Tenzing Norgay
On the summit of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953
Born	May, 1914 Kharta Valley, Tibet
Died	9 May 1986 Darjiling, India
Occupation	mountaineer, tour guide
Spouse	Dawa Phuti, Ang Lahmu, Dakku
Children	Pem Pem, Nima, Jamling and Norbu

Tenzing Norgay (May 1914 – 9 May 1986), often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer. He and Edmund Hillary were the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... “Everest” redirects here. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), having the two names different connotations; see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the... May 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (130th in leap years). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Toy Train approaching Darjeeling Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal and headquarters of Darjeeling district, situated in the foothills of the Himalaya at elevations of between 2,000 and 3,000 metres above sea level. ... Jamling Tenzing Norgay (b. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... May 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (130th in leap years). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The word Sherpa originally referred to an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Niple, high into the Himalayas (although many of them now live in India). ... Mountaineering is an umbrella term that can variously be used to describe the actions of climbing, hillwalking and scrambling. ... Edmund Hillary on the New Zealand 5 dollar note Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE (born July 20, 1919) is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, most famous for the first successful climb of Mount Everest. ... “Everest” redirects here. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Early life

Tenzing came from a peasant family from Khumbu in Nepal, very near Mount Everest, which the Sherpas call Chomolungma. At the time he climbed Everest it was generally believed that he was born there, but in the 1990s it emerged that he was actually born and spent part of his early life in the Kharta Valley region in Tibet to the east of Mount Everest, but this had been kept secret for political reasons. Khumbu is one of three subregions of the main Sherpa settlement of the Himalaya, the other two being Solu and Pharak. ... “Everest” redirects here. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), having the two names different connotations; see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the...

His exact date of birth is not known, but he knew it was in late May by the weather and the crops. After his ascent of Everest on 29 May, he decided to celebrate his birthday on that day thereafter. May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ...

He was originally called "Namgyal Wangdi", but as a child his name was changed on advice from the head lama and founder of the famous Rongbuk Monastery - Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. Tenzing Norgay translates as "wealthy-fortunate-follower-of-religion". His father, a yak herder, was Ghang La Mingma (who died in 1949) and his mother was Dokmo Kinzom (who lived to see him climb Everest); he was the 11th of 13 children, most of whom died young. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Mount Everest as seen from the Rongbuk Monastery. ... Binomial name Bos grunniens Linnaeus, 1766 Subspecies Bos grunniens grunniens Bos grunniens mutus The yak (Bos grunniens) is a long-haired humped domestic bovine found in Tibet and throughout the Himalayan region of south central Asia, as well as in Mongolia. ...

He ran away to Kathmandu twice as a boy, and, at age 19, eventually settled in the Sherpa community in Too Song Bhusti in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमाडौं, Nepal Bhasa: यें) is the capital city of Nepal and it is also the largest city in Nepal. ... Darjeeling (Nepali: , Bangla: দার্জিলিং) is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. ... West Bengal   (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ...

Mountaineering

He took part as a high-altitude porter in three official British attempts to climb Everest from the northern Tibetan side in the 1930s. Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), having the two names different connotations; see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the...

Tenzing also took part in other climbs in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, and for a time in the early 1940s he lived in what is now Pakistan; he said that the most difficult climb he ever took part in was on Nanda Devi East, where a number of people were killed. Nanda Devi is the highest mountain which is completely within the territory of India and was also the highest mountain in the British Empire at its fullest extent. ...

In 1947, he took part in an unsuccessful summit attempt. An eccentric Englishman Earl Denman, Ange Dawa Sherpa, and he entered Tibet illegally to attempt the mountain; the attempt ended when a strong storm at 22,000 ft pounded them. Denman admitted defeat and all three turned around and safely returned.

In 1952, he took part in two Swiss expeditions led by Raymond Lambert, the first serious attempts to climb Everest from the southern Nepalese side, during which he and Lambert reached the then record height of 8,599 m (28,215 ft). Raymond Lambert (18 October 1914 - 25 February 1997) was a Swiss mountaineer, who with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached an altitude of 8611 metres (just 237 metres from the summit) of Mount Everest in May 1952. ...

