Early Expeditions to Mt. Everest

Abstract

Mt. Everest (Fig. 6.1) has an important place in any history of high-altitude physiology and medicine for at least three reasons. First, it is the highest point on the Earth, at 8848 m. Second, it turns out, by a remarkable coincidence, that the summit is very near the limit of human tolerance to hypoxia. Third, consistent with this, the saga of the ten major expeditions to Mt. Everest before the summit was eventually reached constitute some of the greatest adventure stories of the twentieth century.¹ Finally, a case can be made that the first successful ascent only became possible after physiologists in the early 1950s had obtained a better understanding of the enormous challenges posed by the hypoxia of extreme altitudes.