Exploring Extremes

Mount Everest

When (and by whom) was the South Pole reached by an expedition?

It was reached by Roald Amundsen in December 1911.

Source- http://www.enotes.com/history-fact-finder/exploration-settlement/who-was-first-person-reach-south-pole


When (and by whom) was the North Pole?

Robert Edwin Peary was the first to reach the North Pole in April 1909.

Source- http://www.wisegeek.com/who-was-the-first-person-to-reach-the-north-pole.htm


Who led an expedition to summit Everest in 1924 and what happened to him? When was the Summit finally reached for the first (documented) time?

George Mallory led an expedition to summit Everest in 1924. His body was found on May 1, 1999 on Everest’s North Face, and no one knows if he or his partner, Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, reached the summit. On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Percival Hillary were the first to reach the summit.

Sources- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/lost/mystery/
http://www.everestnews2004.com/malloryandirvine2004/stories2004/georgemallory.htm
http://www.teameverest03.org/everest_info/index.html


Reflection

I think there a many reasons that people do extreme activities like this. Some might want to do it just for the experience, as in the case of George Mallory who was quoted as his reason for climbing Everest, "Because it's there." Others, like Tenzing Norgay, want to do it because it helps them to feel closer to someone else who had climbed Everest before them. I don't think that I would do something like climb Everest because it would be too dangerous. I don't think that it is worth risking your life to do something like that.

Image Source- http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jfyffe/raidmyspace/layouts/scenery/mount_everest/mount_everest_bg.jpg