11/05/2026
๐ข๐ป ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ - ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ด, ๐ญ๐ต๐ณ๐ด
May 8, 48 years ago, is the day when ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ (๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐) ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ (๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ) became the first humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ supplemental oxygen.
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น?
Well, there had been several attempts before them to summit the tallest peak on Earth without oxygen.
In fact, the first several attempts were carried out without oxygen.
โข The English Expedition of 1924, led by Edward Norton, who climbed up to an altitude of 8,572 meters (28,126 feet) without oxygen earlier in the expedition, setting a world record that stood for decades.
โข The 1933 British Expedition, led by Hugh Ruttledge, was another famous example where all climbers attempted the climb without oxygen and climbers Lawrence Wager, Percy Wyn-Harris, and Frank Smythe climbed up to 8,572 meters with two attempts.
โข On both expeditions, the altitude stood at approximately 8,572 meters.
But Hillary and Norgay climbed Everest in 1953 ๐๐ถ๐๐ต oxygen, and the rest was history. Or so one might think.
While there were over 60 successful summit climbs with oxygen through the route explored by Hillary and Tenzing by 1978, no one had ever climbed the peak without oxygen.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ
The general consensus at the time was that it was physically impossible to climb the mountain without using oxygen.
This theory had ample scientific evidence, historical failures, as well as strong support in the mainstream mountain climbing community.
Medical experts believed that human lungs could not survive the "Death Zone" above 8,000 meters without bottled air; some even predicted permanent brain damage or death.
Even after several successful climbs of mountains above 8,000m including the Everest of up to 8,572 meters, twice.
๐๐ฐ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต?
โข Many believed that the final few hundred meters of the Everest climb was a watershed of sorts that could not happen without oxygen.
โข In hindsight, it seems a little off that climbers had already climbed over 8,500 meters when most medical experts said climbing over 8,000m without oxygen was impossible. Dangerous? Yeah, it was (still is), but impossible??
โข However, there was a good medical reason for this: like the lack of oxygen: The human body needs oxygen for metabolism. So, without proper amounts of oxygen, there is a huge risk of organ damage, brain damage, and hallucinations, and at these altitudes, that is basically a death sentence.
โข The death zone only has one-third of the oxygen at sea level. It is still considered highly dangerous now in 2026. Imagine at that time how dangerous it would seem.
โข Medical experts would famously say to climbers that if they tried to summit Everest without oxygen, they would be coming home without being able to recognize their wives due to brain damage.
So, there was this strong belief that climbing the summit of Everest without oxygen was reckless, damaging, and ill-advised.
๐๐ป๐ฑ, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ: ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐: ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ด.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฏ
โข The two, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, were not leading the expedition, but were part of a larger Austrian expedition team led by Wolfgang Nairz.
โข They arrived at their base camp on the Nepalese side of Everest by March 1978.
โข Around mid-April. Peter Habeler became sick after eating a tin of sardines somewhere at base camp and was forced to stay at Camp 3 for several days after climbing.
โข While Peter was resting at Camp 3, Reinhold Messner and two Sherpas were pinned down by a terrifying storm over the South Col for two days and got stuck. They were fearing for their lives as they waited for the storm to pass and their tents to hold. Fortunately, their tent held for the night and they made it through the storm.
โข Just before setting off from Camp 3 for their final summit push on May 6th, the two men made a pact to be self-sufficient should either find themselves in danger. Meaning, they would not help each other in case one got in trouble. It is understandable, though morally questionable, that helping someone at that altitude where your own body is gasping for air, and having extreme trouble climbing, is nearly impossible.
โข A point to note is that after his illness, Habeler felt deep doubt and even considered joining an oxygen-assisted team. When refused, he was fueled by a new motivation: Extreme Anger.
โข Quoting him: "๐ผ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐
๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐... ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐'๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐โ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ก. ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐คโ๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐."
โข Finally, on May 8th, 1978, they made it to the top of Mount Everest without any supplemental oxygen.
๐
๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐ก๐๐, โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก "๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ , ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ," ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฆ "๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐๐". ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ "โ๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐," ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ต
After their success, the mountaineering world changed forever.
They proved that humans can summit the tallest peak on Earth without oxygen, ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐-๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฑ๐, ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น, ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น, ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐น, ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
After their success, the Alpine style climb using minimal equipment and porters became famous, while previously, Everest expeditions used to have hundreds of porters, workers, climbers, and staff.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐๐ฝ
While this achievement definitely brought them glory, it also opened a rift between the two who had been friends for decades, and scaled many mountains together.
One (Messner) emphasized his leadership and the other (Habeler) felt his contributions were minimized.
Guess the success of this scale does go into the heads of even the most tough individuals out there. ๐๐
The good news is that these two, who had been feuding for a decade, eventually made up.
The most important part, however, is that what they accomplished ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ was a genuinely big thing that still marks the start of a legend.
No doubt that without these two there would be others attempting, or even succeeding the climb to the top of Everest by 2026, but the fact remains that these two were the ones who did it, marking their names in the history books of mountaineering.
Remember, what they did nearly 50 years ago: Climbing Everest without oxygen is still not advised by medical personnel. Except for a few elites, most are still strongly recommended to climb Mount Everest with oxygen.
Copied from
