The Sherpa's Small Hero: Tenzing Norgay and the First Ascent
In 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached Everest's 8,849-meter peak without GPS or satellite phones. Their summit set a precedent, proving that unprecedented feats are possible, and it encouraged countless others. Indeed, in just the first ten days of this year's climbing season, over 500 people reached the same peak. Advances in technology, logistics, and communication now enable such numbers. The signal is clear: if someone has done something before, others can too. The opportunity has come.
Thanks to his friendship with Ang Tharkay, a Sherpa officer from the 1933 British Everest expedition, Tenzing was quickly added to Eric Shipton's 1935 Everest team after two other candidates failed their medical examinations. At 20 years old, this was a lucky break for him. Legend says his engaging smile captured Shipton's notice, which secured this invaluable opportunity.
Besides taking part in other mountaineering activities in various parts of India, Tenzing lived in Chitral (a region that became part of Pakistan after the Partition) in the early 1940s. Before that, his outstanding performance on that climb had earned him a guiding role on the official British Everest expeditions of 1936 and 1938. Through these expeditions, he acquired the skills required of a Sherpa guide, notably cooking Western meals, and the climbing teams unanimously praised his culinary talents.
After being persuaded in 1947, Tenzing joined Earl Denman's Swiss expedition, which made an illegal entry into Tibet. At 22,000 feet, a fierce storm struck, and the team was forced to abandon the climb; during this episode, he was recognized as an official expedition member. His first wife had died and was buried in Chitral in that period. And amid the 1947 Partition of India, he undertook a legendary return to Darjeeling—wearing an old military uniform given to him, traveling across India by train without a ticket, with his two daughters in tow.
Tenzing was said to be one of the few people who could get along with Giuseppe Tucci, the Tibetologist known for his eccentric and temperamental nature, which made him notoriously difficult to work with. In 1948, Tenzing accompanied Tucci on an archaeological survey in Tibet. Tenzing also participated in expeditions across India, Pakistan, and other countries. Of one occasion, he remarked, "This was the greatest honor I had received." After World War II, Nepal reopened its borders to foreigners, bringing an end to Britain's monopoly on Everest expeditions.
At that point, Tenzing had already climbed numerous other mountains, having faced both triumphs and setbacks. He belonged to the Himalayan Club, an organization that oversaw Sherpa operations. The club offered expedition guidance and services and kept comprehensive files on more than a hundred Sherpas, documenting their origins, employment histories, and skills. While Kathmandu eventually became the typical departure point for expeditions, Darjeeling continued to serve as the center where Sherpas were recruited.
The British, taken aback by the Swiss expedition's success, saw 1953 as their critical opportunity to conquer Everest. They put together a large-scale expedition with careful planning. He served as sirdar (head Sherpa) for Eric Shipton's Everest expeditions in 1951 and 1952. Even though some claimed he was living in poverty at the time, it was evident long before his Everest triumph that he was exceptional among the new generation of Sherpa climbing leaders.
Tenzing Norgay's seventh attempt to reach the summit came the following year, when he served as the sirdar (chief Sherpa) on the British Ninth Everest Expedition. That both he and Hillary were invited was largely a matter of luck. According to reports, his friends pressed the expedition team to treat him as a full climbing member rather than merely a guide. Tenzing later told reporters: " I had climbed six times. The seventh time, I told myself I could not fail.
The Swiss had already established that precedent: they treated Tenzing as an equal, partnering him with Alpine guide Raymond Lambert for their near-summit attempt—something the British found radical. In 1975, when recalling his first meeting with Tenzing in Kathmandu, Hillary wrote: "I was eager to meet Tenzing Norgay... Tenzing certainly looked the part— taller than most Sherpas, powerfully built and energetic, with an irresistible radiant smile. He showed endless patience with all our questions and demands .
By January 1953, the expedition’s camp had already been established at the 26,000-foot South Col. What stood out unmistakably was that Tenzing’s personal ambition far exceeded that of any Sherpa I had encountered before. His prior achievements had instilled in him tremendous physical self-assurance.
