite its status as the highest
mountain in the world, it's situated between two of the most secluded
countries in the world, Tibet and Nepal. Because of this, it was difficult to get
permission to reach Everest once it was realized to be the highest in 1856. The first plan to even climb it
began many years later in 1907 to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the Alpine Club, and it was only then that a series of diplomatic
missions made it technically possible. This plan was then delayed due to World War I,
so it wasn't all the way until 1920 that the plan was really put into action after
permission was granted by the Dalai Lama. In January of 1921, a committee was set up
to organize and fund the expedition, and the first planned approach would be a
reconnaissance instead of an all-out attempt. This reconnaissance planned to go through
Sikkim, a northeast state of India, and their goal was to dedicate an entire season
to surveying the mountain in the area - not only to find a feasible route,
but the most feasible one. The mountain is so large that it would need to be
climbed by as easy a route as possible. They knew that it had to be minimal rock climbing
and ice step cutting, or else, it would be too difficult for the distance
and height they would need to travel. Once the sure-fire easy route was discovered, only then would they plan for an all-out effort
the following year. This first reconnaissance would become the basis of
everything we know about climbing Everest today. The committee then selected a group
of experienced climbers. Some had experience in the Himalayas,
and others were simply expert climbers. With a fundraising effort, they raised around
10,000 pounds and the committee was able to purchase
the best gear available, including tents, sleeping bags, clothing, boots, ice axes, ropes, cooking equipment, and provisions. This is roughly equivalent to 600,000 pounds today,
accounting for inflation. Then, in April, 1921, the team set up from England and arrived in Darjeeling, India
at the beginning of May. They hired Sherpas, Bhutias, porters,
and a hundred Army mules to carry their equipment and supplies. After taking about a month to prepare, the team set off
on the 300-mile (483 km) trek to reach Mount Everest. The expedition started off in hot
and humid jungles, then, to cool evergreen forest and meadows,
and then to cold to dry and windy conditions as they made their way to higher altitudes. They traversed valleys and high mountain passes that reached as high as 14,300 feet
or 4,400 meters. And although these are just steppingstones
in the Himalayas, this altitude is roughly equal to the highest
mountain in the continental US. As they went higher, the terrain became
too difficult for the mules, so they had to replace them with hill mules and yaks. The team also faced the challenge of acclimatizing
to the thinning air and low atmospheric pressure. The air became increasingly difficult to breathe, and some team members suffered from
altitude sickness. In fact, one of the senior climbers, who was
also the team doctor, died of heart failure along the way, and another senior climber got too sick and
was forced to return to Sikkim. The expedition pressed on anyway, with the
two junior climbers leading the way, despite neither of them having any
experience in the Himalayas. As they got closer to Everest and with the
monsoon season fast approaching, the team split off and scouted different areas
to speed up their effort. First was a northern reconnaissance
to assess the feasibility of climbing the mountain from the northern side. The team explored two glaciers, starting with
the Rongbuk Glacier at 17,500 feet (5,334 m) where they evaluated the western side
of the North Col. And although there was no easy way to reach it, the North Col seemed to offer a route
that was feasible for climbing. Next, the team ventured to the West Rongbuk Glacier
at 22,500 feet (6,858 m). At the same time, another group conducted
an eastern reconnaissance, exploring the Kharta and Kama Valleys
and another pass at 18,000 feet (5,486 m). In these valleys, they were surrounded by
Makalu, Lhotse, and Everest - three of the 14 8,000-meter peaks
and some of the highest on Earth. During the reconnaissance, the team surveyed
thousands of square kilometers and their cartographers created maps of the area. It's hard to overstate just how monumental a task
this was. Looking at Everest and the surrounding area
on a flat map, you can see the glaciers and ridges and valleys, but it obviously does no justice to what an undertaking
it is to even traverse the area. Passing over the mountains themselves isn't feasible. The glaciers are marked with crevasses,
and the ridges are sometimes sheer rock. Far above the tree land as well, there's no vegetation
and the weather can be extreme. It also requires more or less a convoy of
men and animals to transport the gear and food to supply the effort. Finally, they climbed to 22,000 feet (6,700 m) at
Lhagba La at the end of August and mapped a previously unseen passage. They discovered that an area they thought
was impassable would lead them to the North Col after all. With that, they agreed that the reconnaissance
was completed and returned to base camp to rest for 10 days. During this time, they rested and prepared
for the next phase of their expedition. Rather than simply end it there, they want to
actually travel to the North Col and then get a better idea of what the route
was like firsthand. This would make any real attempts that much easier. First, they had to wait until the end of the monsoon season
