In 1953, China and Nepal had a bitter dispute over sovereignty over Mount Everest. According to international practice, whoever discovers the territory first belongs to whomever it belongs.
However, on the issue of the ownership of Mount Everest, China and Nepal have different opinions, which has led to a stalemate. China firmly believes that as early as the Qing Dynasty, Mount Everest was included on the map during the Kangxi period, so Mount Everest should belong to the territory of China.
Nepal insists that it is the first person in the world to conquer Mount Everest, the earliest conqueror of Mount Everest. China struggled to convince Nepal verbally, so the two sides made a bet that if Chinese climbers could successfully reach the summit from the north of Mount Everest, then sovereignty would go to China, and vice versa.
The difficulty of climbing the south face of Mount Everest is well known, but no country has ever managed to climb the north slope. Therefore, the Nepalese side readily agreed. Whether China can climb Mount Everest from the north slope has become the focus of global attention.
Let's witness the glorious moment of China's first ascent of Mount Everest in 1960.
After learning that our country plans to climb Mount Everest from the north face, the attitude of various countries varies. As the United Kingdom, which has one of the most advanced climbing equipment in the world, they not only refused to give our country the most advanced equipment, but decided to form a mountaineering team in a vain attempt to be the first to climb Mount Everest before us and win the honor of "the first country to climb Mount Everest from the north slope".
Sweden is one of the climbing powers on a par with the United Kingdom, and at our critical moment, we have provided our country with a batch of professional mountaineering equipment. However, despite all these devices, China in the 50s of the last century was a blank in the field of modern mountaineering.
As a result, many people around the world at the time were skeptical that China would be able to form a mountaineering team and successfully conquer the faith of climbers around the world – Mount Everest.
In 1955, relations between China and the Soviet Union were very friendly, and the Soviet Union had extensive experience in training mountaineers. Therefore, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions sent 12 trainees to the Soviet Union to learn modern mountaineering techniques.
Then, in the spring of 1956, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions invited two Soviet coaches to the Eighth National Congress in the western suburbs of Beijing, and they successfully trained the first group of mountaineers in China.
Among these climbers are those who successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1960. At that time, when the country began to recruit mountaineers, many people did not understand the significance of this selection.
Weng Qingzhang, Liu Lianman and others thought that this was just an opportunity to visit the mountains and rivers at first, but it was not until after the official assembly that they understood their mission. In order to defend the glory of their country, these mountaineers trained extra hard and soon achieved outstanding results.
The "All-China Federation of Trade Unions Mountaineering Team", composed of the first batch of trainees, has continuously conquered one high mountain after another, such as Taibai Mountain, the main peak of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi, and Muztag Peak in Xinjiang.
The exchanges and interactions between the mountaineering circles of China and the Soviet Union have laid a solid foundation for future cooperation between the two sides. In November 1957, the Soviet Union sent a letter to China expressing its desire to form a joint mountaineering team with China, planning to climb Mount Everest between March and June 1959 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The Soviet Union offered to help our country climb Mount Everest, not only out of friendship, but also out of its own considerations. In the 50s of the last century, mountaineering was widespread in the Soviet Union, but due to the lack of domestic alpine resources, they set their sights on China's world-class alpine mountains.
For Soviet athletes, climbing Mount Everest from the north would have been a great honor. Taking into account the friendly relations between China and the Soviet Union, our country finally accepted this request. Originally, the prime minister was ready to refuse, because my country had an agreement with Nepal and planned to climb Mount Everest independently.
But later, the Soviet Embassy in China urged, and Marshal **, who was then the director of the Sports Commission, also thought that the cooperation was worth taking, so he decided to make the trip.
In July 1958, China and the Soviet Union met at the Xinqiao Hotel in Beijing to negotiate and preliminarily determine the plan for climbing Mount Everest for the next three years. In 1958, it was mainly used for reconnaissance, in 1959 it was used for test climbing, and in 1960, the Sino-Soviet joint mountaineering team will officially reach the summit of Mount Everest.
The Soviet Union promised to provide alpine food and equipment, while our country took on the transportation of supplies at lower altitudes, including how to transport them to their destinations if they were sufficient.
In the fifties of the last century, the traffic conditions in the ** area were still quite poor, only the highway to Shigatse, and the materials needed to be transported by livestock for 300 kilometers to reach the foot of Mount Everest.
The steepest sections of the road are even allowed to be passed by only one person close to the cliffs, and the rugged trails are rarely walked by locals.
In the process of climbing Mount Everest, the biggest problem faced by China and the Soviet Union was how to transport large quantities of supplies. To this end, ** specially approved millions of funds, built a road, and sent troops to help suppress local banditry.
Before the climbers set off, they also received special shooting training to deal with potentially dangerous situations. Although some people questioned that this was a big fuss, just a month before the investigation team officially began its investigation, a military vehicle was attacked by bandits, and all 16 PLA medical personnel on the vehicle were killed.
At the end of November 1958, when winter approached in the Everest area, the mountaineers in charge of preliminary reconnaissance began to evacuate, leaving only a dozen members of the hydrological group and the radio team.
However, just when our athletes were full of expectations, the Soviet side suddenly changed its mind.
Under the influence of changes in the international situation, relations between China and the Soviet Union gradually cooled, and the originally agreed plan to jointly climb Mount Everest was revoked by the Soviet side, and all experts and mountaineers were withdrawn.
