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- Well, we introduce to you
this morning Ed Hillary,

a very interesting personality
in the alpine world.

Good morning, Ed.

- Good morning.

- How many attempts have been
made on Everest altogether?

- Well, there have been
at least ten.

- Why have the others failed?

- Combination of circumstances
that haven't been right.

- Well, do you think
it's possible to climb Everest?

- Yes, I definitely think
it's possible to climb it.

And I'm sure it'll be done
someday.

[wind whistling]

- It's only 60 years ago,

but it was
a completely different world.

And the idea that you would be
the first man to stand

on the highest point on Earth

is a quest, a romantic quest.

[wind whistling]

- There was a real race on

for the world's highest peak,

and it wasn't just Britain.

There were other nations
in the queue.

This really was
Britain's last chance

to grab this great prize.

- Nobody knew if someone
could survive at 29,000 feet.

Like the guys going into space,

you know, you're breaking
frontiers.

- There is a physiologic limit

of what human beings can take.

And I'm sure
they didn't want to die,

but you're taking risks
in which death

is one of the outcomes.

- You were going
into the unknown.

Could it be done?

Back in 1 953, it was a great,
big question mark.

- I think it's all really
a matter of challenge...

not so much challenge only
with the mountain

but challenge with oneself,

seeing if you can force
yourself to overcome your fears

and hopefully,

ultimately,
get to the top.

[dramatic music]

* *

- Members of the British
Everest expedition

have begun assembling
on the subcontinent,

where deputy leader Major Wylie
is looking forward

to the adventure to come.

- We are very pleased
that the first stage

of our journey to Mount Everest
is over.

We're now off
towards the hills.

If we get some fine weather
towards the end of May,

just before the monsoon
arrives,

we should have a chance
of getting to the top.

- The first time I joined up
with the expedition

was at the British embassy
in Kathmandu.

We had 1 3 Western members
of the expedition.

John Hunt,
our senior army officer,

was expedition leader.

I'd really never heard
of John Hunt before,

and the first time I met him

was in Kathmandu.

- I was very keen to have

people I knew already,

and so I had big question marks
about Ed.

And I can only say
that from the moment I met Ed,

I knew that here was somebody

who would be
a dominating influence.

He was a tower of strength.

- Mr. Hillary,
as a matter of interest,

how long have you
been climbing?

- I've been climbing,
I suppose,

for altogether about ten years.

- And how many trips
have you done

out of New Zealand, climbing?

- I have already had a couple
of expeditions to the Himalaya.

- You were quite strictly
brought up, weren't you?

- I was brought up
during the Depression,

and my family was pretty short
on cash during that period.

I was just a rough old
country boy, as it were.

- A beekeeper.

- A beekeeper.

I used to wander
around our farm,

dreaming about great adventures

and climbing mountains
and all that sort of thing.

[bees buzzing]

- But what a contrast between
beekeeping, on the one hand,

and climbing mountains.

- Oh, not really.

In the beekeeping,
I was constantly lugging around

80-pound boxes of honey,

and my brother was also doing
beekeeping, and we competed.

And I think the sense
of competition carried on

to my mountaineering
activities.

[insects buzzing,
birds chirping]

- Well, the party were first

altogether as a team
in Kathmandu.

Before us,

we had 1 7 days of marches
to Tengboche,

which is where we were going
to place our first base camp.

We had to cross a succession

of high ridges
and deep valleys.

We could really get
gradually fit

and, most important, get
to know each other as a team.

- Everything had been calculated
to the last detail. :

7 1 /2 tons of material,

4 43 packages... -

all numbered and the contents
of each listed,

down to the last matchbox
or needle.

- It is a team expedition,

and it's very much in the form
of a pyramid of effort.

1 3 Western members
of the expedition...

30 permanent high-altitude
Sherpas... -

these are men who will be
carrying loads for us

to great altitudes.

Some 600 Nepalese porters
carried loads across country

into our climbing regions.

- Because there'd been no less
than seven British tents

on the mountain,
we felt that, by right,

the mountain should be climbed
by Britain

and, by extension,
the British Commonwealth.

The Swiss so nearly
got to the summit in 1 952.

The Americans
were waiting in the wings.

And so there was huge pressure
on John Hunt

with this colossal expectation
that this quest had to succeed.

- Mr. Hillary,
how many New Zealanders

during this year's expedition?

- Well, only two of us... -

George Lowe and myself.

- George Lowe and my father
were great friends.

They had climbed extensively
in the Southern Alps

in New Zealand.

They were very good climbers
together,

and they had
a tremendous rapport.

- We had 1 8 days of trekking,

and during that period
of getting to know one another,

there was always
a little bit

of a funny edge
towards the New Zealanders.

Both Ed and I had been
to ordinary high schools.

They, of course,
the greater number of them,

had been to public schools.

We did come
from a different background.

There's no doubt.

[water rushing]

- Kathmandu is only about
4,000 feet above sea level.

The foot of Everest
is about 1 8,000.

Our 1 7 days' approach march
was an essential part

of my policy
of acclimatization.

- The whole thing
is a race against time.

There was a constant fear
that the monsoon would come.

So that's why John Hunt

said he wanted to be
in a position

to climb Everest
on May the 1 5th.

The later in May,

the more likely
that the monsoon would arrive.

It's always a race
against time.

- As we got steadily higher,

our excitement increased

the more and more great peaks
were coming into view.

And over it all towered
the summit pyramid of Everest,

only 20 miles away
but still 20,000 feet above us.

- Mr. Hillary, you started
climbing in New Zealand.

- Oh, yes,
I started in New Zealand.

[optimistic music]

* *

- And there's Mount Cook,
the cloud piercer,

reaching majestically skyward

for over 1 2,000 feet.

