1963 American Mount Everest expedition
Worldwide, the mountaineering establishment and enthusiasts regarded the traverse via the West Ridge by the Americans Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld as the greater achievement.
However, back home in the United States, the main cause for celebration by press, politicians and the public was Whittaker's achievement.
Then, in 1950, Tibet's borders were closed when it was occupied by the People's Republic of China and by that time no expedition had been able to reach the summit.
After the reconnaissance expedition of 1951, the Swiss attempts of 1952 nearly reached the summit via the Khumbu Icefall, Western Cwm, Geneva Spur, South Col and Southeast ridge.
America was to seek a "New Frontier" and in the Cold War would "pay any price, bear any burden ... to assure ... the success of liberty".
[4][5] The Green Berets and the Peace Corps extended their influence into Nepal, described in a recruitment advertisement as "The Land of Yeti and Everest".
[5] Norman Dyhrenfurth thought this political situation might provide a good opportunity for progressing a long held ambition.
[note 2] However, the resulting controversy in the press, together with Kennedy's earlier rhetoric, helped the cause with major support coming from the National Geographic Society which provided $114,000 ($1.2 million in 2024 prices) but only if there was a scientific component to the venture.
[11] To emphasize the expedition's scientific credentials, Dyhrenfurth selected an academic team – five had doctorates, eight held master's degrees and only two were non-graduates.
In trying to help in fund raising, Dyhrenfurth had suggested they might attempt the "Grand Slam" of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse but when this was discussed in detail during the walk-in the mountaineers were unenthusiastic.
[20] Hornbein strongly favored making this the main target and to abandon a climb by the conventional South Col route.
In the end it was agreed to send a four-man team up via the South Col to attempt the summit and to separately, and secondarily, reconnoiter the West Ridge which would at least provide photographs of the Tibetan side of the mountain.
The climbers considered giving up the expedition, or the West Ridge aspect, but they decided to carry on and reached the Western Cwm where on March 30 Camp I was established.
[41] The ridge immediately ahead looked difficult so they prospected both this route and a gully sloping to the left to the foot of a location later to be known as the Hornbein Couloir.
[44] The route preparation up the Lhotse Face made rapid progress and the South Col was reached on April 16, well before monsoon season.
On May 2, because of a shortage of oxygen supplies, with only Bishop and Jerstad climbing up towards Camp VI, they found the first team members descending, and in a very poor physical condition.
[note 7] Unsoeld was able to restrain Hornbein's anger, and Bishop maintained his calm during these discussions but was very critical of the overall leadership in a letter he wrote back home.
At about midnight, two of the three tents at 4W were blown away 50 yards (46 m) down the cliffs towards the West Rongbuk Glacier in Tibet with Corbet, Auten and four Sherpas inside them.
Next, five untried Sherpas must traverse the North Face, climbing more than two thousand vertical feet with loads, twice the distance ever carried before at that altitude".
[59] They climbed part way up the Hornbein Couloir to where it started to cross the Yellow Band to establish Camp 5W on a tiny ledge.
[42] Waking at 04:00 and leaving camp at 07:00, Hornbein and Unsoeld set off for the summit taking oxygen, food and walkie-talkie but abandoning tent and sleeping bags.
[55] Hornbein and Unsoeld were too late in the day for the planned rendezvous but they could see Bishop and Jerstad's footprints in the snow and knew the way back down the West Ridge was impossible.
After radioing down to Advance Base Camp they descended by the Southeast Ridge, reaching the South Summit at 19:30 in the dark.
The four climbers carefully went on down but stopped at midnight and settled on a rock to wait for daylight, huddling together at over 28,000 feet (8,500 m) through the clear, still night.
On May 27, from Namche Bazaar, Bishop and Unsoeld, who both had frostbitten feet, were taken by helicopter to hospital in Kathmandu while the rest of the expedition started their trek back there on foot.
Three weeks later the first traverse, which received far more attention from the mountaineering establishment in Europe, was only mentioned on page 28 although in retrospect it could be seen as ushering in an Alpine style of climbing on an "eight-thousander".
the firm he worked for, Recreational Equipment Incorporated, a consumers' cooperative organization, increased its membership from 50,000 to 250,000 between 1965 and 1972 and its outlets spread nationwide from a single Seattle store.
[note 10][71] In 1965 National Geographic's film Americans on Everest, narrated by Orson Welles,[76] aired on CBS television and received the highest ratings for a documentary up until that time.
