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The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit on Friday, 1953. Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organized and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee. News of the expedition's success reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, ==Leadership and preparations== John Hunt, a British Army Colonel, was serving on the staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe when to his surprise he was invited by the Joint Himalayan Committee of the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society to lead the British Everest expedition of 1953. Eric Shipton had been widely expected to be the leader, having led the previous year's unsuccessful British attempt on Cho Oyu, from which expedition most of the climbers selected had been drawn. However, the Committee had decided that Hunt's experience of military leadership, together with his credentials as a climber, would provide the best prospect of success. The British felt under particular pressure, as the French had received permission to mount a similar expedition in 1954, and the Swiss another in 1955, meaning that the British would not have another chance at Everest until 1956 or later.〔George Band, ‘Hunt, (Henry Cecil) John, Baron Hunt (1910–1998)’, in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004); (online edition ), May 2006 (subscription required)〕 As Shipton wrote in a statement of his position presented to the Committee on 28 July 1952: "My well-known dislike of large expeditions and my abhorrence of a competitive element in mountaineering might well seem out of place in the present situation."〔Simon Thompson, ''Unjustifiable Risk? The Story of British Climbing'', Cicerone Press, 2010, p. 250〕 This statement, according to George Band, "sealed his own fate".〔George Band, ''Everest Exposed'', Collins, 2005, p. 115〕 Several members of the British expedition had a strong loyalty to Shipton and were unhappy that he had been replaced. Charles Evans, for instance, stated: "It was said that Shipton lacked the killer instinct – not a bad thing to lack in my view."〔 Edmund Hillary was among those most opposed to the change, but he was won over by Hunt's personality and by his admission that the change had been badly handled.〔Jim Perrin, (Obituary — Sir Edmund Hillary ) from ''The Guardian'' dated 11 January 2008 online〕 George Band recalls Committee member Larry Kirwan, the Director/Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, saying that "they had made the right decision but in the worst possible way".〔Band, ''Everest Exposed'', p. 116〕 Hunt later wrote that the Joint Himalayan Committee had found the task of raising funds for the expedition challenging: The party departed for Nepal from Tilbury, Essex, England aboard the S.S. ''Stratheden'' bound for Bombay on 12 February, bar Tom Bourdillon, Dr Griffith Pugh, and Hunt, who was ill with an antrum infection. Evans and Alfred Gregory had flown on ahead to Kathmandu on 20 February, as the Advance Party. Hillary and Lowe approached Nepal from New Zealand, Lowe by sea and Hillary by air, as his "bees were in a busy state at that time of year".〔Hunt, ''The Ascent of Everest'', p. 58〕 Although a sea passage was cheaper, Hunt stated that the main reason for choosing it over an air journey was "the further chance which life in a ship would provide for us to settle down as a team in ideal conditions, accompanied by no discomfort, urgency or stress".〔Hunt, ''The Ascent of Everest'', p. 57〕 In Kathmandu, the party was looked after by the British ambassador, Christopher Summerhayes,〔Hunt, ''The Ascent of Everest'', p. 59〕 who, in Band's words, "arranged billets for us all with the various Embassy staff",〔Band, ''Everest Exposed'', pp. 129–30〕 there being no hotels in Kathmandu at the time. In early March twenty Sherpas, who had been chosen by the Himalayan Club, arrived in Kathmandu to help carry loads to the Western Cwm and the South Col. They were led by their Sirdar, Tenzing Norgay, who was attempting Everest for the sixth time〔Hunt, ''The Ascent of Everest'', p. 60〕 and was, according to Band, "the best-known Sherpa climber and a mountaineer of world standing".〔Band, ''Everest Exposed'', p. 130〕 Although Tenzing was offered a bed in the embassy, the remaining Sherpas were expected to sleep on the floor of the embassy garage; they urinated in front of the embassy the following day in protest at the lack of respect they had been shown. The first party, together with 150 porters, left Kathmandu for Mount Everest on 10 March, followed by the second party and 200 porters on 11 March. They reached Thyangboche on 26 and 27 March respectively, and between 26 March and 17 April engaged in altitude acclimatization.〔Hunt, ''The Ascent of Everest'', p. 236〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1953 British Mount Everest expedition」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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