The Vast Unknown: America's First Ascent of Everest

President John F. Kennedy awarded the team members
and five Sherpas the National Geographic Hubbard Medal.
[Credit: Abby Rowe/National Park Service]

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The U.S. State Department sent five Sherpas on a
goodwill tour of America—partly to cultivate their
assistance with a clandestine, CIA-funded operation
in the Indian Himalaya, designed to spy into China.
[Credit: Jim Lester]

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In 2003, the survivors of the expedition gathered
at the Colorado home of expert climber and skier
Barry Corbet. [Credit: Muffy Moore]

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