News of his summit reached London on the morning of a coronation. Tenzing Norgay had just done what nine expeditions across thirty years could not.
✊ Must Know
1. From 1935 to the First Confirmed Summit in 1953
- Birthplace Tenzing Norgay was born in 1914. His exact birthplace is disputed between Khumbu, Nepal, his own long-stated account, and Kharta Valley, Tibet, per later research.
- Early Expeditions As a teenager, he settled in Darjeeling. He joined his first Everest expedition, as a porter on Eric Shipton’s reconnaissance trip, in 1935. He took part in more Everest expeditions than any other climber of his generation.
- Data In May 1952, with Swiss climber Raymond Lambert, he reached 8,611 metres on Everest, a new altitude record. They turned back just 237 metres short of the summit.
- Result On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary became the first confirmed climbers to summit Everest, at 11:30am.
- Expedition Their expedition, led by Colonel John Hunt, was the ninth to attempt Everest, ending 30 years of British attempts on the mountain.
📘 Good to Know
2. Coronation-Day Timing, Nationality, and Honours
- Story News of the summit reached London in time to be announced on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, 2 June 1953.
- Nationality Norgay’s nationality reflects his complicated origins. He was Nepali by birth on his own account, Tibetan by ancestry, and became closely associated with India through decades of residence in Darjeeling.
- Director Role In 1954, he became the first Director of Field Training at the newly founded Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, set up with backing from Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Awards For the 1953 climb, he received Britain’s George Medal and Nepal’s Star of Nepal. In 1959, India awarded him the Padma Bhushan.
- Autobiography In 1955, he published his autobiography, “Man of Everest” (also published as “Tiger of the Snows”), written with James Ramsey Ullman.
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💎 Great to Know
3. The Secret They Kept for 33 Years
- Story Norgay and Hillary agreed never to reveal who set foot on the summit first. Both wanted the achievement shared, not ranked.
- Instead Indian and Nepalese press at the time wanted confirmation that Norgay had stepped first, seeing it as proof that local climbers matched foreign ones. Norgay and Hillary held to their agreement anyway.
- Result Only after Norgay’s death in 1986 did Hillary reveal the answer. He said he had reached the top first, by about ten feet.
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