at the end of August, and then they would set foot for the first time
in human history on the legendary North Col route. The team then spent roughly the next month
slowly establishing camps up the mountain, which would form the basis for their
attempt the following year. Eventually, they reached a height of 23,000 feet (7,010 m)
before finally concluding the 1921 reconnaissance. On the 26th of September,
the team set down the mountain and made their way out of the shadow of Everest. They finally returned to Darjeeling in October -
six months after they had left. They had traveled hundreds of miles to reach
Everest from an indirect route. They had traveled up and down glaciers
and lesser peaks, round and back, enduring harsh weather conditions
and rugged terrain. And in that time, two of the team members had surveyed
a total of 31,000 square kilometers (11,970 mi2), producing maps at a scale of four miles:one inch. The reconnaissance was considered a massive success,
and the committee convened and decided that a full attempt of Mount Everest
would be made the following year. Based on what they had learned, they figured that
April or May would be the best time to climb because of the unique conditions in the Himalayas. There's just a short window between the winter season
and the monsoon season. Winter is far too cold to make a safe attempt,
but the summer is cut short by huge amount of precipitation received by the region
during a few months in the summer. As much as 80% of this is received
in just a couple of months. In high altitudes, this falls as snow and makes
for treacherous climbing conditions. Not only is there a huge risk of avalanches,
but the routes are constantly covered, and walking through the deep snow
becomes almost impossible. Then, in addition to the short season, due the distance
they had to travel to even get to Everest and the difficult conditions and the high passes
along the way, the team had just a tight window
to make their attempt. The approach they took was the same as the
year before, starting on March 26th, with 13 English climbers and a total of 160 men,
including Tibetan and Nepalese porters. As with the year before, they started
in the state of Sikkim, India, heading north into Tibet, then eastward across Tibet,
finally heading south to Everest. Just like before, they had permission from the
Dalai Lama to enter Tibet. This time on their journey, they visited the famous
Rongbuk Monastery, which sits at 16,400 feet (5,000 m) with Everest
in the background. Even in May, because of the altitude,
it's still much colder. Although daytime temperatures can be
well above freezing, nighttime temperatures can drop to
double digits below freezing. It would take over a month for the team to finally
reach the lower end of the Rongbuk Glacier where they set up their base camp on May 1st. When they got there, all of the streams
were still frozen solid. The party that reached base camp consisted of
300 baggage animals, 20 ponies, and 160 men. Many of which were
given their pay and left, leaving behind only the essential individuals who
would be responsible for the remaining climb. Once everything was unloaded, base camp
pitches a bunch of tents, boxes, bags, animal supplies, and rope
strewn across the barren rocks. Then, once it was all set up, the team's first task
was to scout ahead and set up camp one closer to the base of Everest. They took some porters and brought up supplies
and to save tents, they even built some stone shelters. There might be half a dozen more camps, and they
would need to conserve the tents as best as they could. During this initial movement of all the supplies,
the European climbers remarked that the native porters, seemingly even the women
and children, were able to navigate the incline and rocky terrain while
carrying equipment as if they were walking normally. This is even more incredible once you consider how much
thinner the atmosphere is already at these altitudes. Imagine carrying a large bag or box
of rice like a backpack, thousands of vertical feet in between camps. This would take an unweighted person
a couple of hours to climb, but a porter might be carrying 60 pounds (27 kg)
of equipment on their back. And the expedition needed dozens if not hundreds
of these boxes. It's kind of a paradox too. You need more people
to carry the food, but more people means more mouths to feed, so you need to carry more food to feed
those additional people. This meant that in addition to all of the
supplies they brought with them, they would need a steady stream of supply drops
from the neighboring villages. While camp one was being set up, and in preparation
for the real climbing, other members of the team worked on and perfected
the revolutionary use of bottled oxygen. This idea was initially proposed by
Alexander Kellas, the man who had died during the
reconnaissance mission the year before. For this 1922 attempt, the team brought this new equipment after it was
decided by the committee to use it. This new equipment consisted of four oxygen
bottles and a fixed frame, and weighed a total of 15 kilograms
or 35 pounds. Each bottle could provide oxygen
for roughly two hours, meaning the full setup could provide oxygen
for eight hours total. It also included a mask that covered
the nose and mouth and attached to a tube running back
to the bottles. At the time, this use of bottled oxygen
was controversial and considered by purists not to be real climbing. However, the committee eventually decided to bring it
