It took more than two months of work for Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to reach the summit of Mount Everest during their first successful expedition in 1953. The team worked their way gently upwards for several weeks to acclimate to the extremely thin air at high altitude. Prior to their attack on the summit, they spent seven weeks making quick trips up and down the mountain to set ropes, lay ladders, and set up ever-higher camps after arriving at Base Camp. To put it briefly, they besieged the mountain.
Today, hundreds of climbers reach the summit of Everest each year thanks to the miles of fixed ropes that Sherpas teams have installed along the route and the sophisticated logistics that commercial guiding firms have perfected.
