Tenzing Norgay
(1914–1986)

Born in Nepal in 1914, Tenzing Norgay, along with Sir Edmund Hillary, were the first two people to ever set foot on the summit of Mount Everest.

As a child, Norgay ran away from his home in Solo Khumbu, Nepal. Solo Khumba is a place inhabited by Sherpa farmers, a Tibetan people skilled in mountain climbing. He made his way to Darjeeling, in West Bengal, India. There, he became a porter, accompanying foreign mountain climbers up Mount Everest. After World War II, Norgay became a Sirdar, an organizer of porters, and continued to accompany expeditions. In 1952, Norgay accompanied the Swiss on two separate expeditions, both of which were unsuccessful. Finally in 1953, Norgay, accompanying a British expedition led by Edmund Hillary, reached the summit at 11:30 AM on May 29th.

Norgay, with the help of James Ramsey Ullman, chronicled his amazing adventure in his autobiography, Tiger of the Snows (1955). Norgay died shortly before his seventy-second birthday.

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