| After no fewer than 10 attempts, Mount Everest was finally surmounted in 1953, as the result of efforts by an expedition sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society and the Joint Himalayan Committee of the Alpine Club. Open- and closed-circuit oxygen systems, specially insulated boots and clothing, and portable radio equipment were used by the climbers. Eight camps were established on the route that was taken up the Khumbu Icefall and Glacier, the Western Cwm, and the face of Lhotse to the ... |