Many Western professional climbers doubt the veracity of the Chinese claim, including Conrad Anker and Reinhold Messner.
The first acclimatization expedition started on 25 March, moved equipment to Camp 3, and found a route pass the North Col.
In the afternoon of 23 May, Xu Jing, Wang Fuzhou, Liu Lianman and Gonpo set up the Advance Camp at 8,500 m (27,900 ft).
After several unsuccessful attempts to climb over the Step's last section, Liu Lianman, who was previously a fireman, suggested a "human ladder".
[7] Qu Yinhua removed his mountaineering shoes, and stood on Liu Lianman's shoulder to fix ice picks and safety ropes.
The three members stayed for 15 minutes and left a 20 cm tall statue of Mao Zedong, a national flag, and a paper note.
None of these items were ever seen in their stated location, and photographs from Tom Hornbein's 1963 ascent document the exact area, with no bust or flag visible despite low snow conditions.
Subsequent ascents corroborated the expedition report's descriptions of the Third Step and the terrain near the summit, and demonstrated the viability of ascending without oxygen.
Jochen Hemmleb [de] wrote that contemporary written accounts from the 1960 expedition "incorporate descriptions of topographical details of the final pyramid that could only have been obtained if the party had indeed reached the top."
In addition, the expedition film Conquering the World's Highest Peak (1962) included a shot that showed detailed features of the Third Step and the summit pyramid.
[20] Among those who recognize the ascent include mountaineer Eric Simonson,[21] climbing guide author Walt Unsworth[13][22] and historian Audrey Salkeld.
And I suspect that reporting the crux of the cliff at the Second Step as only three meters high, when in truth it's a good twenty-five feet, was a concoction to make it plausible that it could have been surmounted by a shoulder stand.”