Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay (right) each carried about 44 pounds of gear to help them in their climb.
On May 29, the South Asian country of Nepal celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first successful climb of Mount Everest. At 29,035 feet high, Everest is the world’s highest mountain. It is located in the Himalayan mountain range between Nepal and Tibet. On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the top of the mountain.
Hillary and Tenzing were part of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition. Hillary was a mountaineer from New Zealand who had worked as a beekeeper. He had also served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II. Tenzing was a Sherpa mountaineer from Nepal who was living in India.
The British had tried for more than 30 years to reach the top of Everest and hoped this latest expedition would be successful. The expedition team set up its base camp in March 1953 and slowly worked its way up the steep, snow-covered mountain. By late May, the team had set up its final camp at 25,900 feet. Hillary and Tenzing had to wait for two days for the snow and wind to let up before they made the treacherous final climb.
At first, Hillary claimed that he and Tenzing reached the top at the same time, but both said later that Hillary took the first steps onto Everest’s summit. News of their successful climb reached Britain on the morning of June 2, the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. The young queen later knighted Hillary for his achievement, and Tenzing received the British Empire Medal. They both became international heroes.
As part of the 60th anniversary celebration, the Nepalese government honored climbers who had followed in the footsteps of Hillary and Tenzing. Among them was Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who was the first to climb Everest without using bottled oxygen. Messner and the other climbers were taken around the city of Kathmandu in horse-drawn carriages. Hundreds of people marched behind them carrying banners commemorating the anniversary. In the decades following Hillary and Tenzing’s historic climb, thousands of adventurers have taken on the ultimate challenge of Everest.
Image credit: ©AP Photo
Related Links
- Video of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
Watch this short film of Hillary and Tenzing from 1953. - Sir Edmund Hillary: First Ascent of Mount Everest
View this Time photo essay of Hillary and Tenzing’s Everest adventure. - My Story: Edmund Hillary & Mt. Everest
Learn more about Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, and their historic climb.
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