Timeline of Mount Everest expeditions Timeline of Mount Everest expeditions Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Himalayan range. The first British expedition—organized and financed by the newly formed Mount Everest Committee—came under the leadership of Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, with Harold Raeburn as mountaineering leader, and included George Mallory, Guy Bullock, and Edward Oliver Wheeler. It was primarily for mapping and reconnaissance to discover whether a route to the summit could be found from the north side. As the health of Raeburn broke down, Mallory assumed responsibility for most
Mount Everest several expeditions were caught in a blizzard high up on the mountain. During the 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest. These were the highest death tolls for a single event, and for a single season, until the sixteen deaths in the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche. The disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialisation of climbing Mount Everest. Journalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from "Outside" magazine, was in one of the affected parties, and afterward published the bestseller "Into Thin Air", which related his experience. Anatoli Boukreev, a guide who felt impugned by Krakauer's