This move puzzled everyone, and even the members of the mountaineers from the Soviet side expressed their willingness to participate in the climb. However, the Soviet Union chose to break the treaty, and the joint ascent of Everest collapsed.
Faced with this dilemma, China is faced with the choice of abandoning the climb or climbing alone. Although a lot of preparatory work was done in the early stage, the ** marshal and mountaineering teammates said, "If they don't do it, we will do it ourselves, no one will want to jam our necks, the Chinese must fight for breath, we must climb up, and win glory for the country!" ”
Faced with the growing distance between China and the Soviet Union and the growing relationship between the Soviet Union and India, the Chinese Everest mountaineering team decided to be the first to arrive at the pre-selected base camp in March 1960.
They are made up of 214 young team members with an average age of only 24 years old, and each of them is determined to conquer the majestic Mount Everest, and even if India chooses to climb from the south, which is relatively difficult, and the Soviet Union regrets it halfway, the Chinese mountaineers are still full of confidence and determination.
For more than 400 days, Everest's hydrological and radio crews have been living in isolation, but not without gains. They regularly release sounding balloons, collect high-altitude meteorological data, collect records from outdoor shutters every few hours, and communicate with Beijing through radio stations.
Their living conditions are harsh, the base camp is located at an altitude of about 5,120 meters, the oxygen is thin, and there is snow and ice everywhere. In order to provide timely ** for the mountaineers, the medical room is located at an altitude of 6,400 meters.
The temperature there is only about minus 20 degrees Celsius during the warmest part of the day, and even eating and drinking water has become a torture. But they stick to their posts and pay silently, in order to be able to better understand Mount Everest and provide better services for the mountaineers.
The people behind the team are already working hard, but the team members who are actually in charge of the climb are under even more pressure. The members of the assault and transport teams have different challenges to bear.
The assault team needs to climb to an altitude of more than 8,000 meters, while the members of the transport team need to carry fifty or sixty pounds of items to support the assault group. Such difficulties and challenges make every team member under tremendous pressure.
However, none of them complained, and everyone had only one goal in mind: to conquer Mount Everest and climb to the top. They are tenacious and hard, but they are determined to conquer Mount Everest.
On March 25, 1960, the Chinese mountaineering team launched a charge towards Mount Everest. On the first ascent, they started from the base camp at an altitude of 5,120 meters and climbed only to the vicinity of the infirmary at an altitude of 6,400 meters.
The purpose of this climb is not to challenge the limit, but to adapt to the highland environment, which can be said to be a "warm-up".
The climb still started from the base camp at 5,120 meters and finally managed to reach the challenging North Col route of 7,600 meters. What used to be considered an insurmountable difficult area has now been successfully overcome.
After setting up camp here, the climbing team returned to the base camp to make the necessary repairs.
On May 17, 1960, during the third ascent of Mount Everest, the team members were in a very solemn mood, because this was the last chance to climb Mount Everest that year, and if they missed this opportunity, they could only wait for a year in the long rainy season.
Nepal and China couldn't wait, and before leaving, 4 commandos marched towards the top of Mount Everest with a five-star red flag and a 20-centimeter plaster bust.
Before leaving, team member Wang Fuzhou and Weng Qingzhang of the infirmary said firmly, "We must succeed this time, if we can't go up again, we won't come back." ”
Driven by this unwavering determination, the assault team set up its final assault camp at an altitude of 8,500 meters above sea level. After a short break, they headed for the second step, the last obstacle to conquer Mount Everest.
The so-called second staircase refers to an almost vertical smooth rock wall, which, unlike ordinary steps, has a total height of more than 20 meters, roughly equivalent to six or seven floors.
With a strong will and a lot of experience in mountaineering, the last four climbers managed to climb to the middle of the second step.
There are only 4 meters left from the finish line, but those 4 meters are like a moat, there is nothing to climb, and there is no hope. Liu Lianman tried 4 times, but failed, and Kampot and Qu Yinhua also tried twice, but failed.
As the minutes passed, his physical strength gradually ran out, and his whole body gradually froze in the ice and snow. Seeing that the climb was about to fail, Liu Lianman, a firefighter, made a decision, he let his teammates step on his body and climbed to the top with difficulty.
Facing the steep cliff, Qu Yinhua knew that every step he took was related to Liu Lianman's life. The bottoms of his alpine boots were full of nails, and stepping on a person's body was too much for anyone to bear.
For Liu Lianman, he resolutely took off his heavy boots and climbed up wearing only a pair of socks. However, the slippery stuffiness of the eiderdown socks caused him to fail several attempts. So, he took off his socks again and climbed up step by step.
After more than an hour of arduous trekking, he finally managed to get through the ordeal.
Four brave mountaineers, who endured difficulties and obstacles, with their indomitable will, finally succeeded in reaching the summit of Mount Everest, raising the five-star red flag high, and at this moment, Mount Everest was conquered by the Chinese.
Their feat not only proves the strength of the Chinese, but also shows the spiritual outlook of the Chinese.
Nepal was surprised and regretful to learn that the Chinese had successfully reached the summit from the north of Mount Everest, and had to cede sovereignty over Mount Everest. At this time, ** did not blindly accept it, but made it after in-depth discussions with other leaders"Half of a country"The decision to jointly use the sovereignty of Mount Everest.
This fully reflects the demeanor of a great power, and at the same time won Nepal as an ally, and the story of China's ascent of Mount Everest in 1960 has become a good story around the world.