The day was May 28, 1953. one this day, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing were to attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which was then only about 1 200 feet ( 360 m) above them.
They rose about 4 a.m. and had breakfast. Hillary found his boots had frozen solid. He cooked them over the stove until they were soft enough to put on. At 6:30 a.m. they crawled out of their tent and set off for the top.
They soon found the oxygen bottles left by Evans and Bourdillon. Hillary scraped the ice off the gauges and was relieved to find they still contained quite a lot of oxygen-enough, he thought, to get them down to Camp VIII if very sparingly used. They left the bottles there and climbed on. As they went on up they sometimes found the steps cut by Evans and Bourdillon, and were able to use them. Then, at about 9 a.m., they reached the south summit, and paused to gaze at the virgin ridge ahead.
Another 300 feet (90 m). The ridge looked narrow, steep, and difficult. Evans and Bourdillon had warned them it would not be easy. It depended on whether the snow was sufficiently hard.
They rested for ten minutes. Hillary checked their oxygen and made fresh calculations. At three liters a minute they had enough to keep going for four and a half hours. Well, they could only try.
"All right"
"Let's go."
There was no oxygen to spare for unnecessary words.
Hillary's ice-axe bit into the first steep slope of the ridge, and he felt a surge of confidence. The snow was hard and firm. A few more strokes of the axe, and he had cut a good solid step. Best of all, with a firm thrust he could sink his ice-axe to half-way up the shaft making a good anchor.
It would have been too dangerous for them to climb together.
Therefore they took it in turn. While one cut out the steps or climbed, the other anchored his axe and wrapped the rope around it. This way progress was slow and, if not exactly safe, less dangerous than without an anchor. They were slowed down still further by periodical icing up of their oxygen breathing sets.
The weather was perfect. They pushed on for an hour, gradually climbing up the ridge. Then they reached the foot of their last big obstacle before the top-a cliff of rock that they had seen on photographs and studied through binoculars and thought much about. The rock was smooth and almost holdless, and Hillary had to go up backwards while Tenzing paid out the rope from below. The climb, according to Hillary, was forty feet (12 m). Tenzing estimated it at fifteen feet (4.5 m). Certainly it was a tremendous ordeal.
They rested briefly and then went on. It was two hours since they had left the south summit, and still they were not at the top. The ridge curved away to the right, and the summit disappeared. They came round a hump, and there was another one ahead. It seemed the ridge would never end. Then, suddenly, instead of going on up, the ridge dropped away. They were looking down on the mountains of Tibet. Ahead lay one more hump- the last hump - the summit... a bare thirty feet (9 m) away.
They stepped up, on to the summit. Then they did what all climbers do when they reach the top of a mountain - they shook hands.
But both decided that was not enough for Everest, and they thumped each other on the back, thrilled with triumph and delight.
They put up flags. Hillary took photographs. They looked down on the world below them, from its highest point. They also looked for any relics of Mallory and Irvine, but found none. Then it was time to go.
Choose the best answer:
1. Why did Hillary and Tenzing leave the oxygen bottles where they found them?
A. The oxygen bottles did not belong to them.
B. The oxygen bottles were too heavy for them to carry along.
C. The oxygen bottles were for their descent to Camp VIII.
D. The oxygen bottles were meant for Evans and Bourdillon.
2. Why was their progress up the ridge slow?
A. They paused for rest too often.
B. They were poorly equipped for the climb.
C. Each had to cut his own steps up.
D. They had to climb the ridge in turn.
3. What was their last big obstacle before the top?
A. A cliff of rock.
B. The south summit.
C. The last hump before the summit.
D. The first hump before the ridge dropped away.
4. How did they congratulate each other in a fitting manner on reaching the summit of Everest?
A. They shook hands.
B. They thumped each other on the back.
C. They saluted each other.
D. They embraced each other.
Answer these questions:
1. How long did it take Hillary and Tenzing to reach the south summit? What was the distance from there to the top of Everest?
2. On what did the success of their attempt to reach the top of Everest depend? When did Hillary feel confident they would be successful?
3. Why did Hillary and Tenzing speak so curtly to each other?
4. How did Hillary climb the cliff of the rock on the ridge?
5. How did they feel when they reached the summit?