Alpana Rai is currently studying a Bachelor of Education and has taught at Bashuki Basic School for four years.  She has also participated in REED Teacher Training for the last three years as a part of the Teacher Training and Quality Inclusive Education Program (TTQIE) delivered in partnership by REED Nepal and the Australian Himalayan...Read More

On 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest during a British expedition led by John Hunt. It was a stunning achievement that inspired people around the globe. Fifty-nine years later in 2012, I had the good fortune of being invited to join the organising committee for a series...Read More

While many of us retain mixed memories of eating lunch at school, we are doubtless in agreement of the fact that having a meal halfway through the day kept us going until it was time to go home. In 2018, a group of Trustees from Himalayan Trust UK visited several different schools in the Taplejung...Read More

Working in partnership: the legacy of Mount Everest 1953 When news of the world’s first successful ascent to the very top of Mount Everest hit the world’s press on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, life changed for a large number of people. Not least the team members themselves. They were led by the...Read More

The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit on 29 May 1953. Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organised and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee. Ang Norbu, Dawa Thondup, Da Namgyal, Tashi Phutar, Ang...Read More

After the Cho Oyu expedition the Everest committee appointed as oxygen controller Peter Lloyd, who had used oxygen on Everest in 1938 (and as oxygen officer for the 1953 expedition, Tom Bourdillon). At the committee’s request, a group of experts was brought together by the M.R.C., under the chairmanship of Sir Brian Matthews, to consider...Read More

Queen Elizabeth II, the Coronation and Everest 1953 Queen Elizabeth II has sadly died and with her passing has gone a ‘constant’ from our lives. She was a global icon of tremendous standing and made many important connections with people from across Britain, the Commonwealth and beyond. However, it was the astounding serendipity of the...Read More

In February 1956 The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was established. It would be for boys aged 15-18. It was administrated, and largely first designed by John Hunt, in conjunction with the Duke of Edinburgh and Kurt Hahn. Following the successful ascent of Mount Everest, John Hunt retired from the army, having been invited by the...Read More

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over half the population lives on $3 a day or less and many families often need to walk for hours to reach basic services like safe water, health care, and schools. How it started? It all began when Sir Edmund Hillary asked a Sherpa if...Read More

Humans are not designed to survive above 8,000 metres (26,246 feet). Yet, despite this indisputable scientific fact, people have managed to climb to the highest point on Earth, the summit of Mount Everest, at a staggering 8,848 metres (29,028 feet). Dr Melanie Windridge, plasma physicist and adventurer, reached the summit of Mount Everest in May...Read More