On 13 May 1995, British woman Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas. She was only the second person in history to reach the top of Everest unaided; the first person was Reinhold Messner in 1980.

The first ascent of Mount Everest

The summit of Everest was first reached on 29 May 1953, by New Zealander Edmund Hillary, and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Since then, more than 600 climbers from 20 countries have climbed to the summit.

Mount Everest

Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth above sea level, and the highest point on the Earth's continental crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit, 8,850 meters (29,035 feet). The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in Asia, is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal, and Tibet, China.

Climbing mountains can be dangerous

Just three months to the day after her successful conquest of Everest, Alison Hargreaves was killed shortly after reaching the summit of Pakistan's K2. The climb to the summit took over 12 hours and what had started out as a beautiful clear day ended in the clouds with winds up to 140mph. Six climbers died that day on K2.

At least 100 people have died trying to reach the summit of Everest. Avalanches, falls in crevasses, cold, or the effects of thin air are the main causes of death on a mountain.