Story Behind the Everest Trek

The naming of the Mount Everest

Before drowning in the story of the Everest trek, let's learn about how the world giant got its name. In the nineteenth century, British Empire's Survey named it as Peak XV. However, later the peak got named as "Everest" by Sir George from the British while surveying. Not only Everest, but the mountain also has other names like Sagarmatha a Nepali name, and Qomolangma a Tibetan name. The Chomolungma means “Mother Goddess of the World” while Sagarmatha means the "goddess of the sky".

First conqueror of the Everest Summit

Do you know Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa who reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the first time in the world? Yes, you read it right; during the 1920s George Mallory tried to climb Everest three times. The expedition in 1924 was the third expedition of George Mallory. Sadly after reaching an elevation of 8,600 meters, Mallory left this world forever. 

Conrad Anker, a climber from America in 1999 found George Mallory's dead body. After collecting the remaining things of Mallory, he concluded that Mallory and Irvin might have reached the summit. However, before climbing the peak Mallory promised that he would leave his wife's photography in case he reached on top of Mt. Everest. But Conrad could not find the picture of Mallory’s wife at the summit. Therefore, this thesis is not proved till today. To prove Mallory was the first conqueror of the world's tallest mountain, one must find the picture of Mallory’s wife at the top of Mount Everest.

The day finally came when the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest was conquered the first time and created history. The peak was climbed by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa who are from the Newzealand and Nepal respectively. The duo holds the world record for being the first one who climbed and stood on the top of the world.  Also, they proved that it is possible to survive on the highest altitude of the Earth. However, they reached a peak at -28 ° C.

Regarding the history of Mt. Everest, no one can forget the first Winter Everest climber. They are Poles Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy who reached a temperature of -50 ° C by fighting the deadly with the hurricane wind and the mountain. However, they conquered the summit of Mt. Everest at 2:25 pm. As of now, more than 100 people stand on the top of the mountain each year. 

How Everest base camp was born?

After conquering Everest, the duo Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay choose a place on the south slopes of Nepal. They realized it is better to store essential materials at the base of the mountain relatively than travel the entire length of the Khumbu Valley every time, they require stuff. Thus, the famous Everest base camp was established. Because of the base camp, it is way much easier for climbers to find gear. Since 1953, the popularity of the Everest base camp trek started. 

As we all know, the Tenzing-Hillary Airport is the gateway to the beautiful and classic Everest base camp trek. Not like today during Hillary’s time, there was no access to the airport. As a result, Edmund Hillary decides to build an airport on flat farmlands. However, the local residents did not want to provide their land for the airport construction, so it was built at its present position in 1964. For the land, Hillary paid US$2,650 to local people and involved them in the building process as well. Moreover, it is also believed that initially, Hillary was not happy with the runways’ soil resistance. It was not flattened. In order to make it flatten, all the locals stamped their feet like dancing because Hillary bought their local alcohol and asked them to jump there on the runway. Until 2001, the pavement of the airport was not paved. 

The airport was given a name again by honoring Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary in 2008. It is called Tenzing Hillary Airport.

Thanks to Edmund today thousands of people can easily go to the foot of the world's tallest mountain, Everest via flight. After the airport's establishment, the local people's economic condition drastically increased. 

Nowadays, numerous travelers prefer to enter Lukla by plane and engage in the activity of the Everest base camp trek with a helicopter return. Through this trip, they save their vacation days and enroll in the Kathmandu day tour activity after completing the trek.

What hasn’t changed over seven decades of trekking and climbing Everest? 

Similar to the 90s, the Everest base camp rewards the astonishing sights of Everest and its sister mountains. The white glaciers that you encounter during the trails have not changed. The Sherpa people and their rich culture have the same rituals, values, and traditions that are still passed from generation to generation.

Sherpa

The Everest base camp trek is incomplete without the Sherpa people. So who exactly the Sherpa are? Answering this question, the Sherpas are the original tribes of Tibet who got the migration to the northeastern Himalayan part of  Nepal, dating back to 1000 years ago. These people are famous around the world for their superior strength, high endurance at high altitudes, and climbing skills. 

Furthermore, as of now the backbone of the Everest trek is these people who work as the porters and guides. By living in the foothills of Mount Everest, the Sherpa people have evolved in high altitude and have high endurance in high altitude. 

According to the previous climbers, they believed that Sherpas’ bodies are suitable for producing energy when there is a scarcity of oxygen.