Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay - and Mount Everest...

On 29th May, 1953, Edmund Hillary and sherpa Tenzing Norgay stepped onto the peak of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. Led by Colonel John Hunt, this was the tenth British expedition to Everest and the first to result in a successful ascent. News of the event reached London four days later, on the morning of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Hillary, a New Zealander, was later knighted by the Queen in recognition of the acheivement.

Fifty years later, 3D computer graphics techniques and satellite imagery enable anyone to make a virtual visit to the highest peaks of the Himalayas to check out the view...


From left:
(1) Profile from the west showing approximately the route taken and the positions of the nine camps established by the 1953 expedition.
(2) View from the east, along the valley of the Kangshung Glacier.
(3) Overview from the southeast, with Lhotse in the foreground.
(4) View from the summit, looking east down the Kangshung Valley.

Computer graphic views generated using a digital terrain model derived from stereo MOMS satellite images. Imagery and terrain data provided by the German Aerospace Centre, DLR .

The Hillary Story