>>2112527I've got some history for you, anon. In 1852 British surveyors discovered that "Peak 15" (which lied hundreds of miles from the Indian plains where the Great Trigonometrical Survey took place), and not Kanchenjunga (the world's 3rd tallest mountain), was in fact the highest mountain on earth. The surveyor-general named it "Everest" in honor of his predecessor.Back then Tibet and Nepal had hermetically sealed theirs borders to all westerners which meant that political tensions and bureaucratic difficulties made it nigh impossible to receive permission to mount an exepdition to the mountain. In 1913 a British Officer by the name of John Noel disguised himself as a buddhist pilgrim and was the first European to come within 40 miles of Everest (he later joined the 1922 & 1924 Everest expeditions in the capacity as official photographer & filmmaker and you can still watch his motion picture "The Epic of Everest"). It was not until after World War I that the Tibetan government finally granted permission for a British expedition to travel across the Tibetan plateau to Everest.
>pic related is John Noel filming on North Col 
