Who took the iconic photo?
Edmund Hillary took the photo using a modest and compact Kodak Retina camera loaded with Kodachrome colour film, he kept the camera inside his jacket during the final ascent to keep it from freezing.
Why is there not a photo of Edmund Hillary atop Everest?
Hillary apparently refused a photograph when Tenzing Norgay offered to return the favour. How long did it take Hillary and Norgay to climb Everest?
Hillary and Norgay launched their summit attempt from Camp 9 at 6:30am and made history five hours later at 11:30am.
It had taken 47 days from when the leading "Icefall party" of the expedition had reached Base Camp at 17,900 ft (5455 m) on April 12, 1953.
Did Hillary or Tenzing reach the summit first?
Colonel John Hunt, the expedition leader, declared, "They reached it together, as a team." This came after Hunt, Hillary and Norgay aware of their momentous achievement, spreading fame and political pressures had discussed the matter and "agreed not to tell who stepped on the summit first."
In Hillary's words "when we came out toward Kathmandu, there was a very strong political feeling, particularly among the Indian and Nepalese press, who very much wanted to be assured that Tenzing was first. That would indicate that Nepalese and Indian climbers were at least as good as foreign climbers. We felt quite uncomfortable with this at the time. John Hunt, Tenzing, and I had a little meeting. We agreed not to tell who stepped on the summit first."
Hillary added "To a mountaineer, it's of no great consequence who actually sets foot first. Often the one who puts more into the climb steps back and lets his partner stand on top first."
The pact stood until years later, when Tenzing revealed in his autobiography, "Tiger of the Snows", that Hillary had in fact preceded him.
How old were Hillary and Norgay when they climbed Everest?
Edmund Hillary was 34 years old and incredibly Tenzing Norgay celebrated his 39th birthday on the very day they summited Mount Everest. Imagine celebrating your birthday on top of the world!
How many times did Tenzing Norgay climb Everest?
Norgay had been to the mountain six times before achieving success with Hillary, including to a then record height of 28,210 feet (8,598 meters) in 1952 as part of a Swiss expedition. As he would later tell a reporter: "Six times I climbed the mountain. The seventh time, I tell myself I cannot fail."
After the successful ascent with Hillary in 1953, Norgay never climbed Mount Everest again.
Is Tenzing Norgay Still Alive?
No, Tenzing Norgay died in 1986 of a cerebral hemorrhage in Darjeeling, India. His climbing partner, Edmund Hillary passed away in 2008 of heart failure.
Photo Info
Photographer: Edmund Hillary
Date taken: May 29, 1953
Location taken: Mount Everest, Nepal
Source: Royal Geographical Society
Related Events
- 1953-04-12 Leading icefall party of the British expedition to climb Mount Everest reaches Base Camp at 17,900 ft (5455 m)
- 1953-05-29 Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) are first to reach the summit of Mount Everest as part of a British Expedition
Related Famous People
Mountaineer and Explorer
Edmund Hillary
Mountaineer and Explorer
Tenzing Norgay
