Music: J. Willgoose. Esq. Once there was a mountain called Peak XV Nothing was known about it In 1852 the surveyors found it was the highest in the world And they named it Everest When men were first drawn to Everest It was an unknown quantity Something entirely beyond them A climber climbs with his guts, his brain, his soul, and his feet All bound for a cold and white world A world that is all up and up The air is getting thinner and thinner At such heights when you're lacking oxygen You may think you're normal but you're not You're moving in a dream A dream that deludes and debilitates Two very small men cutting steps in the roof of the world Why should a man climb Everest? Because it is there