Images and Words

May 18, 2006 - Better late than never. This adage could have been foremost on the minds of Heracleo “Leo” Oracion, Erwin “Pastour” Emata and the rest of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition team. And so 53 years after Hillary planted the first flag on the summit, it was Leo Oracion’s turn to perch the Philippine flag on the highest point of the earth. We were late by 53 years and were not even the first in the South East Asian region to accomplish the feat. Nevetheless, Oracion’s climb was a towering feat for a tropical country whose highest peak reaches only 3000 meters (compared to Everest’s 8840 meters)and who boasts of a head of state barely standing 1.524 meter (5 feet) in height.

(Over 2300 individuals have “summitted” and more than 200 have lost their lives, yet thousands continue to make the trek of a lifetime. Here is a timeline of the great and tragic history of Everest expeditions taken from everesthistory.com)

1923 - Thirty years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered the colossal peak known as Everest (called Chomolungma in Tibet and Sagarmatha in Nepal), a British explorer named George Mallory was already making his own plans to scale the mountain. While conducting a lecture tour in the United States, a reporter asked Mallory why he wanted to climb Everest, and he replied "Because it’s there".

1924 - Mallory, along with compatriot Sandy Irvine would go on to make their historic (albeit largely forgotten) ascent only to perish under mysterious circumstances. Up to now, the group’s ill-fated trek has been a source of constant speculation and debate within the mountaineering community. What happened to the Mallory and Irvine expedition and where the British really the first on Everest? For more on this, click here.

1953 – Everest’s summit is officially breached by New Zealander and his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay. The duo was part of a large British Expeditionary team who had been based in the Himalayas for months. The website everesthistory.com provides an account of their final assault:

May 29 - Second Assault by Hillary and Tenzing using open-circuit oxygen sets. They leave Camp IX at approximately 27,900 feet (8500 meters) by 6:30 AM, and reach the S. Summit by 9 AM. After negotiating the 40 foot (12 meter) Hillary Step, they are the first to reach the summit of Everest, reaching the top at 11:30 AM. After descending to the South Col, they are met by George Lowe where Hillary states: "Well, George, we knocked the bastard off!"

1975 - Japanese Ladies Expedition led by Mrs Eiko Hisana. On May 16 Junko Tabei of Japan became the first woman to reach the summit via the South-East Ridge.

1978 - First Ascent without bottled oxygen: Peter Habeler (Austria) and Reinhold Messner (Italy) 5/8/78 via the South-East Ridge

1980 - Solo: Reinhold Messner (Italy) 8/20/80 via the North Col to the North Face and the Great Couloir. He climbed for three days entirely alone from his base camp at 6500 meters without the use of artificial oxygen via the North Col/North Face route.

1990 - First Son of a summiter to Summit Everest: Peter Hillary (New Zealand) 5/10/90

1995 - George Mallory, grandson of George Leigh Mallory, reaches the Summit of Everest.

1996 - 15 die on Everest, the most in a single year, including the most successful guide of his time, the great climber Rob Hall.

1997 – M. Magendren and N. Mohandas of Malaysia became the first South East Asians to reach the summit of Everest. They were part of a contingent of 20 mountainers from the Malaysian Mount Everest team.