World altitude record (mountaineering)

European exploration of the Himalaya began in earnest during the mid-19th century, and the earliest people known to have climbed in the range were surveyors of the Great Trigonometric Survey (GTS).

[1] Most of these early claims have now been rendered invalid by the discovery of the bodies of three children at the 6,739 m (22,110 ft) summit of Llullaillaco in South America: Inca sacrifices dated to around AD 1500.

[2] There is no direct evidence that the Incas reached higher points, but the discovery of the skeleton of a guanaco on the summit ridge of Aconcagua (6,962 m, 22,841 ft) suggests that they also climbed on that mountain, and the possibility of Pre-Columbian ascents of South America's highest peak cannot be ruled out.

It is likely that local inhabitants went to such heights in search of game, and possibly higher while exploring trade routes, but they did not live there, and there is no evidence that they attempted to climb the summits of the Himalaya before the arrival of Europeans.

It is not claimed that they lied about their ascents, rather that the poor quality of maps at the time may have led them to be unsure of which mountain they were actually on, and to make estimates of their height which owed more to wishful thinking than scientific measurements.

[11] In 2009, Willy Blaser and Glyn Hughes wrote a spirited defense of the ascent in the Alpine Journal, arguing that Graham and Boss's criticism of the maps of the Garhwal Himalaya had led to bad blood.

Together with Matthias Zurbriggen and Charles Granville Bruce, Conway made an attempt on Baltoro Kangri and on 25 August reached a subsidiary summit which he named Pioneer Peak.

In July 1905 Tom George Longstaff, accompanied by the alpine guides Alexis and Henri Brocherel from Courmayeur and six local porters, made an attempt on Gurla Mandhata.

After failing to make progress on K2 the Duke led an attempt on Chogolisa, where they reached a height of approximately 7,500 m (24,600 ft) before turning around just 150 m below the summit due to bad weather and the risk of falling through a cornice in poor visibility.

On 4 June, Edward Norton, without supplemental oxygen, reached a point on the mountain's Great Couloir 8,572.8 m (28,126 ft) high, his companion Howard Somervell having turned around a short distance before.

The attempt on Kanchenjunga itself was abandoned after an avalanche had killed Chettan Sherpa, but members of the team stayed to climb a number of smaller peaks in the area.

Nanda Devi, at 7,816 m (25,643 ft) the highest mountain wholly within the British Empire, had been the object of several expeditions, and it was finally climbed on 29 August 1936 by Bill Tilman and Noel Odell.

[31] After the Second World War, the formerly closed and secretive kingdom of Nepal, wary of the intentions of the People's Republic of China and seeking friends in the West, began to open its borders.

On 26 May, three days before the successful attempt, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans reached the South Summit before turning back due to malfunctioning oxygen apparatus.

[36] While the exact height of Everest's summit is subject to minor variation due to the level of snow cover and the gradual upthrust of the Himalaya, significant changes to the world altitude record are now impossible.

The first woman to climb extensively in the Karakoram was Fanny Bullock Workman, who made a number of ascents, including that of Pinnacle Peak, a 6,930 m (22,740 ft) subsidiary summit of Nun Kun, in 1906.

The ensuing controversy was bitter and public, and eventually resolved in Bullock Workman's favour when she hired a team of surveyors to measure the height of Huascarán.

[39] The following year saw the first all-female team to visit the Himalayas, made up of Monica Jackson, Evelyn McNicol and Elizabeth "Betty" Stark, making the first ascent of Gyalgen Peak, 6,151 m (20,180 ft).

[39] The highest mountain to have had a female first ascent is Gasherbrum III, 7,946 m (26,070 ft), which was first climbed by Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz and Wanda Rutkiewicz (along with two male climbers) in August 1975.

Llullaillaco was climbed by Incas before European exploration of the world's highest mountain ranges began
Graham, Boss and Kaufmann may have climbed to 30 ft below 7,338 m Kabru N in 1883; if true they set an altitude record which stood for 26 years.
The Duke of the Abruzzi and guides climbing an icefall on Chogolisa.
The North Face of Mount Everest, scene of the British expeditions of the 1920s and 30s
Nanda Devi was the highest mountain to be climbed before the Second World War.
Annapurna, the first summit over 8000 m to be reached.
The upper slopes of Mount Everest. The Southeast Ridge followed by the expeditions of the 1950s forms the right hand skyline and the South Summit, marking the last altitude record to be set before the mountain's first ascent, is visible below and right of the main summit.
Fanny Bullock Workman