after several experts had theorized what type of advantage this might be
in the high altitudes. Initially, the idea was dismissed because it was
believed that the energy gain wouldn't offset the weight of the equipment itself. However, both the committee and the climbers
were later convinced, and so it was added for the 1922 attempts. Some of the party also later remarked
how funny it was that the best clothing was used to prevent heat loss,
the best tents were used as shelters, but somehow, using oxygen was different
as if they weren't equally artificial. Today, obviously, the use of bottled oxygen
is the standard for climbing at these heights. The team eventually set up camp one at altitude of
5,400 meters or 17,700 feet. They then established camp two at an altitude of
6,000 meters or 19,700 feet. And finally, set up advanced base camp, also known as camp three, at 6,400 meters
or 21,000 feet. Camp three was located at the upper end
of the glacier below the icy North Col. Each camp was also roughly three hours
of traveling between for a fully loaded baggage animal,
but less for an unloaded person. However, between camps two and three was where
the true mountain conditions began, including crevassed glaciers and unstable seracs. And although the native porters were physically fit,
they weren't used to these dangers, and the team had to be extremely cautious
from then on. At each camp as well, there were a few men
who stayed permanently and could relay messages back and forth. There was also a dedicated cook for each camp so that the camps could function independently
while also being linked together. Finally, after fully stocking camp three,
the team spent some time there before pushing onward again and set up
a smaller camp four. From there, they had a clear view of a
mountain known as Makalu and the approaching monsoon season in the distance. This site of the approaching precipitation
made everyone suddenly aware of what little time they had left. Right then, they made the decision to have four climbers
make the first attempt without oxygen. As everything was still being prepared, small defects
had been found in the equipment, which were still being worked out. The team decided that it would be better to try
and fail than not try at all. And even if they didn't make that first attempt, they could still make another attempt
once those defects were worked out. So on May 19th, a party of four British climbers
and nine porters started toward the mountain. They left camp three at 9:00 AM,
enjoying a nice and sunny day as the made their way along the rock and ice. By 1:00 PM, they stopped and set up
their tents at camp four, where they also set up more rope for the
climb up the following. So far, the attempt seemed very promising. The weather was good, the progress was steady,
and they were all in their tents by 4:30 PM. The following day, the plan was to carry two
of the smallest tents, two double sleeping sacks, food for 36 hours,
cooking pots and thermos flasks. The nine porters were in good shape
and planned to sleep three per tent. Everyone was ready for another great day
of climbing, but then at 5:00 AM, they discovered that the porters had gotten
sick throughout the night. The tents they were using weren't well ventilated, and the poor oxygen inside had caused their
altitude sickness to progress much more quickly. Coupled with some issues preparing food that morning,
the party didn't set it off until 7:00 AM. But when they did finally set off, it was up
the legendary North Col. At first, it was just a snow ridge with a gentle incline. Then, as they climbed, the incline still increased
and the ground became icy. This eventually became so steep and so
slippery that they knew that steps would need to be cut into
the ice sooner or later. This was around the first time that their plan to reach an
altitude of 26,000 feet (7,924 m) that day was questioned. As they went higher as well, it got very cold. Even the Europeans were cold,
and they had to put on extra clothing. The porters were even colder. Then, the ice step cutting proved to be
brutally exhausting. It essentially requires that you swing an ice axe
into the snow as hard as you can, and then step into the spot to flatten it. This took longer than expected, and finally,
the parties stumbled their way up to a sheltered rock at 25,000 feet (7,620 m)
around noon. It was at this point that they realized that
getting additional loads higher was too dangerous for the porters. With the thin air and incline, they were already struggling,
but the biggest threat was the cold. They decided to send the porters
back down still that night before they got frostbite or hypothermia. Once the porters had left, although the Europeans
were worn down from the hard day, they eventually pitched their tent
at the highest altitude anyone had ever been to, let alone
spend the night. The previous record was just 24,600 feet
(7,500 m). In their excitement for the day ahead,
the climbers didn't quite realize how much the cold had already affected them. One of the team members' ears had swollen
to three times their normal size. Another had frostbitten fingers, and they were
all showing the first signs of hypothermia. One thing they'd underestimated was
the power of the wind, which could quickly suck the warmth from you
or your tent without modern wind-proofing material The combination of minimal food, poor rest,
and intense physical exertion also made them feel like they were
perpetually sick. But despite everything, they would end up falling asleep