Until World War II, Western colonialism cast a shadow over much of Asia. At a dinner there, Tenzing made a vow: to "climb Everest or die." In contrast to most Sherpas of his era, who regarded mountaineering mainly as a tough way to earn a living, he once explained, "Because in my heart, Everest pulled at me more strongly than any force on Earth." By accomplishing a goal shared by the whole world, Tenzing became a symbol of renewed pride and a reimagined future.
Tenzing was equally celebrated for his leadership and the humility of his Asian style, as well as for his infectious enthusiasm. Symbolically, he seemed larger than life as he stood atop Everest—the first ordinary Asian to gain worldwide renown. For millions, his achievement was not merely the conquest of a mountain; it held out the promise of brighter possibilities for themselves and their world.
Before leaving for the expedition, Tenzing had asked his friend Rabindranath Mitra to look after his family should he die. Ralph Izzard, a Daily Mail journalist who briefly accompanied the trek, described Tenzing as giving "concise orders in a tone demanding instant obedience" and possessing "all the authority of a regimental commander." Hunt added that Tenzing's "courage and determination were tremendously strong" and that "physically, he was superb.
Conquering the Roof of the World At that period, the upper reaches of the Himalayas were still largely unmapped, and it was uncertain whether any climber could reach the top. During April and May 1953, the team—which consisted of mountaineers, a physiologist, a filmmaker, and a journalist—established a chain of camps, climbing step by step. By 1953, he had likely accumulated more time on Everest than anybody else and had approached its summit more closely.
On May 26, two teammates were forced to turn back just 300 vertical feet short of the summit, near the South Col, after their oxygen equipment failed. The final, historic attempt was made by Tenzing and Hillary, who had blazed a new route via the treacherous and unstable Khumbu Glacier, up the Western Cwm, and along Lhotse's southern flank to the South Col at about 26,000 feet. Because the lack of oxygen prevented continuous sleep that long night, they divided their rest into shifts: 9–11 PM and 1–3 AM.
In the early hours of the next morning, Hillary and Tenzing devoted considerable time to warming themselves and checking their equipment. Hillary's boots were frozen solid outside the tent, so he spent two hours thawing them over the small stove's flame. They also melted ice for drinking water, since dehydration represented a critical danger. Earlier, between 11 PM and 1 AM, they had kept each other awake with sips of hot lemonade to preserve warmth and hydration, and after 3 AM, as oxygen diminished, they ate again to store energy for the climb.
At 6:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, they crawled out of the tent, pulling on wool vests, down jackets and trousers, three pairs of gloves, and insulated boots. After donning goggles and oxygen sets, they stepped into the biting cold. Laboring through crusted snow, they trudged toward the ridge above, where dawn’s light now touched the heights. In the far-off darkness, the faint flickering lights of Tengboche Monastery still glimmered, where monks prayed for their safety.
At the ridge's crest, wind-scoured snow, occasionally blade-sharp, covered the summit. The fine powdery snow on the steep slope offered no purchase for their ice axes, so they progressed slowly, reaching the South Summit only at 9 a.m. Tenzing later wrote: "About a hundred feet below the summit, we reached the highest rock ledge. It was nearly wide enough to pitch two tents—I wondered if anyone would ever camp so close to the top of the world. I picked up two small stones and put them in my pocket to carry back down.
On a slope that threatened to avalanche, a slip by either climber would have been impossible to stop. Eric Shipton, in The Mountaineering Art , recounts how Hillary admitted to being "shaking with fear" before asking Tenzing what he thought. "Very bad—very dangerous!" Tenzing answered. When Hillary asked whether they should continue, Tenzing replied, "As you wish." Tenzing later described the spot as "one of the most dangerous places I’d ever been on the mountain." They kept going nonetheless, only to find a 40-foot rock face ahead.
Everest alone had his heart. Despite the perilous conditions, Hillary took the lead, scaling a crack in the cliff. At 11:30 a.m., they stood at the 29,028-foot summit of Everest, the Earth’s highest point. Tenzing Norgay, 1953, ©gettyimages This piece was translated from Aguo's blog.