Everester

English

WOTD – 11 January 2018

Etymology

On 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary (1919–2008; left) and Tenzing Norgay (1914–1986) became the first climbers known to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth above sea level

From Everest +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛvɹɪstəɹ/, /ˈɛvəɹɪstəɹ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ev‧er‧est‧er

Noun

Everester (plural Everesters)

1. Someone who climbs Mount Everest.
   • 1935, Ladies’ Alpine Club, London: Ladies' Alpine Club, →OCLC, page 50:

     The book opens on a happy note. Sir Francis Younghusband, doyen of Everesters, says in his Foreword "Everest is the symbol of the loftiest spiritual height of Man's imagination," a view with which no mountaineer will quarrel since it is the very essence of his creed.

   • 1952 December, Gardner Soule, “Footprints: They Belong to the Abominable Snowman, which may be Monkey, Bear—or Cave Man. New Everest Expedition Hopes to Find Out.”, in Volta Torrey, editor, Popular Science, volume 161, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Popular Science Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 134:

     The Snowman definitely exists. The British mountaineers have photographed and measured its tracks. The first European to report the mysterious tracks was the first Everester of them all, Lt. Col. C[harles] K[enneth] Howard-Bury. He startled British scientists in 1921 with the news that his expedition had discovered at 21,000 feet "the track of what was probably a large, loping gray wolf, which had tracks very like those of a barefooted man."

   • 1953 July, Gardner Soule, “Young Doctor Tackles ‘The Unclimbable Peak’: New Englander Leads Team of Americans against Perils of Second-highest Mountain”, in Volta Torrey, editor, Popular Science, volume 163, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Popular Science Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 73 and 206:

     [page 73] When a mountaineer finds a route he can climb, he says it will "go," and he says he can "go." As the Americans this month try to go up K-2, they will face […] [page 206] obstacles that caused Eric Shipton, today's great British Everester, to say that K-2 demands better mountaineering "than at present exists."

   • 1955, Edmund Hillary, “To Everest, 1951”, in High Adventure, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →OCLC; republished as High Adventure: The 50th Anniversary of the Historic Climb, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, →ISBN, page 29:

     The only photograph we possessed of the slopes leading to the South Col was a rather unsatisfactory aerial one. It made the upper slopes look impossibly steep. We called it our 'horror photograph', and it was produced whenever one of the party became too optimistic. After perusing it for a while, even the most enthusiastic Everester tended to develop the attitude of: 'Let's go and find we can't climb it! Then we can go away and get down to some really enjoyable exploration!'

   • 1994, Patrick French, “Running the Jog and Climbing Mount Everest”, in Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer, London: HarperCollins, →ISBN:

     So it was that the myth was born of the Everesters, those lithe and romantic young Englishmen with their Chamonix caps, thick tweed coats and stout walking boots, who pitted their wits and their character against Chomolungma, the Goddess Mother of the World.

   • 1996, Dilaram Shabab, “The Changing Profile”, in Kullu: Himalayan Abode of the Divine, New Delhi: M. L. Gidwani, Indus Publishing Company, published 1999 printing, →ISBN, page 57:

     On May 10 [1993], Santosh Yadav became the first woman to climb the Everest for the second time. […] The expedition was led by Bachendri Pal, India's first woman Everester.

2. (cycling) One who takes part in Everesting.

Translations

someone who climbs Mount Everest

Anagrams

• revertees