Tenzing Norgay

Who is Tenzing Norgay?

Tenzing Norgay was a Sherpa mountaineer born in the Everest region around May 1914 (his exact birth date is uncertain, and he later adopted 29 May as a commemorative birthday). Raised in the Khumbu region of Nepal near Mount Everest before his family later settled in Darjeeling, he took part in numerous Himalayan expeditions from the 1930s onward, working as a high-altitude porter and guide for British, Swiss, and other mountaineering teams and gaining a reputation as one of the most capable and experienced climbers in the region. On 29 May 1953, as part of the British Mount Everest expedition led by John Hunt, Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary became the first climbers confirmed to reach the 8,849-metre summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. The achievement made him internationally celebrated and is regarded as one of the defining moments in the history of exploration and in Himalayan and Sherpa mountaineering. He later helped train generations of Nepali and Indian climbers and remained a leading figure in mountaineering until his death on 9 May 1986.

Sources: Tenzing Norgay — Wikipedia · Britannica, "Tenzing Norgay" · 1953 British Mount Everest expedition records