Mt. Lhotse is connected to Everest via the South Col and is the fourth highest mountain in the world. The main summit is 8,516 m while Lhotse Middle (East) is 8,414 metres and Lhotse Shar is 8,383 metres. Very often, climbers making an attempt on Everest, go up the Lhotse to acclimatize. In fact, the usual route leading to Everest starts up the northwest face of Lhotse and then cuts across to the more famous mountain. An early attempt on Lhotse was made by the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition. It was led by Norman Dyhrenfurth and also included two Austrians, Erwin Schneider and Ernst Senn as well as two Swiss climbers, Bruno Spirig and Arthur Spöhel. It was also the first expedition in the Everest area to include Americans: Fred Beckey, George Bell, and Richard McGowan.

They climbed up the West Cwm and the northwest face of Lhotse reaching an altitude of 8,100 metres. They were beaten back by unexpectedly strong wind and cold temperatures. Working under cartographer Schneider’s direction, they completed the first map of the Everest area. They also made several short films on local cultural topics. Besides trying to summit Lhotse, the expedition also made a number of first ascents of smaller peaks in the Khumbu region.