and desperately hoped to get a good night's rest. Throughout the night, they heard the sound
of snow and hail hitting their tents and worried about what the path might
look like in the morning. And then when the sun finally did come up that morning,
one of the men was too sick to continue . At these altitudes, recovery is almost non-existent. Your head aches constantly,
this affects your sleep, and then any sleep you do get isn't nearly
as restful as it normally is. The other three men didn't even question
the fourth man. They knew exactly what he was feeling. So finally, at 8:00 AM, only three climbers
continued on. The newly fallen snow covering made the route
even more difficult. The ascent that day was over loose rocks
and weirdly angled slabs, which were also covered in slippery ice and snow. They also couldn't crawl with their arms because
of the spacing of the rocks, so they had to balance on these icy slabs higher
than anyone had ever been before. Finally, they reached an altitude of 26,800 feet -
still 2,200 feet below the summit. They looked upward and then downward
and contemplated what to do next. Even if they somehow made it to the top,
which already seemed unlikely, they knew that the descent afterward
would be impossible. After discussing it, they all knew they needed to
turn back before they ran out of strength. They started their descent at 4:00 PM
and were back at camp four by nightfall. Rather than waiting until the following day, they gathered their gear and the fourth man
and then headed back down immediately. Even though they were all exhausted, they couldn't spend another night
at that altitude with no food. Unfortunately, as with the way up that day,
the route back down was much more treacherous than before
due to the fresh snow. All the rocks they had previously climbed
now had a slick layer of snow covering them. At one point, one of the men slipped and
took two others with him. At the last second, the final man managed to dig in
with his ice axe and stop their fall. Had he not stopped them, they would've tumbled
to the glaciers thousands of feet below. They spent the next five hours in the darkness
climbing down, cutting steps, and navigating over and around crevasses. Finally, at 11:30 PM, one of them
tripped over a rope at camp three. At this point, all they could think about was
finding something to eat. They searched for fuel and cooking pots to make food,
but they found nothing in the darkness. They ended up resorting to eating a mixture of jam,
snow, and frozen condensed milk, which only upset their stomachs further. Finally, they fell asleep once again, but it
was another terrible night of sleep. They woke up starving almost as badly as
the night before and left just after sunrise, desperately needing to get down to some hot food. As the men made their way down from camp three, they encountered two more of the European climbers
who were on their way up. They were bringing oxygen cylinders
to stock camp three, and wanted to test out the new equipment
after working out all the defects. The two parties happily greeted each other
and then went their separate ways. On May 22nd, 1922, something unprecedented occurred that would change high altitude climate forever. The day after passing by the four men
who had attempted Everest without oxygen, the two other European climbers
went up to the North Col and back from camp three in just three hours
and 50 minutes. Not only was this incredibly fast, but it wasn't
even all that hard for the two men. This was the first demonstration of what
a game changer bottled oxygen is. Following this test, a second attempt
was planned to be made on May 24th. This was the full attempt that everyone
had planned for. A team of four Europeans and 12 porters
set up from camp three and brought all the supplies and oxygen up to
camp four at the North Col. They camped there for the night at 23,000 feet,
and then the following day, the porter set off first with the intention of
meeting up at 26,000 feet. The four European climbers left about
an hour and a half later, and despite carrying heavier loads than the porters,
they ended up overtaking them on the way up. This only cemented the fact that oxygen was
essential for any attempts thereafter. At around 1:00 PM, the European climbers
decided that they should stop about 500 vertical feet (152 m)
below their initial plan, because of the wind had picked up
and snow had begun to fall. They could have traveled higher, but that
would've meant that the porters, who also had to descend that day still,
would have to travel farther in worse conditions. So instead, they stopped and started
setting up their camp for the day. They scouted up a little and around the
little area they had to work with, but eventually settled on a narrow ledge
overlooking a steep precipice. The porters arrived shortly after and dropped off
the gear and helped set up. Once everything was done, they set off down
the mountain again, singing as they went. The Europeans then settled in their tents
for a bitterly cold night. They cooked a small hot meal, which doesn't
really get truly hot at those altitudes. The low pressure means that the boiling point
of water is also lower, and so the water doesn't get quite
as hot as it does at sea level. After their meal and over a cigarette, they discussed
their chances of success and felt confident that between the weather and the bottled oxygen,
the chance of summiting was good. However, as is often the case in the mountains, the weather completely changed in the course
of a few hours, along with their confidence. Soon enough, gale-force winds were
