 They were the first Westerners to get there (and amongst the first mountaineers to be allowed into Nepal).They examined the Khumbu Icefall to see whether it provided a means of climbing Everest and were the first observers of the higher parts of Everest from Khumbu - the route subsequently taken by Sir Edmund Hillary in Everest's first successful ascent.He attempted K2 again in 1953 (see Third American Karakoram Expedition).