Old Mountaineering Photo Central

Wally Romanes belays Pemba Tenzing Sherpa during the 1961 first ascent of Ama Dablam. The expedition, which succeeded in submitting Ama Dablam via the Southwest Ridge, only occurred because the physiologists on the Silver Hut Scientific Expedition temporarily needed more space for their experiments. The remaining members of the Silver Hut decided to attempt Ama Dablam to get themselves out of the house.

Photos by David Chesmond (top left), Chris Kopczynski (top right), and Louis Reichardt (bottom).

Jean-Christophe Lafaille on 'Roc Noir' (Khangsar Kang) in 2002. Behind him, the eastern ridge of Annapurna and the summit. Photograph taken by Alberto Iñurrategi.

(Left to right) Jean-Christophe Lafaille, Veikka Gustafsson and Ed Viesturs. Taken sometime during their 2002 Annapurna expedition.

Alberto Iñurrategi (left) and Jean-Christophe Lafaille (right) on the summit of Annapurna in 2002. The glare in the photo is not original and caused by manual scanning.

Jean-Christophe Lafaille on the summit of Annapurna in 2002. This was his fourth attempt on Annapurna, after his first one in 1992 resulted in the traumatic loss of his climbing partner Pierre Béghin and a harrowing five day struggle to descend alone, injured and without equipment. After two more unsuccessful attempts, he reached the summit via the long east ridge route in 2002 with Alberto Iñurrategi, who shot this picture. The glare in the photo is not original and caused by manual scanning.

Macchapuchare seen from the summit of Annapurna, photographed by Jean-Christophe Lafaille on his 2002 summit. The glare in the photo is not original and caused by manual scanning.

After summitting the Ogre with Chris Bonington in 1977, Doug Scott slipped on the descent and broke both his legs not far from the summit ridge. This photo shows him that evening, forced to take shelter in a snow cave due to a storm. Unable to walk, Scott had to crawl the rest of the way down the mountain. Later on their desperate descent, Bonington also slipped and broke his ribs. Miraculously, both survived the climb.

Members of the Uruguayan Old Christians rugby team who survived their plane crash into the Andes spent over two months at 12,000 ft, with only the bodies of the dead for food. Here, Eduardo Strauch, Páez, and Gustavo Zerbino pose for a photo with a film camera recovered from the plane. At this point, they had been in the mountains for a month and a half.

Jamling Tenzing Norgay lighting his father Tenzing Norgay's funeral pyre in Darjeeling, 1986. Thousands of people filled the streets for the funeral.

Tenzing Norgay cutting steps up the Lhotse Face during the 1953 first ascent of Everest.

Tenzing Norgay crosses the Khumbu Icefall on a log felled from a nearby forest.

Sherpas on the successful 1953 Everest expedition. Not all the identities of those pictured are known, but the man in the foreground on the right is Tenzing Norgay's nephew Gombu.

Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary check each other's oxygen systems at 1953's Camp IV prior their successful ascent of Everest.