Everest Photos From the Early Years

by W. Claiborne on April 16, 2012

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From National Geographic comes an astounding series of photos of some of the earliest traversing of Mount Everest. The photos are great, but equally so are the descriptions. Check them all out after the jump.

Solo Ascent

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Photograph by Reinhold Messner "I am nothing more than a single, narrow, gasping lung, floating over the mists and the summits," wrote Reinhold Messner after becoming the first person to reach the top of Mount Everest alone with no supplemental oxygen.

Solo Ascent

Photograph by Reinhold Messner "I am nothing more than a single, narrow, gasping lung, floating over the mists and the summits," wrote Reinhold Messner after becoming the first person to reach the top of Mount Everest alone with no supplemental oxygen.
Crossing a Crevasse

Photograph by Barry C. Bishop Members of the 1963 American expedition wait for their turn to cross an Everest crevasse. One team member died trying to reach the summit, and the photographer of this picture lost toes and fingers to frostbite.
1963 Everest Expedition

Photograph by Barry C. Bishop Team members stand outside their tents on a 1963 National Geographic-sponsored expedition to climb Everest. On May 1 of that year two members of this team became the first Americans to summit the colossal peak.
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay

Photograph by Royal Geographic Society On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand (foreground) and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first people to stand atop Earth's highest peak.
High-Altitude Camp

Photograph by Barry Bishop, National Geographic The lack of oxygen at high altitude affects the body and mind in profound ways. Peter Habeler, who climbed Everest without supplemental oxygen, said, "In this lonely environment, which is so hostile to life, the imagination conjures up all manner of strange desires or horrifying apparitions."
East Face of Everest

Photograph by Jay Cassell Until this team took on the challenge in 1984, the east face of Mount Everest remained unconquered, the climb largely regarded as impossible. Here the team rests for the night, perched on a dangerously thin ice shelf.
Team of Everest Climbers, 1963

Photograph by Barry Bishop, National Geographic Climbers and porters on a 1963 American expedition set off in their bid to summit Mount Everest. The team used 900 porters to carry 27 tons of supplies to base camp. In the end six team members reached the summit with little more than their backpacks.

It's almost unimaginable how humans have managed to reach such extremes.

All captions via National Geographic. The rest of their section on early Everest climbers is excellent (especially the article on the differences in climbing gear from the first days to now).

(via Coudal)