Sublime

Thomas (Tom) F. Hornbein, M.D.: 32, San Diego, California; Physician; Responsible for Expedition oxygen equipment and planning.

William (Willi) F. Unsoeld, Ph.D.: 36, Corvallis, Oregon; Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Oregon State University, on leave as deputy Peace Corps representative in Nepal; Climbing leader.

On May 22, 1963, Tom Hornbein, a thirty-two-year-old doctor from Missouri, and Willi Unsoeld, thirty-six, a professor of theology from Oregon, reached the summit of Everest via the peak’s daunting West Ridge, previously unclimbed.

Hornbein was thirty-two years old when he climbed Everest half a century ago,

Jake Breitenbach, Dan Doody, and Willi died climbing, Barry Bishop and Barry Prather in automobile accidents, Jim Ullman and Dick Emerson of illnesses.

As Willi and I stood on top of Everest at sunset on May 22, 1963,

When Willi and I headed toward the summit on May 22, 1963, we were alone. We had only ourselves to depend on and worry about.

An American, Woodrow Wilson Sayre, and three companions, none of whom were experienced climbers, crossed secretly into Tibet from Nepal in 1962 to make an unauthorized attempt on Everest from the north. An intense personal drive combined with a sequence of incredibly lucky circumstances that all but surpasses belief permitted Sayre to reach 25,000