Sujoy Das @sujoyrdas - Twitter Profile

5 days ago

The sheer joy and innocence captured in this photograph, likely taken near Tengboche Monastery after the historic first ascent of Mt Everest on 29 May 1953, feels almost worlds apart from the Everest we often see today. There are no queues, no disputes over summit traffic, no obsession with records or recognition, only friendship, relief, wonder, and the quiet happiness of having shared an extraordinary adventure. More than seventy years later, Everest has changed enormously. It has become busier, more commercial, more competitive and, at times, surrounded by controversy and tension. Yet this image takes us back to a time when the mountain represented not only ambition, but mystery, companionship and the pure joy of exploration. Looking at this moment, one remembers George Mallory’s timeless words: “What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy.” Perhaps that is what this photograph preserves so beautifully, not fame or records, but the simple human happiness found in adventure, friendship and the mountains themselves. Photo ©: Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

EverestToday's tweet photo. The sheer joy and innocence captured in this photograph, likely taken near Tengboche Monastery after the historic first ascent of Mt Everest on 29 May 1953, feels almost worlds apart from the Everest we often see today. There are no queues, no disputes over summit traffic, no obsession with records or recognition, only friendship, relief, wonder, and the quiet happiness of having shared an extraordinary adventure.

More than seventy years later, Everest has changed enormously. It has become busier, more commercial, more competitive and, at times, surrounded by controversy and tension. Yet this image takes us back to a time when the mountain represented not only ambition, but mystery, companionship and the pure joy of exploration.

Looking at this moment, one remembers George Mallory’s timeless words: “What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy.” Perhaps that is what this photograph preserves so beautifully, not fame or records, but the simple human happiness found in adventure, friendship and the mountains themselves.

Photo ©: Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

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Everest Today

@EverestToday

9 days ago

For more than three decades, Everest had resisted the world. From the first British reconnaissance in 1921, eight major expeditions had gone to the mountain before 1953 and none had returned with a confirmed summit. Climbers pushed the limits of human endurance, some reaching extraordinary heights, while others, including George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, disappeared into the mountain. Everest remained the last great symbol of the unknown. Few people understood that struggle more personally than Tenzing Norgay. He first went to Everest with Eric Shipton’s expedition in 1935, returned in 1936 and 1938, joined Earl Denman’s unofficial attempt in 1947, and then took part in both Swiss expeditions of 1952. With Raymond Lambert that spring, Tenzing reached around 8,600 metres, higher on Everest than anyone had previously climbed and returned alive. By 1953, he had spent nearly eighteen years coming back to the same mountain. Then on 29 May 1953, at around 11:30 local time, Tenzing stepped onto the highest point on Earth. Beside him was Edmund Hillary. Below them lay the Himalayas, and far beyond it, a world waiting for news. Everest had defeated generation after generation of climbers. Men had disappeared into its storms, and expeditions had turned back within sight of the summit. Only three days earlier Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans had been forced to retreat from the South Summit. Now Hillary and Tenzing had climbed the final unknown ground and reached the highest point on Earth together. Hillary lifted his camera and photographed Tenzing standing there, ice axe raised, the flags of Nepal, India, Britain and the United Nations flying above the Himalaya. It was more than a summit photograph. It was the portrait of a man who had returned to Everest across eighteen years, endured expedition after expedition, climbed repeatedly into the mountain’s highest reaches, and finally stood at the highest point on Earth. For Hillary, Tenzing was not simply the man in front of his camera. He was the partner who had shared every risk, every exhausting step and every uncertainty of the final climb. Together, they had crossed the last unknown ground and reached a place where no climber had ever stood before. For the world, Everest had finally been climbed. For the Himalaya, the image carried something deeper. After decades of Sherpas carrying loads, fixing routes, guiding climbers and losing lives in the service of expeditions, one of their own finally stood at the very centre of history. Photo ©: Edmund Hillary / Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

EverestToday's tweet photo. For more than three decades, Everest had resisted the world. From the first British reconnaissance in 1921, eight major expeditions had gone to the mountain before 1953 and none had returned with a confirmed summit. Climbers pushed the limits of human endurance, some reaching extraordinary heights, while others, including George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, disappeared into the mountain. Everest remained the last great symbol of the unknown.

Few people understood that struggle more personally than Tenzing Norgay. He first went to Everest with Eric Shipton’s expedition in 1935, returned in 1936 and 1938, joined Earl Denman’s unofficial attempt in 1947, and then took part in both Swiss expeditions of 1952. With Raymond Lambert that spring, Tenzing reached around 8,600 metres, higher on Everest than anyone had previously climbed and returned alive. By 1953, he had spent nearly eighteen years coming back to the same mountain.

Then on 29 May 1953, at around 11:30 local time, Tenzing stepped onto the highest point on Earth. Beside him was Edmund Hillary. Below them lay the Himalayas, and far beyond it, a world waiting for news. Everest had defeated generation after generation of climbers. Men had disappeared into its storms, and expeditions had turned back within sight of the summit. Only three days earlier Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans had been forced to retreat from the South Summit. Now Hillary and Tenzing had climbed the final unknown ground and reached the highest point on Earth together.

Hillary lifted his camera and photographed Tenzing standing there, ice axe raised, the flags of Nepal, India, Britain and the United Nations flying above the Himalaya. It was more than a summit photograph. It was the portrait of a man who had returned to Everest across eighteen years, endured expedition after expedition, climbed repeatedly into the mountain’s highest reaches, and finally stood at the highest point on Earth.

For Hillary, Tenzing was not simply the man in front of his camera. He was the partner who had shared every risk, every exhausting step and every uncertainty of the final climb. Together, they had crossed the last unknown ground and reached a place where no climber had ever stood before.

For the world, Everest had finally been climbed. For the Himalaya, the image carried something deeper. After decades of Sherpas carrying loads, fixing routes, guiding climbers and losing lives in the service of expeditions, one of their own finally stood at the very centre of history.

Photo ©: Edmund Hillary / Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

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