- A friend and I decided

to have a short trip
to Mount Cook.

The closer we got,
the more impressed I was

with the magnificent mountain.

- Those jagged peaks there
provide the real alpinist

with some of the best climbing
outside Europe.

- That night inside the
hermitage where I was staying,

two young men came in.

I heard the whisper go around,

"They have just climbed
Mount Cook. "

These chaps were really living.

I felt,
"What a hopeless life I lead.

No great adventures,
nothing particularly exciting. "

And that's when I decided

that I was gonna take up
mountaineering.

- Well, after 1 7 days,
our caravans arrived

at the monastery Tengboche
at over 1 2,000 feet.

- Once they got up
to Tengboche Monastery,

it's getting pretty cold.

The low-country porters largely
only had cotton clothes,

so they get paid off,

and they return
to their villages,

and Sherpa porters take over.

The Sherpas who stay
on the expedition

might have previous
experience of climbing,

although not many did.

Tenzing was an exception
to that

in that he did have
quite a lot of experience.

In fact, he really
had more experience

of climbing on Mount Everest
than anyone else.

- Without the Sherpas,
you can't climb Everest.

And my father was the headman.

People respected him.

They knew that he had been

climbing Everest
with foreigners since 1 935.

He had been up six times
already.

- I knew Tenzing by repute.

You know, he'd done a lot
of mountaineering.

And I knew he was
very highly regarded.

But I wasn't able really
to communicate well with him.

His English was very limited,

and my Nepali was very limited.

He had a flashing smile,

absolutely charming smile.

It was impossible
not to like him.

- In the next fortnight,

we had a period of training
and testing ourselves

and our equipment
at altitudes.

- Well, in 1 953,

getting to the summit
of Everest,

in terms of physiologic
capability,

was a big unknown.

It was like sending somebody
into space.

They knew from altitude
experiments in chambers

that altitude
could make you seize.

And one of the ideas

was that people would
hemorrhage in their brains

because their blood vessels
would be so dilated.

There were lots of reasons
to think

that there might be a stroke.

Nobody knew whether or not
it could really be done.

- When Ed was heading up
the mountain in 1 953,

1 3 people had already died
on the mountain,

and I think that for anyone

who would be climbing
at that time,

it would be something
of a daunting statistic.

1 3 deaths and zero summits
at that point.

- Now, about six miles up
from Tengboche,

Iooking north,
is the Khumbu Glacier,

where we were to place
our main base camp

for the attack on the mountain.

This icefall was to be
our next great obstacle,

and I sent a party
to explore it.

Ed Hillary
led this first party.

- The Western Cwm is guarded
by a great icefall...

a tumbled mass of ice
dropping 2,500 feet

to the Khumbu Glacier.

And we first had to discover

whether it was possible
to ascend this icefall.

The icefall
was a constant hazard,

and we had no alternative

but to make a route
through country

which we knew to be
unjustifiable

in the ordinary alpine climb.

- It's like a waterfall
that's come off and has frozen.

[wind whistling]

The weight of the glacier
above them is shoving.

It's all a jumble of ice.

It is the unstable
objective danger

that you have no control over.

Crazy.
My God.

You're dumb to be going up
a route like that.

But you just can't go any other
way but through the icefall.

- In '52, this Swiss winter,
the icefall,

and it's a thing
that's always on the move.

[ice crackling]

And it's a dangerous place
for that reason.

More people are killed
in the icefall

than anywhere else on Everest.

- It's immense.

It's 2,500 feet high.

And we had to go up
the middle of it.

- Ed Hillary, George Lowe,
Mike Westmacott, and myself

were the four of us chosen
to make the first route

through in a week or five days,
if we could.

And then, of course,

to make it safe by a lot
of step cutting,

a lot of fixed ropes
so that, eventually,

it would be possible
for loaded porters

to carry the stores
safely through it.

- The icefall
was a dangerous place

because things did collapse
without warning,

and if you were in the way,
it's a really bad thing.

[ice crashing]

- You had these great towers
of ice

and great lumps and strips
the size of a row of cottages

that could slump down
at any moment.

We gave names
to the more dangerous parts.

There was Mike's Horror,

Hillary's Horror,

an area called
the Nutcracker...

the Atom Bomb area.

- There are certain... -

well, a climb's got
objective dangers,

and, basically,
you can't do much about it.

There's also a risk of falling

into a crevasse.

- We had these light aluminum
ladders about six feet long

which we could bolt together
across the crevasses.

And there were
so many crevasses

that we soon ran out of all
the ladders that we had.

And so we had to send down to
where the nearest trees grew,

which would be
about three days' walk away,

to cut small tree trunks
to make little log bridges.

And you balanced
as well as you could.

For us, it was clearly gonna be

the only way to climb Everest.

- Ed Hillary wanted to please.

He wanted to be
on the summit team.

He would have known
that only a few people

would get a chance
to go for the summit.

So from very early on,
he wanted to impress John Hunt.

And he felt there was
time pressure on him

to recce the icefall
to get it prepared.

- My father was never afraid
of hard work,

but part of that was to cover,
I think,

what Dad felt
were a lot of psychological

or emotional inadequacies.

He had been raised
with high expectations,

and they had sent him off
to Auckland Grammar School

two years too young.

- I was only 1 1 years old.

I was rather terrified, really.

When lunchtime came, I'd go out
the back of the school,

and there were a whole lot
of ants living there.

When I first went
to Auckland Grammar,

the only friends I really had
were the ants.

I was a dreamer

until I started climbing.

- The icefall
was really chaotic...

and yet they forced a way,

and Ed's job of route finding
was a particularly good show.

- The New Zealanders
had a lot more

snow and ice climbing
experience

than the average
European climber

because their mountains
are very like

the Himalayas in miniature.

