Accidental Blogger

Edmund Hillary, who along with Tenzing Norgay was the first known person to have climbed to the summit of Mount Everest has died at the age of 88.  On May 29, 1953,  they became the first men to climb the 29,035 feet to the top of the highest mountain peak in the world and safely return, a pioneering feat that has been compared to Amundsen’s trek to the South Pole, Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic and Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk.

Here is a report from the BBC for the 29th of May, 1953 about the successful adventure of Tenzing and Hillary: 

1953: Hillary and Tenzing conquer Everest

The New Zealander Edmund Hillary, and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, have become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border.

They reached the top of the world at 1130 local time after a gruelling climb up the southern face.

The two men hugged each other with relief and joy but only stayed on the summit for 15 minutes because they were low on oxygen.

Mr Hillary took several photographs of the scenery and of Sherpa Tenzing waving flags representing Britain, Nepal, the United Nations and India.

Sherpa Tenzing buried some sweets and biscuits in the snow as a Buddhist offering to the gods.

They looked for signs of George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine who had disappeared in 1924 in a similar attempt to conquer Everest, but found nothing.

Then they began the slow and tortuous descent to rejoin their team leader Colonel John Hunt further down the mountain at Camp VI.

When he saw the two men looking so exhausted Col Hunt assumed they had failed to reach the summit and started planning another attempt.

But then the two climbers pointed to the mountain and signalled they had reached the top, and there were celebrations all round. ….

Mr Hillary described the peak, which is 29,028 feet (8,847 m) above sea level, as "a symmetrical, beautiful snow cone summit".

Two perfect gentlemen, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary remained life long friends and apparently never spoke about the climb when they met each other. A former bee keeper and a tireless, intrepid adventurer, Sir Edmund Hillary also became a devoted friend to India and Nepal, returning to the region on numerous occasions to climb other mountain peaks and raft down rivers.  He was also New Zealand’s ambassador to Nepal and campaigned on behalf of Nepali Sherpas, the hardy Himalayan community whose knowledge, strength and help have been and continue to be as essential as oxygen to modern day mountain climbers.

When I was in grade school, the amazing feat of the conquest of Mt. Everest was still fresh in public memory and it captured the imagination of all young children. The conquering duo was much loved and honored in India. We saw them in person at public rallies and their pictures in the newspaper. My second or third grade text book lovingly chronicled their exploits. During play time we often played "Tenzing and Hillary" on any nearby hill, hillock or incline that was accessible to us. The arduous climb was imagined and imitated in childish glee with much slipping, huffing, puffing and heroic rescue of one climber by the other. In an upside down narrative of the western reporting which always put Hillary’s name first (note the BBC report), the media in newly independent India referred to the the climbing pair as Tenzing and Hillary. I still feel more natural in saying it in that order. We never really learned who among the two, Tenzing or Hillary, reached the summit first. Both declined to speak on that matter as far as I know (anybody knows?).  But in our make-believe mountaineering games, in the partisan spirit of giving the local boy the edge, Tenzing always set foot on the summit first.