First to the Top
(adapted from Grade Five English Text book by Houghton Mifflin)

 
 
 
 

Name
Grade Five
Date

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Outline I.    Mount Everest         A.    World's tallest mountain         B.    Located between Nepal and Tibet         C.    Dangerous place                 1.    Cold all year                 2.    Extreme wind and snowstorms                 3.    Thin air near the summit II.    George Leigh Mallory         A.    May have reached the summit first         B.    Two unsuccessful trips         C.    Tried again in June 1924 with Sandy Irvine         D.    Never returned III.    Mallory and Irvine may have been found         A.    Irvine's ax was found in 1933         B.    Chinese climber Wang Hongbao found a body in 1975         C.    Body wearing clothing marked "G.L. Mallory" found in May 1999 IV.    Edmund Hillary of New Zealand         A.    Set out with climbing party in 1953                 1.    Party led by Englishman John Hunt                 2.    Group guided by Sherpas, the mountain people of Nepal         B.    Group went from south instead of north         C.    Hillary and Tenzing tried for summit                 1.    Arrived on May 29, 1953, at 11:30 A.M.                 2.    Honored greatly upon their return V.    First woman on Mount Everest in 1975         A.    Japanese expedition leader Junko Tabei         B.    Trapped under ice after avalanche         C.    Rescued by Sherpas         D.    Injured, but still first woman to reach summit VI.    First person to climb Mount Everest alone         A.    Reinhold Messner         B.    Traveled on difficult north route         C.    Reached summit from base camp in three days         D.    Arrived on April 20, 1980 VII.    Climbers will be remembered           A.    "Mountains are not fair or unfair, they are just dangerous" - Reinhold Messner           B.    Climbers still face danger

Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain.  It stands 29,035 feet above sea level, between Nepal and Tibet.  Avalanches and the cold climate make it scary to climb.  Its summit is a dangerous place.  It is cold all year, and the wind and snowstorms can be extreme. Also, the air high on Everest is so thin that climbers can hardly breathe.  Many people have died there in the cold, yet climbers keep trying to reach the top.     Some say George Leigh Mallory was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest. After two unsuccessful trips, Mallory tried again.  In early June of 1924, his group reached Camp Four on the north pass.  Next, Mallory and Sandy Irvine, another climber, tried for the summit.  The last time they were seen, they were almost there, but they never returned.     For a long time, it seemed Mallory and Irvine had disappeared forever in the snow and ice.  Then, in 1933, Irvine's ice ax was found.  IN 1975, Wang Hongbao, a Chinese climber, found a man in 1920s clothing dead on the slopes of Everest, but he could not bring the body down before losing his own life in an avalanche.  In May of 1999, climbers following Mallory and Irvine's route found that body again.  Labels in the clothing were marked p. 2 "G.L. Mallory."  Did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit before they died?  The answer is still a mystery.     Edmund Hillary, of New Zealand, also wanted to climb the highest mountain in the world. In 1953, he set out with a climbing party led by John Hunt, an Englishman.  Hunt's group was guided by Sherpas, the mountain people of Nepal.  The group was going up from the south instead of the north.  Hunt picked Hillary and Tenzing Norway, a Sherpas, to try for the summit.  Soon after 11:30 A.M. on May 29, 1953, Hillary and Tenzing stood triumphant at the top of the world.  They shook hands, hugged, and took pictures.  When Hillary and Tenzing  returned from Mount Everest, they were honored greatly.     In 1975, two expeditions raced to put the first woman on the summit.  In one group, a Japanese expedition leader named Junko Tabei was trapped under ice when an avalanche slammed into her tent.  Sherpas rescued her and her tent mates.  Even though she was injured, Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.     p. 3     Reinhold Messner has the honor of being the first person to climb Mount Everest alone. Climbing on the very difficult north route, Messner took only three days to reach the summit from base camp.  On April 20, 1980, Reinhold Messner stood on the top of Mount Everest.     These climbers will be remembered for conquering the treacherous mountain.  As Reinhold Messner said, "Mountain are not fair or unfair; they are just dangerous."  Many climbers are still eager to face that danger.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Sources Gaffney, Timothy R. Edmund Hillary.  Chicago:  Childrens Press, 1990. Hillary, Sir Edmund P.  "Mount Everest." World Book Encyclopedia, 1993 ed. "Mount Everest."  Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.  1999.  30 Nov. 2001. Rosen, Mike.  The Conquest of Everest.  New York:  The Bookwright Press, 1989.