Tenzing Norgay and Everest 1953

Tenzing Norgay and Everest 1953

Tenzing Norgay first joined an Everest expedition at age 20, when Eric Shipton was assembling the 1935 reconnaissance expedition. In 1953 he and Edmund Hillary reached the summit.1,2

Tenzing Norgay, 1953
original : OeiJamling Tenzing Norgay, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tenzing Norgay

May 9, 19863

Early years

At the age of twelve he migrated to Darjeeling in India, where many expeditions selected Sherpa guides and porters.4

Because of Ang Tharkay, his friend Tenzing Norgay got his first engagement as a Sherpa guide on the 1935 British Everest expedition.5

Norgay later said he knew Denman had little chance of succeeding but joined because the pull of Everest was stronger for him than any force on earth.6

The summit

Hunt directed Hillary and Tenzing to attempt the summit. They pitched a tent at 27,900 feet on 28 May while their support group returned down the mountain.7,8

Tenzing left chocolates at the summit as an offering, and Hillary left a cross given to him by John Hunt. Hillary photographed Tenzing with his ice-axe, but there is no photo of Hillary.9,10

Later life

Tenzing Norgay became the first Director of Field Training of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling when it was set up in 1954.11

Norgay died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Darjeeling on 9 May 1986, aged 71.3

  1. First Everest expedition12

    The 1935 expedition was Shipton's first as leader and the first for Tenzing Norgay.

  2. Base Camp established13

    Base Camp was established.

  3. First summit pair turns back14,15

    Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans set out but turned back exhausted high on the mountain.

  4. Summit reached2

    Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit at 11:30 am.

  5. Hillary is knighted15

    Hillary was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

  6. Himalayan Mountaineering Institute11

    Tenzing Norgay became the first Director of Field Training of the institute in Darjeeling.

  7. Death in Darjeeling3

    Norgay died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Darjeeling, aged 71.