[optimistic music]

* *

- The Southern Alps,

the great mountain tangle

which sprawls northwards
in an almost unbroken chain

of rock and ice.

- Well, Ed,

how do the Southern Alps
compare with the Swiss Alps?

That's where the English
climbers get their training.

- Here in New Zealand
with our terrific glaciation,

and greater amount
of our climbing

is done on the snow and ice.

In many ways, it's very similar
to the Himalaya.

They're rather different
from the Swiss Alps,

where the dominant feature
for climbing is rock.

- Mount Aspiring,
New Zealand's Matterhorn,

a shark's tooth of a mountain

whose dangerous slopes demand
skill and careful climbing.

- Our New Zealand mountains
are really

a wonderful training ground
for the Himalaya.

- Kiwis have
that tough resilience,

so I think the younger
British climbers

were somewhat in awe
of these formidable Kiwis

brought in
to reinforce the team.

- Now, the next big doubt

was regarding
the lip of the cwm itself

at the very top
of the icefall.

You see, there was an enormous,
gaping crevasse.

Could we get into the cwm?

- The decision on who would be
going all the way to the top

was very much
the leader's prerogative.

[ladders clattering]

John Hunt would evaluate
the team

throughout the course
of the expedition.

So there was a fair amount
of sort of posturing

and positioning going on
as people

tried to put themselves
in the best light

for that sort of opportunity.

- I think, amongst the British,

there wasn't any particular
jockeying for position.

But I think our two
New Zealanders,

Hillary and Lowe,

were perhaps rather
more straightforward

in wanting to get as high
as possible.

They were the sort of
colonialists, :

they would make good,

and we were perhaps
a little bit more inhibited,

the public-school type
that wouldn't

push our way forward
unless Hunt had said,

"Look, you're the chap
to do it. "

- I'd always hoped

that George Lowe and I
would be the final summit pair.

But there was no time
that John Hunt, our leader,

wanted to have
two New Zealanders

stand on top of Mount Everest.

So I had to look around
and find someone

who was as fit as I was
and who could do a good job.

Tenzing was that person.

- Nobody alive had
more experience of Everest.

He really understood
the value of this

and how it could change
his life.

Tenzing had been
very, very poor.

He had struggled.

He wanted his children
to go to good schools.

He wanted more for them
than he'd had.

Tenzing understood
what climbing Everest meant.

- My father was a bit
of an anomaly

as far as a Sherpa goes,

because he's always wanted
to climb Everest.

That's very unusual
for a poor kid from Tibet.

So unlike many other Sherpas

who actually climb
just to make a living,

he was a mountaineer at heart.

His drive was to go to the top
just like Ed Hillary.

[wind whistling]

- As we walked on into the cwm,

the crevasses grew fewer,

and we realized that
the cwm itself was open to us.

We are now established
at Base Camp,

and the first problem

is to get our supplies up
to Camp Four,

high up
in the Western Cwm.

Owing to the climbing
difficulties in the icefall,

laden porters require
three days to reach Camp Four.

- There was this idea
in those days

of laying siege to a mountain,

and this meant you would do it
in a very systematic way.

You would set up a camp,

and you would set up
another camp

and get higher and higher.

- You build up this pyramid
of camps to get enough

tents, food, cooking fuel,
oxygen,

to get enough of those supplies
where you can rest

before going up
to the next stage.

And to do that,

people have got to get up
and down the mountain,

and, ideally,
people go up to a camp

and then go back down again.

Because if everyone goes up
to a camp and then stays there,

they then consume all the food
they've carried up.

People try to come up
with solutions

which would help the team
to get to the top,

people from around the world

sending in madcap suggestions
on inventions.

Somebody had
an ingenious device

which is a type of harpoon

with an incendiary device
on the end of it.

The idea was it would burn
its way into the ice

and give a secure holding

so people could
haul themselves up.

Most of them were
completely crazy ideas.

- My method involves the use

of a hand cable laid
in advance by aircraft.

- With my Relay Warmth
personal heating apparatus,

air could be passed
through a heating chamber

and pumped via rubber tube
to the hands, feet, and head.

- May I mention a wonder gun...

[gunshot]

For driving steel bolts
into concrete.

- I suggest
that a woolen suit be wired

in much the same way
as an electric blanket.

- It should be possible
to ascend the mountain

using a large
helium-filled balloon.

A significant amount of helium
would be required.

- Nearly all of
the technological innovations

that were used
on the 1 953 expedition

arose from things developed
by the military

during the Second World War.

They tested
the windproof equipment

they were going to be wearing

in the wind tunnel at
Farnborough aircraft factory.

30 different firms,
UK firms,

were involved in designing
the boots alone.

The ascent of Everest in '53

had become a question
of national pride.

When World War II ended,

Britain was completely
bankrupt.

And because of the austerity,

the post-war austerity
in Britain,

the really awful days
that had passed...

it was the last
great colonial project,

the last hurrah
of the British Empire.

- My father and Tenzing
kept volunteering

to help in different
situations

to demonstrate their competency

as being one
of the summit teams.

Dad could see that there were
a whole lot of reasons

why this could be a great
combination for success.

They were very at home
in this alpine environment.

They were hungry.

They wanted the top.

- There was a point where they
were partnered together,

and they were racing down
the Khumbu icefall

trying to prove that
they could do it quickly.

But it's a product
of his overexuberance, really.

He's racing through it,
and something goes wrong.

- Tenzing and I headed back down
to Base Camp.

When we were about halfway down
the icefall,

we came to one
of the crevasses.

On one side of it,

there was a great chunk of ice,

and we had used this
as a stepping-stone

to reach the other side.

[ice crashing]

- It was slightly ironic
that it was Ed Hillary,

who was such a good climber,

that it should happen to him.

