1963 American Mount Everest West Ridge Expedition
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 7. 04. 2023
- The unclimbed 1963 West Ridge ascent on Everest was one of the last true challenges for mountaineers. Learn about the heroic efforts of Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld!
#mounteverest #westridge #everest1963 #americansoneverest
| The Impossible Climb: The 1963 Everest West Ridge Expedition |
In this video we explore the incredible story of the 1963 Everest West Ridge Expedition. With Jim Whittaker being the first American to summit Everest just weeks before, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld wanted to do something no one else ever dreamed of - Summiting Mount Everest via the West Ridge.
The two climbers and their team, faced some of the most difficult and dangerous terrain on the planet in their quest to conquer the West Ridge of the world's highest peak. They were up against something mountaineers claimed to be impossible, as the route was extremely difficult and required over 4,000 meters of climbing up a steep vertical.
The 1963 Everest West Ridge Expedition was a landmark moment in mountaineering history, as it marked the first successful ascent of Everest via the West Ridge and what became to be known as the Hornbein Couloir route.
The climb was especially challenging due to the steep and technical nature of the route, as well as the extreme altitude and unpredictable weather conditions. Despite facing numerous setbacks and near-death experiences along the way, the climbers persevered and ultimately succeeded in achieving their goal.
However, even though they had summited, they still had to find their way down via the South Col which ended up being the most deadly part of their expedition!
Hope you enjoy this account of the first ever Everest summit via the West Ridge in 1963!
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Climbing 14 hours straight on Everest, bivouac at 28,000 ft., smoking a cigarette at 27,000 ft....Damn, that's a badass right there!
haha right?? To pull your mask off to the side and bang a cig on a mountain looking down at the rest of the world. Crazy!!
I don't smoke but admire the balls out high altitude smoke break.
The west ridge climb is one of the greatest climbs in climbing history. Horbiens book is excellent. I re read it once in a while
Love this story! I would really like to read his book one day.. Sad that he passed away recently.
Remains one of the most remarkable Himalayan climbs to this day. Those guys were so extended and luck with the weather played a significant role in their survival. Three years after their ascent , my teenage self took the Seattle Mountaineers basic course and Tom Hornbein gave the lecture on rock climbing. I was, of course, awed by his presence. So many of the climbers on that trip were from the northwest and I always found it ironic how famous Whittaker was locally and nobody other than climbers knew about Unsoeld and Hornbein.
Met and shook hands with Dr Hornbein back in June 2015, also in the same gathering saw Jim Whittker, and Willi Unsoeld's son, who's exactly the image of his father.
Wow!! That would be amazing, to see all of them from the first climbing party in one place must have been great. Hope you got some good pictures!!
An astonishing achievement, they are legends
Right?? But rarely talked about in the climbing community..
One of the greatest climbs of all time.
Truly Amazing! Especially for back then when everyone was bidding just to get to the top from the same route!
@@haydenrue If the Chinese lied about their 1960 nighttime climb of Everest, Unsoeld and Hornbein were the first to climb the North Face of Everest. Then, what about the bivouac at something over 27,000 feet.
Do you think they lied..? I havenât looked into it that much
@@haydenrue: They said they summited and returned in the dark, I think after midnight on a moonless night, have no photographs to verify what they did, and the "summit rocks" they showed and won't allow to be examined, apparently do not come from the summit area. Check out Michael Tracy.
@@kensilverstone1656 Wow, sounds similar to the case with the fastest ascent of Everest being disputed and then reversed. On a moonless night, no other climbers, and no legit photographs.. Crazy the lengths people go to try and fake something..
A really well put together description of this historic climb. Only one minor criticism - the animation that starts at 0.49 incorrectly shows the route as going from Base Camp up the Lho La, then the Western Shoulder to reach the West Ridge. This was a route taken by some later expeditions. The 1963 expedition, as is correctly shown in the map at 8.55 took a route through the Icefall into the Western Cwm and from the Cwm climbed up to the West Ridge, bypassing the Lho La and Western Shoulder.
Ahhh thank you for pointing that out! I wish I could go back and edit that.
Firing up a smoke above 25000 feet is bad ass, a non filter Camel is gangster đź
Hayden, my man- đđđđđđđ!
Well done my friend! Standing ovation to you! The editing, chronological ordering, and supplementary footage were excellent! You are obviously not a novice. Just curious, did you go to a library to access the footage, or did you draw everything from online? Either way, job well done! I'm not sure your level of commitment and interest, but with your editing skills and proper "historical sense," you could truly create the best channel for high-altitude mountaineering documentaries. There's a lot out there that's in bad need of revising and supplementation.
I will only offer three minor "criticisms" or corrections: 1) I believe the proper pronunciation is Horn- bine, as in eye! Now, he might have pronounced it like you said. I go through it with my name Kiely. Many pronounce it Kee-lee, when it's Kie-lee. 2) Lhotse is pronounced Lowt-zee with a hard 'o'! 3) I would have made reference to the couloir being named after Hornbein after the team's successful climb. Simply minor though. Your overall effort was superb Hayden!
I hope you'll still do the 1984 Australian expedition! And, if you really are into doing these excellent mountaineering 'shorts,' you might also do: 1) the Marco Siffredi's story of successfully snowboarding down Everest vis-a-vis the Norton Couloir in 2001, and his 2002 attempt down the Hornbein Couloir, where he disappeared, and is correctly assumed dead! 2) the Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker first attempt through the "Three Pinnacles" vis-a-vis the FULL North East Ridge in 1982! Both men perished, and their bodies are still up there! If you have an email, I can send the last photo taken of them from their basecamp. It's one of my favorite high-altitude mountaineering photos ever!
Thanks again Hayden!đ
P.S.- I'm now a subscriber buddy!
WOOOOOOW! I really appreciate the kind words and support! Really amazing to get that kind of feedback - thank you so much!
For the content I found everything online actually. Took some digging to find good footage and pictures, but the content is out there in one form or another. Funny thing about the content is, I read that Norman Dyhrenfurth wasn't happy with the footage and photos they got, so they staged some of the shots closer to camp (so not sure exactly what footage is real or just staged!)
Also thanks for all the content ideas! I will def look into some of these and see whats out there, whats interesting and what I can make!
@@haydenrue You're welcome Hayden! Just curious, how long have you been living in Nepal? By choice, or work related? If you don't mind me inquiring?
Anytime you want any feedback, feel free to send me a comment. I have a large library on high-altitude mountaineering and generally try to keep up with what's going on with the HAM community. I'm subscribed to Alan Arnette's channel, as an example, and read his website; he does a great job of informing the public about what is going on during "climbing season," and has some good insights and interviews periodically.
I'll see if I can post or find the photo from the '82 Tasker/Boardman 'Three Pinnacles' attempt! I've tried before, but YT will delete it!
Anyhow, great job again
I have been in Nepal for more that 6 years and I came here for work.
I will def reach out to you for feedback as well as ideas and information! Yaaaa, I think CZcams ended up deleting your comment because I don't see it anymore.
Ill start working on another exciting video soon! I'll keep you posted [:
@@haydenrue Yes! It did. Thx!
Ciao Tom...
It was sad to see Tom passed away recently. đ
Never smoke a cigarette inside your oxygen mask. Always pull it off first.
Haha, he def pulled off his mask before smoking! But what about smoking at 27,000 ft - is that cool?? đ
@@haydenrue chewing tobacco is definitely cooler.
@@garrysekelli6776 hahah noted đđ can do that with your mask on mostly
@@haydenrue I've never tried because I don't own an oxygen mask. But theoretically I see no reason why not.