Himalayan Expeditions
Bishop's work on shear moraines brought him to the attention of Sir Edmund Hillary, who invited him to join the Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition of 1960–1961, where he served as the expedition's official glaciologist and climatologist. Though he was not sponsored by National Geographic on the trip, his photographic, scientific, and mountaineering accomplishments cemented his career with the Society. With fellow expedition members Mike Gill, Mike Ward and Wally Romanes, Bishop made the landmark first ascent of Ama Dablam, which was also the first winter ascent in the Himalayas.
Barry's success with the Hillary expedition and his work with National Geographic led to an invitation to join the 1963 American Everest Expedition, which aimed to make the first American ascent of Mount Everest. He was transferred to the National Geographic editorial staff and wrote an account of the expedition for the magazine, accompanied by his photography. On nearing the mountain, the expedition decided to attempt the unclimbed West Ridge, and Bishop helped establish a route up to the summit pyramid at 25,100 feet (7,700 m) before transferring to the portion of the team attempting the South Col. Via that route, Jim Whittaker summitted on May 1, becoming the first American to do so. In the following weeks, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld continued the attempt on the West Ridge, and Bishop and Lute Jerstad attempted the South Col. After a stove accident early on the morning of May 22, the pair began the summit attempt, reaching the South Summit at 2:00 p.m. and the main summit at 3:30. They waited on the summit for signs of Hornbein and Unsoeld, who were also due to reach the summit that day, but short of oxygen and seeing no sign of them, they began the descent at 4:15. As darkness fell around 7:30, they made voice contact with Hornbein and Unsoeld, who had summitted and were descending the South Col. After rendezvousing and descending further, the four decided to bivouac. During the night, temperatures reached −18 °F, and Bishop sustained frostbite that would result in the loss of all his toes and the tip of his little finger.
On July 8, 1963, the team was awarded the Hubbard Medal by president John F. Kennedy for their achievement.
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