sweeping through their camp and lifting the tent off the ground
with all of them inside. The force of the wind was also finding its way inside
the tent and rapidly cooling all of them down. For hours, they fought for their lives in a tent that
was precariously perched on the edge of a cliff. The wind was causing the tent to flap so loudly that the climbers described it like the sound
of a machine gun. It was so loud that they could barely hear
each other speak. Finally, as dawn broke, the snow stopped,
but the wind continued to rage on. They cooked food inside the tent, trying to stay warm
and preserve their strength, but just as they thought they might be safe,
the wind got worse and a sharp stone tore through the
fabric of their tent. This might have been the end of all of them,
if not for the fact that luckily, the wind died down just half an hour later
at around noon. By then, it was too late for an attempt that day, so they decided to sleep another night on the ledge
and try again the following day. The confident expressions they had on their faces
just 12 hours earlier, had turned to weariness after the
long night of fighting. Up until this point, it was not that the oxygen should be
reserved only for the climbing itself. They had only a limited supply, and the climbing itself
was the most strenuous, so it just made sense to reserve the oxygen for then. But then randomly, they had the idea to just try
breathing from the cylinders while resting in the tent. Even if it made a small difference, that might be
exactly what they needed. Again, the oxygen proved to be much more effective
than anyone could have imagined. Almost immediately, the effects were clear
as the men felt warmer and their facial expressions seemed to
change in seconds. That night, they rigged up a system so that just
a little bit of oxygen came through their masks. That way, they could sleep with their masks on, while also conserving the majority of the
oxygen for climbing. The result was that their sleep was much more restful and they were much more recovered than
they otherwise would've been. The following morning, they were fresh and ready
to go despite being very hungry, because they hadn't brought enough food to
account for the extra day in the storm. After getting on their frozen boots,
they set off at 6:30 AM, still carrying between 40 and 50 pounds each. Thankfully, the weather was good to start the day. Unfortunately, just an hour into climbing,
one of the men collapsed and fell forward onto his breathing apparatus. The altitude and the proceeding days had taken,
their toll and the man could no longer continue. They couldn't afford to accompany him
back to the tent, so they removed his gear and sent him
down on his own. The way was clear and the tent was
still visible down below, so they had no fear of him going alone. Following his departure, the three men pressed on
in an area that wasn't very steep and the rocks were not difficult to climb. In this easy terrain, they unroped
and moved more quickly. But again, this pace was unfortunately short-lived. At 26,500 feet (8,077 m), the wind resumed with
almost the same strength as the day prior. To get out of the wind, the men made the
decision to traverse around and onto the massive North Face for shelter. This was fine at first, but then it became steeper
and the rocks made for terrible footing. They painstakingly scrambled onward until finally
stopping at 27,300 feet or 8,321 meters. From that height, they were higher than everything
else on the horizon. There are just five mountains whose peaks are higher
than they were at that very moment. But looking up, there were still almost
2,000 feet to go. Again, they knew if they continued,
they wouldn't make it back alive. Soon, they were back down to high camp and found the
man who had been sent back down earlier, was asleep and wrapped in three sleeping bags. He was still too weak to join them, so they told him to wait
for porters they would send up to get him. Exhausted themselves, the men continued on
down the mountain. They got down to the camp at the North Col at
4:00 PM, and at this point, they were having a hard time bending their legs because
of how tired and hungry they were. They stopped briefly to retrieve some of the stored food
and then set off again, desperately wanting to get to camp three. Finally, they would make it down to camp three and from
their highest point early in the day, they had descended 6,000 vertical feet
or 1,800 meters. Once they undressed, they found that
they were suffering from varying degrees of frostbite on their feet, hands, and face. At least one of them would need to be carried down
to base camp the following day. Following the second failed attempt, the entire team spent some time
resting at base camp to recuperate. The first team had already been there for some time
and with the weather still good, they all discussed the possibility of making
a third attempt before the monsoon season had fully arrived. It was fast approaching and this was evident because
Everest was now no longer visible through a thick fog after about 10:00 AM
every day. Still, it did seem to be late that year, so eventually,
the team decided on another attempt. On June 3rd, they left base camp once again, hoping to be the first ever to set foot
on the highest point on Earth. They reached camp one and spent the night there, only to experience heavy snowfall
throughout the night. By June 5th, they reached camp three
and discovered that the remaining tents were filled with snow and ice. Supplies were buried and had to be dug out
