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Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, was climbed by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953. The ascent began on 12 April and the good news announced on 2 June, the occasion of The Queen's coronation.
Radio 4 marks the 50th anniversary of this remarkable human achievement with a series of special programmes.
Into Thin Air
Friday 23 May, 11.00am
Why do mountaineers risk the dangers of the high altitude climb? Tim Malyon investigates the psychological drive and the physiological consequences and payoffs of climbing above 8000 meters.
When trekkers first started going to Everest one in 50 died. Nowadays that figure is 1 in 20,000. Whilst technology may have helped offset some of the dangers of enduring extreme weather and temperature, the hidden threats - the medical symptoms encountered at high altitude - will never go away. So, what changes in body and mind does a climber undergo as he reaches a height where oxygen levels radically affect physical and mental wellbeing?
 Listen to a clip.
Read more and Listen Again to the programme >>
The Archive Hour: Everest - Journey To The Third Pole
Saturday 24 May, 8.00pm
Stephen Venables, one of Britain's top mountaineers, reveals how the successful Everest expedition was the culmination of over 30 years of attempts from both sides of the mountain.
You can hear rare contemporary recordings from the pioneering 1920s British climbers on Mount Everest who ate tinned fois gras, drank 1915 Montebello champagne and were the first to report the Yeti. The programme also examines the mystery of George Mallory's missing camera and the life-long search for it and the photograph it may contain which lead to the discovery of the climber's body in 1999.
Go to The Archive Hour page.
Book of the Week: High Adventure by Sir Edmund Hillary
Monday 26 - Friday 30 May, 9.45am & 12.30am
Fifty years ago in May 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing finally made it to the summit of Everest - the world's highest mountain. The following year, Sir Edmund wrote 'High Adventure' - the story of this risky and amazing achievement.
James Laurenson reads the breathless and exciting story of the year which finally culminated in the conquest of Everest, detailing all the trial runs, the accidents, the humorous anecdotes, the characters of the other climbers and above all - the grit and determination which resulted in such marvellous human endeavour.
Go to The Book of the Week page.
Mountains That Changed The World
Wednesday 28 May, 9.00pm
Our ape-like ancestors in the deep past evolved when the world's climate started to cool and the African continent began to dry out. We explore the idea that the growth of the Himalayas created the conditions for humankind to evolve.
The loss of rain forest and spread of savannah appears to have been an evolutionary driving force. Around forty million years ago, the subcontinent of India started to crash into Asia, creating the enormous crumple zone that is now the Himalayas. The collision is not yet over, the devastating earthquake in Gujurat two years ago is a product of the continued slow-motion impact. The suggestion is that as the mountains rose, they changed the climate by diverting the patterns of atmospheric circulation, and drawing down the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide through erosion - there's more Himalayan material in the North Indian plains and at the bottom of the Indian Sea than in the mountains themselves. Did these mountains really change the world?
Read more and Listen Again to the programme >>
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