- People have often said to me,

"You must have been
very thankful,

Tenzing having saved your life
like that. "

But I don't think I was.

You know, I would have been
very annoyed

if he hadn't saved my life.

- Camp Four has now been
established,

and we have successfully
carried

the three tons of supplies
up here.

- You don't conquer a mountain.

If you're lucky enough,

the mountain gives you a chance
to stand on the top.

You're trying to overcome
your own weaknesses.

- Ed Hillary,
he was so kind of gung ho,

and he always wanted to be
out front.

He always wanted to be
in the lead.

He wasn't brash.

He was a quieter, sort of
more reserved character.

- Dad was quite
a complicated person.

I think my father had
quite a few demons...

born out of being
a perfectionist

but also the sense
of inferiority... -

nothing's ever
quite good enough.

I think it came
out of a very complicated

family background.

- My father really wasn't
very interested

in adventurous activities.

He was a man
of very strong beliefs.

The climbing of mountains... -

he probably regarded it
as a bit of a waste of time.

I fought with my father.

And I would usually end up

being taken out
to the woodshed

and being given
a good thumping.

I'm rather proud of the fact

that I never actually admitted
I was wrong...

even if I had been.

[typewriter keys clacking]

[typewriter dings]

Well, of course,

it was a tremendous interest
to all of us

who would be chosen
for the final push.

[typewriter dings]

- In those days, the leader's
word was absolute...

[typewriter dings]

Particularly for men who had
all been in the armed forces.

Hunt had to make the decision.

He would say who were gonna be
the lucky ones

who were gonna have a crack
at the summit.

- It was at our base camp,

and John Hunt
called everybody around

and outlined his plans
for the rest of the expedition.

[wind whistling]

The crucial thing, of course,

was the attempts
for the summit.

- At that meeting,
that extraordinary meeting

with this team totally isolated
from the rest of the world,

thousands of miles from home...

those men each thinking,
"Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful

if I was one
of the lucky ones?"

- You're all chosen as basic
climbers to go to the top,

but there are all these other
jobs to be done as well.

- My father was absolutely
determined that he was going

to have an opportunity
to climb this mountain.

- One of the conditions
for my father to go

with the English team
was that he'd have a chance

to go to the top.

There was no other climber
quite as accomplished.

- All of us would have liked
to have a crack at the top,

but the first attempt
on the summit was to be made

by Tom Bourdillon
with Charles Evans.

And if needed,
the second attempt,

he said it's going to be made

by Ed Hillary and Tenzing.

- I am sure my father
would have loved

to have been in the first team.

Tenzing was probably
quite conflicted by it.

- The next stage
and the really crucial one

is up the Lhotse Face
to the South Col.

- John Hunt said, "Okay,

"Tom Bourdillon
with Charles Evans.

"We'll send the two of them up
first.

"They can do a huge leap
from the South Col

right to the summit in a day. "

- The first major task in
this plan fell to George Lowe.

He was to make a route up
the Lhotse Face

and prepare the way

for the high-carrying parties
to reach the Col.

This was to be finished
by the 1 5th of May.

- Basically what he said was,

"We want to be in a position
to climb Everest

on May the 1 5th, "

because there was
a constant fear

in the back of Hunt's mind

that the monsoon would come
and end all our hopes.

But they had to get up this
thing called the Lhotse Face.

- This is a vast 4,000-foot
snow and ice face

leading up steeply to
the South Col at 26,000 feet.

George Lowe,
my fellow New Zealander,

spent much time and energy

battling a route up
this difficult part.

- The work on the Face
was very difficult

and made more difficult
in the trenches by the weather

and daily falls of snow
which covered the tracks.

I shared my high perch
for a long time with Ang Nyima,

a splendid little Sherpa.

- George Lowe worked on
the Lhotse Face without oxygen

for over a week
up to about 2 4,500 feet.

- Cold was terrific,
and the wind was bad,

and all the time,

I was hoping to get
the traverse complete

and the route right through
to the South Col.

But I was thrashed
by the weather,

and the altitude
was affecting me.

We didn't seem to be able
to make

the last 1,000 feet
to the Col.

- John Hunt's big mistake

was that he underestimated
the Lhotse Face.

It's just so big.

He didn't give enough support
to George Lowe.

- It really was myself
and Ang Nyima

whenever they did send up
support.

Within 2 4 hours, they were not
able to carry on.

- Being at high altitude,

you never feel very well.

Each breath of air we take in
at high altitude

has fewer oxygen molecules,

so we need more breaths

in order to get the same amount
of oxygen.

- Put a pillow over your mouth
and try and breathe through it

as you're running.

You're just sucking air.

You're trying to get
enough air,

and the oxygen debt builds up
until you just can't go on.

You have to stop.

[heavy breathing]

Take three, four breaths
to a step.

Five breaths to a step.

Six breaths to a step.

1 5 breaths to a step.

You're just not getting
the air.

- Up there, your mind somehow
gradually accepts slowness.

I thought I was going
extremely well.

But, in fact,
we were staggering about

like men in a dream.

- We had spent ten days
on the Lhotse Face,

considerably more
than I'd reckoned on,

but we had still not broken
through to the South Col.

The time factor
was becoming critical.

- Watching the progress
on the Lhotse Face,

there was no doubt
that the momentum

of the attack
seemed to be winding down.

And the first inklings
of the monsoon

were building up
in the Bay of Bengal.

- It was a very,
very critical time.

You could imagine Hunt

feeling that this whole great
enterprise was just unraveling,

and, "If we don't get a grip
on this thing soon,

"we're gonna lose our chance.

"The monsoon will arrive,

"and we won't even have reached
the South Col,

let alone the summit. "

[radio beeping]

- This is London calling

the British Mount Everest
expedition.

Here is the latest
weather bulletin.

