New records, reflection mark Everest 60th SIXTY years ago this week two men became the first to stand on the roof of the world in a remarkable feat of endurance and strength of the human spirit. As the May 29 anniversary of Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary's summit of Mount Everest approaches, hundreds of people from all walks of life, and with varying motivations, are trying to follow in their footsteps. With May the ideal month to climb in the Himalayas, some 500 have already succeeded this year, including an octogenarian, the first female amputee, the first women from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and the first female climber to summit twice in one season. When they reached the top some triumphantly telephoned their loved ones, while others posed for pictures on the peak. While the tourism generated by Everest is important for Nepal, Norgay's grandson Tashi Tenzing, 49, said understanding the value of the Himalayas and protecting them for future generations was also crucial. "I think the achievement by my grandfather and Edmund Hillary was great and historic," says Tashi, himself an Everest mountaineer, based in Kathmandu. But I also think that the 60th anniversary is a time to reflect on the mountain and what we have done to it. As we celebrate the 60th anniversary we must learn the lessons from our experience on the mountains," he said. To mark the anniversary, Hillary's son Peter, and Norgay's son Jamling, will join Queen Elizabeth II at a diamond jubilee event at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Celebratory events back on Everest range from a clean-up campaign at base camp to a high-altitude marathon. In Kathmandu a gala featuring record-setting summiteers and top brass from Nepal's government will be held at the palace. Despite the celebrations, the anniversary may already have been marred by accidents and an outburst of violence that erupted on the mountain earlier this year. In a reminder of the treachery of Everest, an elite Nepalese mountaineer plunged to his death in an icy crevasse. He had been rigging ropes for hundreds of hopefuls behind him -- the first time an "icefall doctor" has perished on the mountain. And then in the season's defining moment a brawl broke out high on the mountain in late April. Two European professional climbers, Ueli Steck of Switzerland and Italian Simone Moro, along with a British alpine photographer, exchanged blows with a group of Nepalese Sherpas, reportedly over turf rights while negotiating an ice field. Despite signing a 'peace accord' with the Sherpas, the trio left the mountain 48 hours later saying the incident had killed their "climbing spirit." Everest was named in 1852 by the colonial-era Great Trigonometrical Survey of India which singled out the until then unremarkable peak in the eastern Himalayas as the tallest mountain in the world.