Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I'm Mike Procter. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
"I am on top of the world!". And so she was! Rebecca Stephens had just climbed to the top of the world's highest mountain. She was nearly nine thousand metres above sea level. She was the first British woman to get to the top of Mount Everest. The year was nineteen-ninety-three [1993], but the story of people climbing Mount Everest began a long time before that. In this programme we tell some of that story.
Voice 2
The surface of the planet on which we live is not in a single piece. It is divided into several large sections of rock called tectonic plates. The plates move slowly over the surface of the earth. As they move against or next to each other, earthquakes happen, volcanoes explode. As the plates crash into each other, mountains are formed. Scientists believe that the Himalaya Mountains were formed in this way about 50 million years ago. They say the plate that carries India crashed into the plate that carries Europe and Asia. This pushed up the land and formed the Himalayas. The highest mountain of these is Mount Everest, which is now 8850 metres high. But, along with the rest of the Himalayas, it is slowly getting higher, as India continues to move northwards.
Voice 1
Everest sits on the border between Nepal and Tibet (now part of China). The Nepalese people call Everest 'Mount Sagarmatha' - which means Goddess of the Sky. The Tibetans call it Mount Chomolungma - which means Mother Goddess of the Universe. At first, the British called it Peak 15. But in 1865 the mountain got its most famous name. Sir George Everest was a British official in India. He was one of the officials who had been responsible for measuring the mountains. Although he objected, the Royal Geographical Society in London named the world's highest mountain after him.
Voice 2
In 1921 a team from Britain went to Everest. They wanted to discover if it was possible to climb to the top of the mountain. The team included a teacher named George Mallory. He was an intelligent man, and spent his free time climbing mountains all over the world. In time, he decided that he must climb the highest mountain of all. Asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he said: "Because it is there!" In 1921 he climbed up the North Col, to over 7000 metres. From there he thought he could see a way up to the top of Mount Everest.
Voice 1
A year later Mallory returned. George Finch, another member of the team, climbed to 8320 metres. He used oxygen breathing equipment during the climb. This was the highest climbed by any human being so far, and it was only five hundred metres below the top. Mallory also tried to reach the top but failed. During this attempt, seven Sherpas were killed when snow fell on top of them. Sherpas are people who live in the Himalayas, and are used to the high altitude. They often go with climbers as guides and to help carry equipment.
Voice 2
Mallory led another team to Everest two years later, in 1924. Two brave climbers climbed even higher without using oxygen: their names were Howard Somervell and Felix Norton. Somervell was a wonderful doctor who later worked in India. But Mallory's attempt on Everest had a sad ending. Mallory and his young friend Andrew Irvine tried to reach the top on the eighth of June, but they never returned. The question is still asked: did Mallory and Irvine reach the top of Everest?
Voice 1
It was only in 1999 that Mallory's body was found. His injuries suggested that he had had a fall. It has been suggested that Mallory fell while going down the mountain. An ice axe which belonged to Irvine has been found but his body has never been found. Mallory's camera is also still missing. If found, it could contain pictures that would show if Mallory and Irvine reached the top of the mountain, or not.
Voice 2
During the 1930s several groups of people tried to climb the mountain: they were all turned back by bad weather. In 1934 a man named Maurice Wilson tried to climb Everest alone. He had no experience of climbing and no equipment. He thought these things were not necessary if a person had religious faith! But Wilson never returned; his body was found a year later.
Voice 1
In 1935 Eric Shipton believed that he had identified a way up the mountain from the other side, from Nepal. But Nepal was closed to foreigners. At that time, all attempts to climb Mount Everest were made from Tibet. Shipton's team included a Sherpa named Tenzing Norgay. Years later, he would be one of the first two people to reach the top.
Voice 2
After the Second World War there were more attempts to climb Mount Everest. But in 1950, there was a big change. The borders of Tibet were closed to foreigners. And the borders of Nepal were opened. So it became possible to use the other way to the top – the way that Eric Shipton had identified. More teams attempted the climb. But there was bad weather, and the paths were full of danger, but success could not be far away!
Voice 1
Success came on the twenty-ninth of May, 1953. That morning Tenzing Norgay stood on the top of the world's highest mountain with Edmund Hillary, from New Zealand. They had climbed from the Nepal side. It was a great event in history. News reached London on the second of June, the day that Queen Elizabeth became Queen.
Many people have since climbed Mount Everest by different, and more difficult ways. About 3000 have reached the top. But more than two hundred people have died trying to do so. The first woman to reach the top was Junko Tabei, from Japan. In May 2010, an American named Jordan Romero became the youngest person to reach the top. He was thirteen years and ten months old.
Voice 2
Today, many people visit the base camps of Everest. These are the places from which the long climbs to the top must begin. But climbing to the top is still a very difficult and special thing to do. Climbers need to be fit, skilful, and well prepared. They need special permits. They need equipment, transport and local guides. All this costs money - tens of thousands of dollars.
Still, the appeal of Everest is very strong. Reaching the top of the world's highest mountain is still something very few people have done, something very special. No wonder Rebecca Stephens said 'I am on top of the world'!
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