Western disturbance
apparently moving eastwards

across the extreme north
of Nepal

is likely to cause cloudy
to overcast skies.

- The later in May it was,

the more likely that
the monsoon would arrive.

When the monsoon comes,

you get huge dumps of snow,

and they make climbing
much more difficult.

You don't want to be climbing

through large amounts
of soft snow,

wading your way through it.

The British expeditions
of the 1 930s had all failed

because the monsoon
had come early.

And so all of this
was piling on the pressure,

you know.

- So even though the route

hadn't actually been made
all the way to the South Col,

John Hunt had to make
a sort of crucial decision

to start sending up
the team of 1 4 Sherpas

to carry all the stores
we needed.

- Nothing must endanger
the getting of our stores

to the Col in time for

our attempts on the summit.

- On the 2 1st of May,

Tenzing and myself led a band

of 1 4 high-altitude Sherpas
up the Lhotse Face.

- 1 3 Sherpas struggled up
the Col

that day without oxygen.

The 1 4th only just failed
to make it,

and his load was carried on.

We were proud of them
and grateful.

It was a 1 0 1 /2 hour day,

they'd carried 30 pounds each,

and their only nourishment

was a single cup of tea apiece
for breakfast.

- And so we were able
to equip the camp properly

with tents, sleeping bags,
oxygen equipment, and food,

and that was one
of the biggest achievements.

- The South Col is probably the
most barren spot in the world.

A continual strong wind
is always blowing

over the dreary waste
of rock and ice.

Adding an air of desolation

are the remnants
of the Swiss tents

from the previous year

with pieces of tattered cloth
still clinging to them.

- 1 952, the Swiss had invited
my father to climb Everest,

and he had been up

where no human had been before.

But bad weather
turned them back.

- I remember Andre Roch

of the Swiss party said
on the Col,

there's a smell of death.

We thought that was
continental dramatics.

But when we'd been there,
we understood.

- I'm telling you, the cold,

you can feel it coming up
the extremities.

You know you're gonna freeze
your hands and toes,

and you just feel the cold
creeping up.

It's a race between the body
and what you hope you can do.

You know that you're dying
a little bit up there.

[wind howling]

- A major step
had been achieved,

and we then returned once more
to the Western Cwm.

Without wasting any time,

we brought into action
our assault plan.

- Hunt wanted to have
two attempts on the summit,

but he realized that he
couldn't have two attempts

which were using
open-circuit oxygen sets.

- In the open-circuit,
when you breathe out,

the expired air
goes to the atmosphere,

and when you breathe in,
the atmospheric air comes

with an addition of a puff
of oxygen from your oxygen set.

- The thing about
open-circuit oxygen sets

is that they use
a lot of oxygen.

So he would have to get
an awful lot of oxygen

up on the South Col

and to the Southeast Ridge,
so he sort of thought,

"Well, no, we're not gonna
be able to do this. "

But there was an alternative
form of oxygen set

which was called
a closed-circuit.

- The closed-circuit,
when you breathe out,

the carbon dioxide goes through

a canister of something
called soda lime,

which extracts
the carbon dioxide

and gives you back the oxygen
into the set,

and you're completely insulated
from the outside air.

Now, if it works,

the closed system
can be more efficient

than the open-circuit system.

- The people who are using
the closed-circuit set

can start from lower down.

But the thing about
the closed-circuit sets

was that the only person
who really knew how to use them

was the person
who had designed them,

Tom Bourdillon.

- And the first attempt
on the summit

using the closed-circuit oxygen
was to be made

by Tom Bourdillon
with Charles Evans.

John Hunt went ahead
to the South Col in support.

- Evans and Bourdillon
left Advanced Base

down on the Western Cwm

and climbed up
to the South Col to camp.

- Tom and Charles
were to go all the way

from the South Col to the top.

I thought at the time
they had a chance,

but it was a hell
of a long way.

- If Bourdillon and Evans
reach the summit,

John Hunt might go,
"Job done.

We're all going home.
Everyone's safe. "

[wind howling]

But the weather closed in,

and everyone got stuck
for two days,

including Bourdillon and Evans
on the South Col.

My father and Tenzing

left Advanced Base
down on the Western Cwm

to come up to the South Col
to be the second summit team.

- When we left Base Camp
in the Western Cwm,

was our support party,
George Lowe,

Alf Gregory,
and several Sherpas.

And then Tenzing and myself,

who were the actual assault
party with the open-circuit.

- As my father and Tenzing
were departing from Camp Four,

Bourdillon and Evans
were making their summit bid.

- We went up the Lhotse Face

and across the long traverse
that leads up to the South Col.

And we're just about up
to the South Col

when we notice
the support party.

George started shouting
and jumping around.

And we looked up,

and we saw Evans
and Bourdillon going up

the tiny, little peak
far above us

onto the top
of the south summit.

- I think it was
somewhere around

about 1 2.:00 in the morning,

and we thought,
"Oh, the south summit, 1 2.:00.

"They have time to get
to the top.

They're going to climb it. "

- You know, when Bourdillon
and Evans went out of sight,

there would have been
very high emotions

because these guys wanted
to be up there.

- We crossed over

and reached the South Col.

A little later in the day,
we kept an eye out.

The clouds had come
over the mountain,

and we were a bit worried
about Evans and Bourdillon.

But I think it was about 3.:30,
George, once again,

caught sight of them
coming down the cwm

from the southeast ridge

down towards the South Col.

[wind whistling]

- And it was a long time

before they actually started
to come down.

And when they were coming down,

they were clearly
very, very tired.

- When Bourdillon and Evans
came down,

Dad walked out to meet them.

People tend to see it in terms

of this really good guy
going out to meet them

and help them back,

and there was that, absolutely.

But there was another part,

which was inside where he
wanted to climb this mountain.