Success on Mount Everest

In 1953, he took part in John Hunt's expedition, his own seventh expedition to Everest, in which he and Hillary became the first to reach the summit. Afterwards he was met with adulation in India and Nepal, and even worshipped by some people who believed he must be an incarnation of Buddha or Shiva. Image File history File links Norgay. ... Image File history File links Norgay. ... Lord John Hunt (June 22, 1910 - 8 November 1998) was a British officer who is best known as the leader of the 1953 expedition to Mount Everest. ... Media:Example. ... “Nilakantha” redirects here. ...

Tenzing admits in his story that Edmund Hillary stepped on the top of Everest first and then he stepped up after.

Tenzing and Hillary were the first people to conclusively set their feet on the summit of Mount Everest, but journalists were persistently repeating the question which of the two men had the right to the glory of being the first one, and who was merely the second, the follower. In his ignorance he told the journalist honestly that it was he who was the first. After the press and especially the British (who funded the whole expedition) fell over Tenzing's remarks he changed his statement.^{[dubious — see talk page]}

Tenzing stressed the unity of such teams and of their achievements. He shrugged off the allegation of ever being pulled by anyone, but disclosed that Hillary was the first to put his foot on the summit. He concluded: "If it is a shame to be the second man on Mount Everest, then I will have to live with this shame."^[1] Another interesting aside of this ascent was that all the photos that existed of the mountaineers on the top showed only Tenzing. When asked why there were no photos featuring Hillary, Sir Edmund replied, "Tenzing did not know how to operate the camera and the Everest top was no place to start teaching him how to use it".

Family life

Tenzing was married three times. His first wife, Dawa Phuti, died young in 1944. With her he had a son, Nima Dorje, who died at the age of four, and two daughters: Pem Pem, who had a son Tashi Tenzing who climbed Everest, and Nima, who married a Filipino graphic designer, Noli Galang. His second wife was Ang Lahmu, a cousin of his first wife. They had no children, but she acted as stepmother to his daughters. His third wife was Dakku, whom he married while his second wife was still alive, as allowed by Sherpa custom, and with her he had his sons Jamling and Norbu. Other relatives include his nephews, Nawang Gombu and Topgay, who took part in the 1953 Everest expedition. Tashi Tenzing (born 30 November 1965 in Darjeeling) is a Sherpa mountaineer and writer. ... Jamling Tenzing Norgay (b. ... Nawang Gombu (born 1936) is a Sherpa mountaineer. ...

After Everest

Tenzing later became director of field training for the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. In 1978, he founded a company, Tenzing Norgay Adventures, that offers trekking in the Himalaya. As of 2003, the company was run by his son Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who himself reached the summit of Everest in 1996. Tenzing died in Darjeeling (now Darjiling), West Bengal, India in 1986. The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) was created on November 4, 1954 to encourage mountaineering as an organized sport in India. ... Darjeeling (Nepali: , Bangla: দার্জিলিং) is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. ... Many beautiful natural scenes are only accessible if one is willing to hike to get to them. ... Perspective view of the Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ... Jamling Tenzing Norgay (b. ... Darjeeling (Nepali: , Bangla: দার্জিলিং) is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. ... The Toy Train approaching Darjeeling Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal and headquarters of Darjeeling district, situated in the foothills of the Himalaya at elevations of between 2,000 and 3,000 metres above sea level. ... West Bengal   (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ...

References

1. ^ Tenzing Norgay and James Ramsey Ullman, Man of Everest (1955, first published as Tiger of the Snows)

• Tenzing Norgay and Malcolm Barnes After Everest (1978)
• Everest Exposed (an account of the 1953 expedition)
• Tashi Tenzing and Judy Tenzing, Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas of Everest
• Ed Webster, Snow in the Kingdom (2000)

James Ramsey Ullman (1907–1971) was an American writer and mountaineer. ... Tashi Tenzing (born 30 November 1965 in Darjeeling) is a Sherpa mountaineer and writer. ...

External links

• Article on him from Royal Geographical Society
• Entry from people database
• Tenzing Norgay Adventures

The Royal Geographical Society is a learned society, founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical science, under the patronage of King William IV. It absorbed the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa (founded by Joseph Banks in...

Trivia

• Mentioned repeatedly in the 2003 Coen Brothers' film Intolerable Cruelty.