Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing Norgay is a famed sherpa mountain climber who summited Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary. Norgay’s age and indeed where he was born are unknown – but it was either in Nepal or Tibet. He was the 11th of 13 children and was raised in Nepal. From a young age, Norgay was independent. He ran away from home twice before adulthood. The second time he landed in Darjeeling, India where he set up his roots and obtained Indian citizenship. Pushed to become a monk, Norgay decided the monastery was not the place for him, but instead elected to become a high-altitude porter. In 1935, at the age of 20, Norgay joined his first Everest expedition. He was not slated to be part of the team, but when two of the prospective team members failed their medical tests, Norgay was asked to join largely because of his smile and positive attitude. Over the years, Norgay participated in multiple attempted assents of Everest including the Swiss Mount Expedition of 1952 where he and Raymond Lambert reached a then record of 28,215 feet. In 1953, Norgay was asked to join John Hunt’s expedition (his seventh expedition). In the early stages of the ascent, Norgay saved the life of Edmund Hillary, prompting Hillary to denote him his climbing partner of choice for future summits. After several failed attempts by other members of the expedition, Norgay and Hillary were directed to try and complete the summit from the basecamp at 25,900 feet. On May 28th, Hillary found a crack in the last daunting part of the climb – a 40-foot rock wall known as “Hillary Step.” Overcoming this obstacle, Hillary became the first person to summit Everest with Norgay close behind him.

Interesting Facts

·       The highest known mountain range on the dwarf planet Pluto is named Tenzing Montes

·       Tenzing was awarded the honorary title of “merited Master of Sport of the USSR” becoming the only foreigner to receive this distinction.

·       While Hillary was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, it is believed that Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru refused to grant permission for Norgay to be knighted.

·       If you examine the picture closely, you will see a green signature. This is an actual signature of Tenzing Norgay.