At Everest or any other high mountain in the world, reaching an altitude of over 8,000m is when climbers reach the “Death Zone”, where they can die at any time.
11:30 am on May 29, 1953 is an unforgettable moment in world history when two climbers Edmund Hillary (1919 – 2008, New Zealander) and Tenzing Norgay (1914 – 1986, Nepalese) visited successfully reached the top of the highest mountain on the planet: Mount Everest.
After many years of cherishing the dream of conquering the 8,848m-high Everest and after a 7-week series of days of eating-sleeping-surviving in the cold and exhausted Himalayas, these two people of two different nationalities have together put their name in the record of the first person(s) in the world to successfully conquer Everest and return safely.
Carrying a 30kg backpack, always breathing the extremely thin and bone-chilling air of -19 degrees Celsius, both Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay spent 15 minutes of their glorious life standing in the position ” “roof of the world” but look out to all sides, but feel the success costing your life to feel that: Nature, no matter how difficult it is, small people can still be subdued.
The memento they left on Mount Everest as a tribute is a chocolate bar and a cross, symbols of faith and life, in the hope that, then, there will be other brave people who continue to write their success. They are on the top of the mountain covered with white snow all year round.
Climbers Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay.
It’s been 65 years since history honored these two brave climbers in the history books, Everest has witnessed many generations of climbers and explorers from all over the world bring with them the warmth of their hearts. blood that seemed impossible to be extinguished by the cold snow on the border of Nepal and Tibet to challenge himself to the highest limit and to write his name in the history books for once in his life.
It is not possible to accurately estimate how many climbers have explored Everest and how many have died on that extreme journey, only knowing that, as of 2016, out of a total of 4,000 climbers. Successfully reaching the summit of Everest, there are 280 people forever sending their bodies in the cold snow of the Himalayas…
Putting aside the story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s successful first time conquering Everest, let’s feel the harshness of the weather, the terrain and the dangers that make the boundary between life and death no longer exist. of the 5 greatest Everest climbers in history through their untold stories.
Referring to Reinhold Messner (born September 17, 1944) , an Italian mountaineering legend, people remember the most talented mountain conqueror in the history of the world with a rare record of breaking: He is a man. the first in the world to set foot on all 14 mountains above 8,000m of the Earth. All these 14 peaks belong to the Himalayas and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia.
The amazing thing is, when Reinhold Messner conquered these 14 peaks, he didn’t need the help of an oxygen tank! For scientists and amateur climbers, reaching the “Death Threshold” (over 8,000m high) without an oxygen tank is a surefire death in hand.
“Death Zone” is an area used by professional mountaineers around the world when a climber reaches an altitude of over 8,000m above sea level. At this location, oxygen is the most luxurious and expensive thing for human lungs.
An amateur climber reaching this height can lose consciousness or die within tens of seconds. For professional mountaineers, without an oxygen tank, they will quickly have a headache. Lack of oxygen plus sub-zero temperatures will cause them to vomit, be disoriented and have hallucinations. Death will be at hand if the person is not given oxygen and warmed up after a few minutes.
Figures show that more than 200 climbers died when “falling” on the “Death Threshold” on Everest. Dying at this altitude shows that they are already professional climbers, because according to the Royal Health Organization (NHS), for ordinary people or for amateur climbers, the symptoms of ” Altitude sickness” will occurs at different levels:
So, what made a “iron” Reinhold Messner, not afraid of death and “daring” to climb Everest without an oxygen tank? Let’s find out together.
Few people know that climbing legend Reinhold Messner soon formed a passion for conquering the top since he was just a 5-year-old boy.
At that age when his peers could only eat and sleep, Reinhold Messner made the first expedition of his life in the Italian Dolomites (more than 3,300m high, in the poetic Alps) with the Beautiful scenery that no other place on Earth has.
By the age of 20, Reinhold Messner and his brother, Günther Messner, had established themselves as two of Europe’s most accomplished climbers.
The youthful enthusiasm has ignited the young man’s passion for conquering other legendary peaks in the world. Not wanting to limit his efforts and the passion that soon blossomed in Europe, now, the young man wants to go to Asia, to the border between Nepal and Tibet to subdue the “roof of the world”. world” under his feet.
On October 16, 1986, when Reinhold Messner turned 42 years old, he continued to enter the record of being the first person in the world to set foot on all 14 mountains over 8,000m high on Earth without oxygen. . Of course, among them is the legendary 8,848m high Mount Everest.
