Everest 60 years on: what next?

On 29 May 1953, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hilary stood on the 8,848 m (29,029 ft) summit of Mount Everest, finally demonstrating that humans could overcome the physical and mental challenges required to conquer the world's highest peak. The 60th anniversary of this event is sadly the first with no member of the original expedition alive, since the death of George Lowe on 20 March 2013 at the age of 89 The successful 1953 expedition followed seven British expeditions to the north side of Everest during the 1920s and 30s. Although unsuccessful, these early expeditions achieved impressive altitudes. On several occasions, climbers exceeded 8,000 m (26,246 ft) both with supplemental oxygen (1922, 8,320 m/27,300 ft) and without (1924, 8,570 m/28120 ft; 1938, 8,230 m/27,000 ft).