The first ascent of the Southwest Face of Everest

At 6pm on 24 September 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston, staggered up the final slopes of Everest’s Southeast Ridge and became the first two Brits to stand on top of the world’s highest mountain. They had also become the first to ascend by the Southwest Face, joining the standard Southeast Ridge route close to the South Summit, in a classic siege-style expedition led by Chris Bonington.

At 7pm on 24 September 2015, forty years later, ten members of that expedition assembled at the Royal Geo...