with snow depths reaching over a foot or half a meter, and snow drifts
were even higher. On June 6th, the weather cleared up and the men
climbed again in a bright, sunny day. Despite their fatigue, the team had learned
valuable lessons from their previous attempts. They were more comfortable using their
oxygen tanks, and they knew now that they needed much more food to sustain
their activity levels at these higher altitudes. They also decided that the camp at
25,000 feet was too low and aimed for a higher one this time around. On June 7th at 8:00 AM, the team began
their ascent to the North Col. This time around, the European climbers were
weary of all the fresh snowfall and the increased risk of avalanches. They assessed the route and determined that
the steep final slope of the shelf they were on might be the only problematic area. But to be sure, they need to actually test the snow
and try to trigger an avalanche. On their way up, the snow was knee-deep
and made their walk exhausting. The team alternated the man in front
and left him free of any equipment to stomp at a path for the porters. With the fresh snow as well, the routes they had
previously made were now completely covered. Eventually, they reached the section
they were worried about and performed a series of tests to try
to trigger an avalanche. Each time, the snow held, and given that this
was the steepest and iciest section, if they couldn't trigger an avalanche here,
there wouldn't be any risk going forward. They continued onward through the deep snow
and often needed to pause and take several hard breaths for just a single step. At this point, there were about a thousand feet
below camp four, and the incline was still only a gentle slope. There was no wind either, so all they could hear
was the quiet and the sounds of their breath, and the crunching of the snow below their feet. Then, the silence was broken by an
ominous soft explosion. Everyone knew what the sound meant. They jumped upward as the snow dissolved
in front of them, and then they were slowly swept down the mountain. They powerlessly rode the wave of snow that seemed
almost peaceful at first instead of dangerous. But then, they slipped underneath the top layer
and the snow covered them completely. Instinctively, they swam their arms around
trying to free themselves, until they felt the snow starting to slow down. Then, it began to tighten around them
further and further until they wondered if they were going to be crushed. Then, everything stopped. Some of the men were able to stand up right away
and look around to survey the area. Four of them seemed to be grouped close by. There was another group of porters about 150 feet (45.7 m)
away, but there were still too many missing. They could have been suffocating
somewhere under the snow. In reality, the individuals who were further behind
on the route had traveled faster and farther. They ran to where the porters were standing
and realized that right behind them, there was a shear cliff about 50 feet
or 15 meters high. Everyone who wasn't with them had been
swept over the edge. The remaining men found a route down the cliff
to hopefully find anyone alive down below. What they found though was that at the bottom
of the cliff, there was also a crevasse. Many of the others had fallen in and then
were buried by the snow that fell on top of them. They desperately dug away the snow
and climbed down into the icy crack, but in the end, only a few men were found alive. Some of them had been crushed by the weight of
the snow, some had died in the fall, and others had simply gone too long
without oxygen. A total of seven porters would eventually
pass away as a result of the avalanche. And without anyone explicitly saying it, everyone knew that this was the official end
of the 1922 Mount Everest expedition. At camp three, a cairn was built to honor
the men who died, and it was decided that their bodies would be left
in the mountain where they had died. In recollecting the events of that day, the climbers
wondered how it was possible that despite their testing,
an avalanche could have occurred on such a gentle and innocent-looking slope. These early attempts to conquer Everest stand as some of the most astonishing feats
in human history. This was not only the first attempt to summit Everest, but also the first effort to climb any 8,000-meter peak. From the intricate mapping to the organization
of people and supplies, to the actual climbing itself - these attempts
were groundbreaking on every level. And what makes the first climb particularly
awe-inspiring is that it was carried out without the use
of supplemental oxygen. Not only do modern climbers rely on oxygen
to assist them during their ascents, they're also equipped with better clothing, gear,
expert guides, and established routes. There are also more camps used and they
extend higher up the mountain to minimize the distance to travel each day. We've also learned a ton about acclimatizing
at high altitudes. It's now understood that spending time
living at higher camps can help climbers acclimatize make the
ascent considerably easier. So despite lacking all of these advantages, these early climbers managed to reach within
just 2,000 feet of Everest summit. These attempts laid the groundwork for everything
we know about climbing Everest today, and significantly influenced the next
major attempt in 1924. Hello everyone. My name is Sean and
welcome to Scary Interesting. Thank you all so much for watching, and hopefully,
I will see you in the next one.