He needed to know,
where did they get to?

- And they told us that they'd

reached the south summit
all right,

had a look at the summit ridge,

but hadn't had sufficient time
or oxygen

or energy to go any further.

- They were in a terrible state
most of the day.

Charles Evans had been climbing

with an oxygen set
which didn't work properly,

so he'd been inhaling
carbon dioxide

as well as oxygen.

But I think also Tom Bourdillon

was very emotionally
in a bad state

because it really meant a lot
to him, you know.

He had designed
this oxygen set,

which had failed.

So they were in a bad way
physically

and emotionally
as well.

- Tom Bourdillon kept saying,
"We should have had a go.

We should have gone on, "
you know?

"We should have gone on. "

- Evans and Bourdillon
were very strong,

very experienced climbers.

Having climbed higher

than any human beings
had ever been before,

having got to the south summit

and looked across
at this final

almost knife-edged ridge,

Charles Evans did say
to Ed Hillary something like,

"That last ridge
looks really hard.

I don't know if you can do it. "

[wind whistling]

[wind whooshing]

- Above 26,000 feet is what
we call the "death zone, "

because you are slowly dying.

It's not a place for humans.

- John Hunt was a leader leading
from the front,

and as the front now was up
above the South Col,

that's why he wanted to stay,

and we realized that he really
wasn't strong enough to stay.

- It was a classic case

of someone having been too high
too long.

- He'd gone beyond the limit

like Tom Bourdillon
and Charles Evans,

and he was eventually persuaded
to go down

with them.

They were exhausted,
and we were worried about them,

and we dug out some oxygen
to help them.

- Well, I hated to leave
the Col,

but after a certain amount
of discussion, I saw

that I could not weaken
the second party,

so I left Ed with the parting
instruction not to give in.

- This was a great moment
in the expedition,

in which the leader sacrificed
his own personal ambition.

And Ed Hillary says,

"Never at any moment have I
respected John Hunt more. "

- You know,
it was touch and go,

because the monsoon comes
in the first week of June,

and it was tight
on the last days of May.

[wind howling]

- For Hillary and Tenzing to
make an attempt on the summit,

they couldn't go
from the South Col

because they would have
to carry too much oxygen,

so the only way was to start
from higher up,

then go for the summit.

[wind whistling]

- The following day
is extremely windy and cold,

and no movement upwards
is possible.

We spent the night
preparing the oxygen and gear

with the hope
that the following day

would prove clear and fine.

- They would use oxygen at night

flowing at a very low rate

because it would
help them sleep

and make them feel
slightly warmer as well.

- N ighttime, it's a tough time.

You lay there listening
to the mountain...

listening to the wind,
listening to the avalanche,

thinking, "Oh, my God, "
you know.

Demons come.

- The original plan was
that Gregory and three Sherpas

were to carry the high camp.

One Sherpa had collapsed
on the Col

and gone down previously,

leaving us two Sherpas.

On the morning of the day
we intended to do the carry,

we poked our head
into the pyramid tent

and found Sherpa Pemba
in a very bad condition.

It was obvious
that he wouldn't carry,

and so we had the job
of sharing the load.

- First of all,
early in the day, we knew

that we'd have to reorganize
the loads and take more.

George Lowe and I
and Ang Nyima

left about a quarter to 9.:00.

- Ed and Tenzing left the
South Col an hour behind us

to conserve their energy

and to go faster
through our steps

and so conserve their oxygen.

And we took off carrying
between 50 and 60 pounds,

and Ed, I think,
we estimated his at 63 pounds,

which is quite an enormous load
for that altitude.

The wind was very strong
on the Col.

[wind whistling]

We had very difficult
conditions.

We moved up this ridge,
looking for a flat spot.

- For a long time,

we couldn't find a campsite,

until at last,
Tenzing found one,

a nearly flat spot
underneath a rocky bluff.

- They helped us to the highest
camp ever put up on Everest

or any other mountain

at 2 7,900 feet.

- No one had ever camped
this high before.

George Lowe and Alf Gregory
take a few pictures

and then shake hands and say,
"Well, bye now.

"Good luck.

We better be off down. "

And then there's
a wonderfully poignant moment.

- Ang Nyima is very tired.

He should go down, but he said
to Dad that he wanted to stay

so he could make some tea

when they came down
and helped them.

I know Dad was very touched
by that.

But eventually they start
back down again.

- Leaving Hillary and Tenzing
completely alone.

- It was with certain feelings
of sorrow

that we saw George and Greg
and Sherpa Ang Nyima

descending down the mountain,

leaving us up there all alone.

We'd have much preferred
to have a bit of company

for the night.

However, they had to get down.

Their oxygen was running short.

- You're totally on your own,
really out on a limb.

There's no radio contact
with anyone.

You could disappear
and everyone will just wonder,

"Whatever happened to them?"

I think it would have been
very exciting,

very lonely,
and very scary.

[wind howling]

- Took us two hours of
solid work to set up the tent

and two strips of ground
a yard wide and ten feet long.

- Towards the top of Everest,

you get these very,
very powerful winds,

and they were very precariously
attached to this slope,

and all the time,

they're worried they can be
blown off the mountain.

- When the wind gets up
in the evening,

you're in quite
a dangerous position

because you're pinned
to the mountain.

The noise
is really frightening.

[wind howling]

- That night was the coldest
ever recorded

on the expedition.

- It's such a dehydrating
environment,

and there's only one way
to make water,

and that is, you have to melt
snow or ice.

You're breathing eight times
more than you are at sea level.

You can lose more than a liter
a day

just from the heavy breathing
at high altitude.

In addition, the air is so dry

that it sucks the moisture
right from your skin.

- I made myself as comfortable
as possible,

half sitting and half reclining
on the upper shelf.

