Of over 2, 200 climbers who have made it to the top of the world's tallest peak since it was first conquered, only 19 have done so via this route.

CNN: The height of teamwork on Everest

Shoes, suits, dresses and even hats have all become the obsessions of many of the people who have conquered if not the world, then at least parts of it.

CNN: Power dressing: What world leaders' clothes say about them

In an age where we tend rather arrogantly to see Christianity as a phenomenon of the developed world - the faith that colonising Europeans took to the territories they conquered - it's worth remembering that the Middle East is the cradle of that faith.

BBC: Syria war fuels Christian flight from Middle East