Expedition leader John Hunt's account of the first ascent of Mount Everest's summit in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

"By the author of the bestseller Everest: Mountain Without Mercy, this chronicle of the iconic first American expedition to Mt. Everest in May 1963--published to coincide with the climb's 50th anniversary--combines riveting adventure, a perceptive analysis of its dark and terrifying historical context, and unprecedented revelations about its secret motivation. /b> n the midst of the Cold War, against the backdrop of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the space race with the Soviet Union, and the quagmire of the Vietnam War, a band of iconoclastic, independent-minded American mountaineers set off for Mt. Everest, aiming to restore America's confidence and optimism. Their objective is to reach the summit while conducting scientific research, but which route will they take? And, mysteriously, who wants the results of the scientific tests, and for what purpose? The Vast Unknown is, on one level, a harrowing, character-driven account of the climb itself and its legendary team of alternately inspiring, troubled, and tragic climbers who suffer injuries, a near mutiny, and death on the mountain. It is also an examination of the profound sway the expedition had over the Ame

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A personal record of the author's mountain climbing experiences, including the Everest Expedition of 1953.

Everest: forbidding, exhilarating, unconquerable. All courageous attempts by man to reach its summit by heading up the northern side from Tibet had failed. But in 1953 Edmund Hillary joined an expedition which found a new route up Everest. This is his account of the treacherous journey.

CLICK HERE to download a sample from Everest 1953 In the only book to tell the real story of Everest 1953, Mick Conefrey reveals that what has gone down in history as a supremely well-planned attempt was in fact beset by crises -- both on and off the mountain. To succeed, team leader Colonel John Hunt and his team had to draw on unimaginable skill and determination, as well as sheer British ingenuity. Everest 1953 is not only a gripping true story of courage and adventure, but a fascinating window into the media contest to cover this seminal event in coronation year. The Times had exclusive access to the team, but the Daily Mail and other papers used subterfuge and shenanigans to get their scoops. Revealing the answers to long-enduring controversies -- did Tenzing or Hillary actually reach the top first? -- and exploring the legacy of this great ascent, it is the perfect way to commemorate a year of British sporting triumph.

Details the author and his partner Willi Unsoeld's ascent of Everest's West Ridge in 1963.

In national bestseller The Mountain, world-renowned climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs and cowriter David Roberts paint a vivid portrait of obsession, dedication, and human achievement in a true love letter to the world’s highest peak. In The Mountain, veteran world-class climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs—the only American to have climbed all fourteen of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks—trains his sights on Mount Everest in richly detailed accounts of expeditions that are by turns personal, harrowing, deadly, and inspiring. The highest mountain on earth, Everest remains the ultimate goal for serious high-altitude climbers. Viesturs has gone on eleven expeditions to Everest, spending more than two years of his life on the mountain and reaching the summit seven times. No climber today is better poised to survey Everest’s various ascents—both personal and historic. Viesturs sheds light on the fate of Mallory and Irvine, whose 1924 disappearance just 800 feet from the summit remains one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries, as well as the multiply tragic last days of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer in 1996, the stuff of which Into Thin Air was made. Informed by the experience of one who has truly been there, The Mountain affords a rare glimpse into that place on earth where Heraclitus’s maxim—“Character is destiny”—is proved time and again.

'Everest by fair means - that is the human dimension, and that is what interests me ... In reaching for the oxygen cylinder, a climber degrades Everest ... a climber who doesn't rely on his own strength and skills, but on apparatus and drugs, deceives himself. In May 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler became the first climbers in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the use of supplementary oxygen - an event which made international headlines and permanently altered the future of mountaineering. Here Messner tells how the and Habeler accomplished the impossible - and how it felt. He describes the dangers of the Khumbu Icefield, the daunting Lhotse flank, two lonely storm-filled nights at 26,247 feet, and finally the last step to the summit. Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate is a riveting account of the exhaustion, the exhilaration and the despair of climbing into the death zone. The book also includes a history of the mountain, successful ascents and Messner's reflections on recent tragedies on Mount Everest. Reinhold Messner was the first to climb all fourteen peaks higher than 8,000 metres. The author of more than a dozen books on his adventures, he lives in a castle in northern Italy.

Sixty years after the first ascent of Mount Everest, this unique book of letters from New Zealander George Lowe celebrates, in a very personal way, this most majestic of mountains. In this touching book, unpublished letters from the George Lowe collection are brought together for the first time to describe the day-to-day moments of the historic 1953 Everest expedition. Lowe met Hillary while working in New Zealand's Southern Alps just after the war and struck up a friendship. Little did he know it would be the beginning of a journey to the highest altitudes and latitudes of the planet. In 1953 Lowe was invited to be part of the successful Everest expedition where he was an integral part in the success of the venture. As often as he could, George wrote letters home to his family but the letters were more than just news - George also wrote in case he and his friend Ed Hillary never returned to tell the tale. these rare letters now allow us to travel back in time to join his companions every step of the way: a vivid behind-the-scenes witness of a climb that would make history. In clear and elegant prose, this is a unique testimony of a superlative human achievement. As we celebrate sixty years of endeavour since this first ascent, many nations lift their eyes to the summit, and this book shares in the joy and the challenge of this remarkable mountain.Contains a foreword by Jan Morris, tIMES correspondent on the 1953 Everest expedition, and afterword by Peter Hillary.