Wasn't comfortable,

but I could at least brace
my feet and shoulders

to help our meager anchors
hold the tent

in the gusts of wind.

- High-altitude climbing
is all about being comfortable

in uncomfortable places.

He was very good at basic
day-to-day survival,

as was Tenzing.

And I think that's
where they really scored.

- Early in the night,
the wind dropped.

We had some oxygen,

which we used
for sleeping purposes

for about 4 hours out of
the 1 6 hours we spent there.

For the four hours,
at least, we did doze.

But as soon as the oxygen
cut out,

we would immediately wake up
and start feeling cold.

- He's all the time thinking,

"I don't want to use
tomorrow's oxygen. "

Little things go wrong.

They've lugged up an enormous
black oxygen cylinder,

which they planned to use
for sleeping oxygen,

but, unfortunately,
having lugged this bottle up,

they discover that something
has gone bad

with the adaptor for it,

so the bottle is useless.

- Well, I didn't have
the complete conviction

that we were going
to be successful.

I was very aware of the fact

that very good expeditions
had attempted the mountain

and they got very high
but had not succeeded.

- At 6.:30 a.m.,
we started off from our tent.

We wasted no time in preparing

the oxygen apparatus
and equipment.

- It's all about oxygen
at this point.

Hillary is constantly thinking
about this.

"How much oxygen do I need?

"What should the flow rate
of the oxygen be?

"You know, if I have it flowing
at a higher rate,

"then I feel better,

but I use up the bottle
more quickly. "

- It's very, very cold.

They measure it
at below minus 25.

And that kind of profound
bone-chilling cold

is almost like an assault.

You know, it's just grim.

- The team physiologist
had said,

"When you get to high altitude,

"you've got to climb
using your oxygen sets

"at a rate of four liters
per minute.

"Anything less than that,

you're not gonna
get real benefit from it. "

- Our progress at first
was pretty steady.

However, on examining
the oxygen supplies

and found we couldn't go on our
estimated four liters a minute

and have a chance of getting
to the top,

had to cut it down to three.

- A fairly simple calculation
about the oxygen flow rate

is unbelievably difficult
up there

because you've got an addled,
oxygen-deprived mind.

- After going for some time,

we reached the bottom
of a 400-foot slope,

which led up the south summit,

and this slope
was a tremendously steep one.

We felt that this slope
could easily avalanche.

- There was a bit of a crust,

and so you'd think you were
standing on firm ground,

and then it would give way,

and it would be powdery
underneath.

So Hillary is anxious
about that

and also the fear of avalanche.

And they have this exchange.

- I remember turning to Tenzing
and saying to him,

"What do you think about it,
Tenzing?"

And he said he didn't like it
at all,

thought it was
decidedly dangerous.

[ice crackling]

And then I said,
"Well, what do you think?

Do you think we should go on?"

He said, "Just as you like. "

We climbed up it with a good
deal of fear and trepidation.

I think this is the first time

I've ever had to make
a decision

as to whether something
was justifiable or not.

Decided it wasn't justifiable,
but we still went on.

- You're right on the edge
of what's possible,

and every step you take is
putting you more into danger,

so the temptation to turn
around and go down is strong.

- I am frightened
a great deal of the time

when I'm in dangerous country,

but I think being afraid is one
of the important factors.

It's a stimulating factor.

Of course, if you just
get petrified with fear,

then it would be hopeless.

- The crux of it
is whether or not

you're gonna survive, you know.

None of that is guaranteed.

If anything goes wrong
up there,

even a relatively minor
accident

can very rapidly slide
into a fatal one.

- It was a great relief

when we reached
the south summit at 9.:00 a.m.

Oxygen was running short,

so we wasted no time
and set off along the ridge.

But we were moving slowly,
and time was against us.

- Evans and Bourdillon
had gone to the south summit

and had had reservations
about the route ahead.

Evans had pointed out

that there was a very difficult
knife-edged ridge.

It's serrated.

It's got these just horrifying
drops on both sides.

They must have had concerns

about whether or not
they could climb it.

- On the left,
you've got the immense

southwest face of Everest.

And if you fell down that,

you'd probably fall
all the way back down

to the Western Cwm
8,000 feet below.

And then to your right

is the even bigger precipice
of the Kangshung Face,

and that really concentrates
the mind.

- For the mountaineer,

the thought
of the process of dying

is more unpleasant
than the actual fact

that you may be dead
at the end of it.

- In the meantime, watching
from below, down at Camp Four,

we were all waiting
most anxiously.

- Obviously, we'd hoped to have
our little walkie-talkies going

right up to
at least the South Col,

but the one that was taken
to the South Col didn't work,

so, in fact, we realized
we wouldn't actually know

whether Hillary and Tenzing
had been successful

until they actually came down
and told us.

- No one had any idea
where they were,

how they were going,
would they be successful,

or, indeed,
would they come back.

[wind whistling]

- Our oxygen equipment was not
all that sophisticated.

It only had a pressure gauge
on it,

so I never really knew just
how much oxygen still remained.

My brain was working
fairly energetically

working out just how much time
we had left.

- One of the problems
with extreme-altitude climbing

is failure of oxygen systems.

And people die
on a regular basis

when their oxygen pack's up.

- And then there's a bit
of a problem,

and Tenzing
is really struggling,

where before, he was following
Hillary quite nicely.

- I suddenly noticed

that Tenzing seemed to be
in some distress.

When I looked at him closely,

I saw that he was breathing
very quickly, indeed.

I immediately examined
his oxygen set

and found that the outlet
from his oxygen mask

was almost completely
blocked up with ice.

Fortunately, I was able
to release this ice.

- Because you are
suddenly hypoxic

and you're not
thinking straight,

you may not immediately think,

"Oh, this is because my oxygen
equipment isn't working right. "

You just think, "Oh, my God.

