Climbing Everest: from 1953 to the present day

60 years ago, New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent of the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, at 8,848 meters. Since then, thousands of people have attempted to summit Everest, many of them unsuccessfully.

At the end of May, 80-year-old Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person on Earth to conquer Mount Everest. Miura did it for the third time. He admitted that he was one step away from death during the descent. Everest pioneers Hillary and Norgay spent only 15 minutes on the summit. Norgay buried sweets in the snow, and Hillary erected a cross given to him by the leader of the British expedition, Colonel John Hunt.

(Total 37 photos)

1. Tenzing Norgay (left) and Sir Edmund Hillary during their historic ascent of Everest in 1953.

2. Sir Edmund Hillary and his fellow climbers climb Mount Everest in 1953.

3. Tenzing Norgay stands on top of Everest, May 29, 1953. He and his partner Edmund Hillary became the first people to reach the highest point on Earth.

4. Colonel John Hunt, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary returned to England after conquering Everest.

5. Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay smile after climbing Mount Everest in 1953. Nepalese friends of Hillary, who passed away on January 11, 2008, illuminate with oil lamps and read special Buddhist prayers in monasteries in memory of the climber, calling him a great benefactor and friend of Nepal. Hillary, after conquering Everest in 1953, spent most of his life helping Sherpa communities in Nepal, building hospitals and schools for them.

6. Journalists at the statue of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay during the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the successful ascent of Mount Everest in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 29, 2013.

7. Sherpa Kancha, member of the Everest climbing team in 1953, and Amelia Rose Hillary (second from right), granddaughter of New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary, participate in the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Everest climbing in Kathmandu, May 29, 2013.

8. Mount Everest and the peak of Nuptse, May 15, 2003.

9. Buddhist prayer flags flutter in the wind against the background of Everest (center) and Lhotse (right) near the village of Tengboche in Nepal, May 14, 2003. A team of 12 climbers from the Indian Army, the Royal Nepalese Army and Nepalese Sherpas summited Lhotse, setting the record for the most climbers to summit a technically difficult peak in one day.

10. Puja ceremony at the base camp on Everest in Nepal, April 7, 2003. Puja is a religious ceremony during which the members of the expedition and their equipment are blessed.

11. British climbing photographer Jonathan Griffith climbs Mount Everest, April 27, 2013.

12. Mount Everest, about 140 km northeast of Kathmandu, on January 14, 2011. The Nepalese government has said it intends to double the number of foreign tourists visiting the country each year.

13. A member of the Extreme Everest Expedition E3 99 installs a bridge over a crack at an altitude of 5943 meters on Mount Everest in Nepal, May 13, 1999.

14. Climbers pass through the Khumbu icefall on the way to Everest, May 18, 2003.

15. The first obstacle on the way to the summit of Everest, the Khumbu icefall, May 17, 2003.

16. Climbers from different countries descend the Khumbu icefall after climbing Mount Everest, May 22, 2013. May is the most popular month for climbing Everest due to more favorable weather. Earlier this month, Japan's Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person to climb Mount Everest, and Raha Moharraq became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to summit Everest.

17. Everest Base Camp - a large tent city at an altitude of 5486 meters, May 15, 2003. About a thousand climbers planned to climb Mount Everest this month to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first successful summit of the world's highest mountain.

18. Nepalese sherms climb the Khumbu icefall on their way to the summit of Everest, May 16, 2013.

19. The highest mountain in the world is bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, November 15, 1983.

20. 80-year-old Japanese professional skier and mountaineer Yuichiro Miura advances through the icefall on the way to the top of Everest, May 16, 2013.

21. 80-year-old Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura becomes the oldest person to conquer Mount Everest, May 23, 2013. He reached the top of the mountain at 9:05 am local time. Miura had previously summited Everest at the age of 70 and 75.

22. Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura arrives at Kathmandu airport after climbing Mount Everest, May 26, 2013. Miura, who has undergone 4 heart surgeries, has become the oldest person to summit Mount Everest. Before him, this title was held by a 76-year-old resident of Nepal, Min Bahadur Sherkhan, who climbed to the top in 2008.

23. Two people stand near their tent in a camp at the foot of Everest in the Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, October 13, 2011. Tibet is a vast land of arid plateaus and majestic mountain ranges. Many nomads live here at high altitude. Religion is an integral part of Tibetans' lives, and many of them take part in religious pilgrimages hundreds of miles away to visit local monasteries and sacred sites.

24. Climbers climb the mountainside, May 19, 2005.

25. Climbers on the way to the top of Mount Everest, May 18, 2013.

26. The highest peak in the world is Mount Everest (or Sagarmatha in Nepalese) with a height of 8848 meters, April 22, 2007. Below is Mount Ama Dablam with a height of 6812 meters.

27. Climbers on the way to the top of Everest in the Nepalese region of Khumbu, May 18, 2013.

28. Climbers descend from Everest, May 19, 2009. A group of Nepalese professional climbers are planning a risky expedition to clean up Everest. Decades of mountaineering have taken their toll on the world's tallest mountain. Sherpa Namgyal, who has climbed Everest 7 times, says the following: “Everest is losing its beauty. The top of the mountain is currently littered with oxygen tanks, old prayer flags, ropes and tents. At least two corpses have been lying there for several years."

29. Tents at Everest Base Camp at dusk, May 22, 2003.

30. Climbers climb the ridge just below Hillary's Step on their way to the summit of Everest, on May 18, 2013.

31. Arunima Sinha holds an Indian flag on top of Everest, May 21, 2013. 26-year-old Sinha from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, who lost her leg two years ago, became the first disabled woman to summit Everest of the year.

32. 13-year-old Jordan Romero (right) became the youngest climber to summit Mount Everest on May 22, 2010. He climbed the mountain from the Chinese side, accompanied by a group consisting of his father, stepmother and three Sherpa guides.

33. Two Japanese climbers rest on the top of Everest, surrounded by Tibetan prayer flags, May 20, 2013.

34. Nepalese Sherpa Apa stands on top of Mount Everest, May 22, 2010. The climber climbed to the top of the mountain for the 20th time, breaking his personal and world record. He devoted his ascent to protecting the environment.

35. On 29 May, Nepal celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest, the success of which served to shatter many climbers' fear of conquering the world's highest mountain.

36. View of Everest from the base camp, May 26, 2003.

37. Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags on the summit of Everest, May 18, 2013. On May 29, Nepal marked the 60th anniversary of the summit of Everest by honoring the climbers who followed in the footsteps of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.