Italian mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner. Not only climbing mountains, he was also the first person to cross Antarctica and Greenland without using a sled or dog sled, and crossed the Gobi Desert alone.
After the death of his brother in 1970 when the two brothers went on an expedition together at Nanga Parbat, the 9th highest mountain in the world (8,126m high, in Pakistan), Reinhold Messner was the first to propose to explore Everest. without the help of an oxygen tank.
Despite all the objections of fellow climbers as well as explanations from the scientific world, on May 8, 1978, the climbing team consisted of 2 people, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler (Austrian climber, born on the 22nd day of the month). July 7, 1942) reached Everest without an oxygen tank.
“Indeed, at that time, I was no longer myself. Everything became blurry in front of my eyes. My mind was completely blurred. When I stood on the “roof of the world”, my ears could only hear. We’re sucking in rare breaths of oxygen in that extremely thin air…” Reinhold Messner remembers putting Everest at his feet in the summer of 1978.
That’s the risk, and when it comes to success, it seems, for Reinhold Messner, it’s not enough. The feeling of absolute victory has not yet filled the veins of that talented Italian mountaineer.
Then, just 2 years later, on August 20, 1980, Reinhold Messner set out to conquer Everest again. This time, he went alone!
“The feeling of ‘alone alone’ conquering Mount Everest was the hardest thing in my life. I climbed it alone and returned safely, alone. As I was climbing, I slipped and fell down. crevices at night and almost gave up because of hunger, cold and fear.Then, the desire to miss the destination of “conquering Everest alone” helped me get up and continue to fight. When you reach the top, that feeling of happiness is not much different from the moment you set foot on the Moon…” , Reinhold Messner shared the story with TheGuardian in 2003.
The second story tells about George Mallory (1886-1924) , a very famous English climber. He was recognized as one of the world’s greatest climbers of the 1920s when all three times he entered the Everest expeditions of the 1920s.
During his third expedition in 1924, then 37 years old George Mallory, his wife and three young children prevented him from making this trip because the young wife’s hunch made her have bad thoughts. heal.
However, the failure of the previous two Everest expeditions due to a blizzard when the team with George Mallory in attendance reached a height of more than 8,100m, making George Mallory more determined to conquer the legendary peak.
In a letter to his wife, he wrote: “Honey, when the team climbs to this height, I am sure that failure is impossible. Never have I felt so enthusiastic. “The battle. “hey, I know, it’s hard, but I believe I’ll make it.”
George Mallory could not have imagined that these were the last lines he had the opportunity to send to his beloved wife who is waiting with their children at home. Passion for conquering the top brought him to Everest and it was Everest that forever held him in his arms…
British mountaineering legend George Mallory and his wife – Ruth Mallory. (Photo: Explorersweb).
At 12:50 p.m. on June 8, 1924, George Mallory and his companion, Sandy Irvine “disappeared” on the northwestern edge of Everest. The person who saw them last was explorer and geologist Noel Odell.
Noel Odell later recounted: “As I was approaching the northwestern edge of the summit, I happened to see them. Before we had time to meet to inquire about their expedition, a small blizzard struck. we.
After seeking cover, I turned to signal George Mallory and Sandy Irvine to safety. However, the only thing left in my eyes was the constant gusts of wind and snow that smacked my face. Every attempt to scream out the names of my teammates was “swallowed up” by Everest. They never came back again.”
It was 1924…
75 years later, in 1999, after an effort to find the bodies of two British explorers, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, the bodies of two young people were found hugging each other.
The remaining belongings were goggles, an altimeter, a knife and a stack of thick letters from George Mallory’s wife. The expedition party could not find both of their cameras. Because if a camera is found, one has a chance to determine whether both people have successfully set foot on Everest, and that, maybe they crashed while on the way back down.
75 years after George Mallory and Sandy Irvine went missing, their bodies were found. But also because of that, the mystery of whether they conquered Everest before they died or not only Everest knows!
In each of us, there are limits, once you break through that limit, only you can feel the happiness that rises to the extreme in the heart with warm blood flowing.
Everest, the paradise of wills tempered to the end is also considered a cold “grave” . However, that “grave ” cannot bury enthusiastic hearts! As Reinhold Mesner once said:
To be continued…