TENZING NORGAY

Tenzing Norgay was born on 29May 1914 in Nepal. He was employed in the British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition in 1935.

He participated in several expeditions thereafter. In 1947 the Swiss expedition which successfully reached the main summit of Kedarnath had Norgay in its team.

In 1953, Norgay took part in John Hunt's expedition, and successfully managed to reach the peak of Mount Everest along with Sir Edmund Hillary after overcoming many hurdles.

He became the first person known to reach Mount Everest’s peak. He accomplished this on 29 May 1953. He was named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20^th century by the Time magazine.

Tenzing Norgay stated “It has been a long road ... From a mountain coolie, a bearer of loads, to a wearer of a coat with rows of medals who is carried about in planes and worries about income tax.”

In 1954, the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was set up in Darjeeling; and Norgay became its first Director of Field Training. In 1978, he founded the Tenzing Norgay Adventures, an organization which provides trekking adventures in Himalayas. Upon his death in 1986, his body was cremated in the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.