Eric Shipton's gripping account of the early attempts to climb Mount Everest is a classic of mountaineering literature. His vivid descriptions of hardship and adventure in the world's highest mountains will inspire anyone with a sense of adventure or a love of the great outdoors.
In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest. They climbed from the south, from Nepal, via the Khumbu Glacier ? a route first pioneered in 1951 by a reconnaissance expedition led by Eric Shipton. Everest 1951 is the account of this expedition. It was the first to approach the mountain from the south side, it pioneered a route through the Khumbu icefall and it was the expedition on which Hillary set foot on Everest for the first time. Everest 1951 is a short but vitally important read for anybody with any interest in mountaineering or in Everest. The 1951 Everest Expedition marked the public highpoint of ShiptonOCOs mountaineering fame. Key information was discovered and the foundations laid for future success. Despite this, ShiptonOCOs critics felt he had a ?lack of trustOCO and thus failed to match the urgent mood of the period. Despite having been on more Everest expeditions than any man alive, he was ?easedOCO out of the crucial leadership role in 1953 and so missed the huge public acclaim given to Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and John Hunt after their historic success."