This is the only authentic photograph in existence with Mt Everest and a balloon in the same frame: Chris Dewhirst and QANTAS Check Captain, Aden Wickes, were the pilots, with Leo Dickinson filming.
Jan Reynolds took the photograph of the decade from a second balloon, piloted by Brian Smith and Phil Kavanagh, during the 1985 Everest hot air balloon expedition. Reynolds used a Nikon camera and kodachrome film, later digitalised for long term preservation.
The 1985 Everest balloon expedition sponsors included J&B distillery, however, the J&B logo has been digitally removed from Everest, Guns & Money. (Advertising alcohol is heavily restricted in many locations where the book is on sale). Other sponsors included Zanussi, The North Face, BOC Australia, Orana Films in Sydney, Channel 4 UK, Sir Richard Attenborough’s Goldcrest Company, Conqueror Systems and Kavanagh Balloons.
The photograph below was taken in 1991, a few miles south-west of Everest, at the Gokyo Lakes launch site, used for the first successful Everest balloon expedition. (There were 3 previous attempts to overfly Everest.) The 1991 Everest balloon expedition sponsors included National Geographic, Orana Films, Channel 4 UK, and Star Micronics.
Australian, Chris Dewhirst piloted the first balloon over Mt Everest, with Leo Dickinson, the UK, cameraman on board for the ride. The second balloon over Everest was piloted by Andy Elson, from the UK, with mountaineer, Eric Jones, the on-board cameraman.