Celebrating the first ascent of Mount Everest in May 1953 with exclusive access to the remarkable imagery and private archives of legendary climber and photographer George Lowe, who accompanied Hillary and Norgay on that first triumphant expedition Published to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest, this visually spectacular book features a trove of original photographs and other rare materials from the George Lowe collection, many unpublished, complemented by classic images from the final ascent. Stunning landscapes, candid portraits, and action shots describe the day-by-day moments of the historic expedition as never before. The extraordinary journey is retold from Lowe’s point of view, capturing the drama of the expedition and the personal stories of those involved
In addition, earlier attempts at climbing the world’s highest mountain and key later ascents are described. The book also includes contributions from an impressive team of mountaineers and explorers, including Reinhold Messner, Sir Chris Bonington, the late Sir Edmund Hillary, Peter Hillary, Doug Scott, Stephen Venables, Norbu Tenzing Norgay, Tom Hornbein, Kenton Cool, and Jan Morris. Not only the anniversary of the first successful ascent, 2013 also marks fifty years since the first American ascent and the epic first ascent of the West Ridge.