Scaling Everest, the highest mountain in the world

The History Hour

BBC

History, Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.4 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes focusing on Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

It's 70 years since Edmund Hillary with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the summit of Everest in 1953.

We hear about some of the earliest, tragic attempts to scale the mountain, and from those who've blazed a trail up the slopes for others to follow.

Contributors: Peter Hillary - Sir Edmund Hillary's son. Jamling Tenzing Norgay - Tenzing Norgay's son. Bachendri Pal - the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest. Michael Groom - a survivor of the tragic expedition in 1996 when a storm struck the mountain. Jochen Hemmleb - an original member of the team that discovered George Mallory's remains.

(Photo: Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary after their return from Everest. Credit: Bettmann)

Transcript

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0:00.0	The explanation is the podcast from the BBC World Service that goes beyond the spin,
0:07.0	exploring the important questions about long-running stories and the latest global news an honest explanation of the events shaping
0:16.4	our lives search for the explanation wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.
0:29.0	Hello and welcome to the History Hour Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson the past
0:34.1	brought to life by those who were there this week we're marking 70 years since
0:38.6	Hillary and Tansing conquered Everest the world's highest mountain.
0:42.8	He said, this little voice within him spoke up and it was Edma Boy.
0:48.8	This is Everest.
0:50.2	Sometimes you've got to be prepared to push it a lot harder.
0:53.4	One of the first things he did was put his hands together and
0:56.2	prayed to Chumolumma, the mother goddess, and said,
0:59.1	Tujichetia Chumolumma, which means thank you, mother goddess.
1:02.1	We'll hear of the triumphs and tragedies Everest has witnessed over to the past century,
1:07.0	George Mallory's disappearance in 1924, a fatal expedition in the 1990s,
1:12.0	and but Chenery Powell the first Indian... a fatal yourself, who you are, what stuff you are made of, what is your limitations, what is your strength.
1:26.6	That's coming up later in the podcast, but there really is nowhere else to start other than
1:30.2	back in 1953 when Edmund Hillary climbing with Sherpa Tenzing Norgae became the first
1:36.3	humans to reach the summit of Everest. The two men instantly became famous all over the world.
1:41.6	Here's Louise Clark.
1:45.0	This is London calling the British Mount Everest expedition.
1:48.0	Here is the latest weather quality.
1:51.0	Western disturbance, apparently moving eastwards across the extreme north of Macaul.
	...

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