Merch
News
Panchangam
Apps
Downloads
For Teachers
Resources
About
PEOPLE
IDEAS
PLACES
CULTURE
CREATE
STORIES
GAMES
Tenzing Norgay
तेन्जिङ नोर्गे
The Tiger of the Snows — the first man on the summit of Everest
Years
1914 – 1986
Known as
Tenzing Norgay — the mountaineer
Birthplace
Khumbu, Nepal
Field
Sporting Legends
“It is not the mountain we conquer — it is ourselves.”
— Tenzing Norgay
The Story
Born in 1914 in the Khumbu region of the Himalaya, Tenzing grew up among the highest mountains of the world and became a mountain guide and porter for the expeditions that came to climb them. He was a natural mountaineer of extraordinary strength, courage, and skill — the Tiger of the Snows, as he came to be known.
He joined six expeditions to Mount Everest, and in 1953, in the British expedition led by John Hunt, he was chosen for the final assault. On 29 May 1953, Tenzing and Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Everest — the first human beings to stand on the roof of the world, after thirty years of attempts by the climbers of many nations.
He became a national hero, honoured across the world, and devoted his later years to the welfare of his Sherpa people. He died in 1986, honoured as one of the greatest mountaineers of all time — the man who stood where no one had ever stood before.
Core Ideas
The Summit
He and Hillary reached the top of Everest in 1953.
The Tiger of the Snows
The name given the great mountaineer.
The Six Attempts
He had tried the mountain six times before.
The 29 May 1953
The day the roof of the world was first reached.
The Sherpa Hero
He devoted his later years to his people.
Why it matters today
Tenzing Norgay is honoured as one of the two men who first stood on the summit of Everest — the Tiger of the Snows whose courage carried him to the roof of the world. His name is spoken wherever mountains are climbed, and his story remains one of the greatest chapters in the history of human achievement.