A Swiss follows his father’s footsteps up Everest

Everest has been the ultimate mountain climber challenge for more than half a century (picture: www.msci.memphis.edu) www.msci.memphis.edu

A Swiss expedition has reached the summit of Everest, 50 years after an ancestor of one of the climbers narrowly failed to scale the peak.

Yves Lambert this week succeeded where his father failed in 1952 to become the first person to scale the world’s highest mountain. Raymond Lambert was forced to abandon his attempt when he was just a few hundred metres from the summit.

The team also included Tashi Tenzing, the grandson of the world’s most famous Sherpa who reached the summit with Edmund Hillary a year after the elder Lambert’s expedition.

The Swiss team was the first to scale the summit of Everest this season. Their climb was on a busy day, which saw no less than 54 people reach the top of the world. One of its members, Apa Sherpa, added yet another ascent to his already world-breaking tally of 11 successful climbs.

“This is the last time I will ‘summit’ Mount Everest,” Apa Sherpa told swissinfo after the climb.

Special relationship

The Swiss expedition has been filmed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Swiss attempt on Everest. The film also focuses on the special relationship between the Nepalese Sherpa guides and the Swiss climbers.

Tashi Tenzing told swissinfo there was a special feeling between the Swiss and the Nepalese. “My grandfather, even though he was associated with Edmund Hillary all his life, always had a very soft spot for Raymond Lambert. The two men had a very good relationship.”

He added: “Sherpa Tenzing said the friendship between the Swiss and the Sherpa was a lot stronger than that with the British. That’s because the Swiss treated the Sherpa as colleagues and friends, unlike the British who treated them like employees.”

swissinfo