I'm incredibly tired
all of a sudden. "

- You have this strange,

slightly surreal blur
of images,

thoughts, and ideas
going through your head.

[insects buzzing]

So you have to watch yourself

and watch each other
very closely.

[wind whistling]

- After about an hour,

we had made quite a distance
along the ridge,

and then we came
to a rock bluff

which barred the way
along the ridge.

And I really thought

that perhaps this was as far
as we were going.

I took photographs

because the actual rock itself
was very steep,

and we knew that it could
stop us.

[camera shutter clicks]

- Was that step even climbable?

And was it climbable
at 29,000 feet?

No one had ever gone there
before.

- It's a hell of a step.

You look at that,
and you think,

"Oh, my God,
what a decision. "

But Sir Ed took the gamble
and said,

"What the hell?

I'm gonna go for it. "

- The only way to climb it
seemed to me

a crack where the ice
was sticking to the rock.

And I wasn't at all sure that
the ice would remain in place

when I was wriggling my way up.

I was scared stiff.

- He just set forth up
this nearly vertical step

and wedged himself
in this chimney,

more or less, with his feet,
his cramponed feet,

pressing against the rocks
on the left

and his back pushing out
against the snow on the right

and just hoping that the snow
wouldn't give way

and catapult him 1 1,000 feet

down the Kangshung Face,

because it's doubtful

whether Norgay
could have held him

on the rope if he'd come off.

- Little slabs are breaking off,

and Dad was not really enjoying
the conditions.

You know, if he was back
in the Southern Alps,

he'd probably turn around
and try it another day,

and then that little
internal voice going,

"Ed, my boy, this is Everest.

You've got to go
the extra distance. "

- By jamming back on the ice
with my crampons,

or ice spikes on my boots,

and scrambling on the rock
in front,

I was able to wriggle and push
my way up the crack

and onto the top.

After recovering my breath,
took the rope in,

and with many a heave,

old Tenzing wriggling
and scrambling the same,

got him onto the top
of the rock too.

- There are times in life,
you know,

when you have to be bold
and decisive.

So much hung
on Hillary's ability

to pull out all the stops,

and he was able to give it
that little extra.

- When Hunt had to go down
from the South Col,

he turned to Ed and he said,

"Look, you know,
this is my last chance.

You're carrying a lot of
people's hopes on your back. "

- What would we do
if they failed?

'Cause that was a feeling

particularly
in John Hunt's mind.

I don't think anybody dared
express an opinion.

- We continued on,

and we were getting distinctly
tired and rather desperate,

for the summit seemed to be
continually eluding us.

- Beyond the Hillary Step,
it's still a fair distance,

horizontally, to the summit.

And you're going over three
or four broad hammocks.

And as you get to the crest
at one of these hammocks,

there's another one beyond.

And you think, "Is this ridge
ever going to end?"

- There's just certain

human beings able to put
one foot in front of the other,

you know, relentlessly,

psychologically able to do it,

whereas other people
would fail.

- We cut steps along the top,

round bump after bump,

keeping looking for the top.

And finally, we actually reach
the summit itself.

[triumphant music]

PRILAGODIO: mmmnnn

I looked at Tenzing,

and even underneath
his oxygen mask and balaclava,

I could see his infectious grin
of sheer pleasure.

We shook hands.

For Tenzing,
this was not enough.

And we thumped each other
on the back

until we had no breath left.

I glanced at my watch.

It was 1 1.:30.

On top, we only spent
a quarter of an hour.

We were conscious all the time

that our oxygen
was running short

and that we had no time
to waste

and that we must get down
again.

I took my oxygen off
in order to take photographs.

- Tenzing dug a little hole
in the snow,

and in that,
he put a gift to the gods.

- I had a good look around
at the view,

and also, I took photographs

down all the main ridges
of the mountain

just to have some proof
that we'd been on top...

[camera shutter clicks]

[camera shutter clicks]

And photographed Tenzing
waving his ice ax

with four flags
tied to it.

[camera clicks]

- It was a tremendous moment
for both of us.

[camera shutter clicks]

[triumphant music]

* *

[relaxed rock music]

* *

- * Mm *

* Only to be *

* I live in expectancy *

* No wonder it feels *

* Like this wasn't meant
for me *

* But, girl,
my mind is so confined *

* That there ain't no point
in reasoning *

* Now that it's clear to see *

* It was all in front of me *

* And I'm right
where I'm supposed to be *

* Yeah, yeah *

* I'll live just turning pages *

* Mm *

* Yeah *

* Well, I know
that it's worth the ride *

* Ain't it good to be alive? *

* *

* Mm *

* So what will it be? *

* My dreams are my company *

* To lose what is me *

* Or follow the path I see *

* Boy, my mind is so confined *

* That I don't even know
where to begin *

* But it took me so long
to find *

* That I can leave it all
behind *

* 'Cause I've got everything
I'd ever need *

* Yeah, yeah *

* I'll live just turning pages *

* Mm *

* Yeah *

* Well, I know
that it's worth the ride *

* Ain't it good to be alive? *

* *

* 'Cause only to be *

* Was all that you got from me *

* You told me it's real *

* And nothing comes easily *

* 'Cause that was the truth *

* I was losing all my youth *

* To a world that's meant *

* For someone else *

* Yeah *

* I'll live just turning pages *

* Mm *

* Yeah *

* Well, I know
that it's worth the ride *

* Whoa, whoa, whoa *

* Yeah, yeah *

* I'll live just turning pages *

* Yeah, yeah *

* Yeah *

* But I know
it was worth the ride *

* Ain't it good to be alive? *

* Alive *

* Ain't it good to be alive? *

* Alive *

PRILAGODIO: mmmnnn

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