In September 2013, the Government of Nepal named an entire peak after Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. (Image: shutterstock)
International Everest Day 2023: Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest, accompanied by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand
International Everest Day 2023: Namgyal Wangdi, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest, accompanied by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand. Norgay’s birthday is a matter of uncertainty. Norgay himself was not sure what date he was born, but he was certain that it was in late May.
Since he reached the top of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953, he decided to celebrate his birthday on the same date. International Mount Everest Day was formally declared by Nepal and first observed on 29 May in 2008 to commemorate Norgay and Hillary’s achievement.
Sagarmatha is the ancient Sanskrit and Nepali name of the peak, later known as Everest. In the Tibetan language, the highest mountain was known as “Chomolungma” or “Mother Goddess of the World”, before it was named after George Everest in 1865, a former Surveyor General of India, over his objections. despite.
Norgay hailed from Nepal, although there is conflicting information about where he was born. In an autobiography titled ‘Man of Everest: The Autobiography of Tenzing’, Norgay mentions that he was born and brought up in Tengboche village in Solukhumbu district of northeastern Nepal. However, his son, Jamling Tenzing Norgay, wrote in the book ‘Touching My Father’s Soul: A Sherpa’s Sacred Journey to the Top of Everest’ that Norgay was born in U-Tsang, Tibet, and grew up in Thame village, Nepal. Were.
Tenzing Norgay participated in six Everest expeditions, but none ever reached the summit of Mount Everest, which stands at 8,849 m (29,032 ft). Extreme low temperatures and strong winds, heavy snow and lack of oxygen have resulted in the deaths of over 300 climbers, including George Mallory and Andrew Irwin of the 1924 expedition.
Norgay got lucky on his seventh attempt. He and Hillary reached the summit at 11.30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, the first two climbers to do so. Norgay received the George Medal from Queen Elizabeth II that year, the Order of the Star of Nepal, First Class, and the Padma Bhushan in 1959, among other international honours. In September 2013, the Government of Nepal named an entire peak in his name.