On this Day

Edmund P. Hillary of New Zealand, left, and Sardar Tenzing Norgay of Nepal

On this Day: First Climbers Reach Peak of Mount Everest

May 29, 2008 12:10 AM
by findingDulcinea Staff
On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and sherpa Tenzing Norgay of Nepal battled ice and storms to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
  • Email This
  • Send Feedback

30-Second Summary

Hardly alone in their endeavor, Hillary and Norgay were a part of a sizable effort that included a dozen climbers, 35 Nepalese Sherpas and more than 350 porters carrying some 18 tons of food and supplies, led by Col. John Hunt.

Dispatched after an initial team was forced to turn back in a paralyzing storm, Hillary and Norgay set out alone for the final ascent to the summit, leaving their support crew and camp shortly after 6 a.m.

Just 2,000 feet short of the peak, the pair stopped and battled cold through the night, making camp on a six-foot overhang that slanted 30 degrees downward.

On their final ascent the next day, they encountered rocks, ice and powder, which gave way beneath Hillary’s feet, sending him 30 feet down before he could regain hold. Looking down, Hillary said he could see 10,000 feet beneath him.

Working their way through the ice, up a narrow crevice and across a daunting ridge, the team arrived at the peak shortly before noon. “The whole world around us, lay spread like a giant relief map,” Hillary later wrote.

Leaving behind a crucifix on behalf of Col. Hurt and Norgay’s gift of biscuits and chocolate to the gods of the mountain, the two men planted flags on behalf of the United Nations, Nepal and the United Kingdom before eating a mint pie and starting their descent.

Headline Links: ‘Conquest of Everest’

Video: ‘Storm on the Mountain’

Background: Earlier efforts end in death; ‘Because it’s there’

Later Developments: Today’s Everest tourism industry

Related Topic: Indian Airforce plans skydive onto Everest

Key Players: Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary

Reference: The view from the summit

Most Recent Beyond The Headlines