21 Are First to Reach Mt. Everest This Year

Twenty-one climbers became the first to scale Mt. Everest this year. But Tom Whittaker, 49, of Arizona, who lost his foot in a car accident, had to turn back when he fell ill with pulmonary edema, a swelling of blood vessels. Successful mountaineers included the first Iranian team to scale Everest and American Wally Berg, who set up scientific monitoring equipment.