Who Was the First Person to Climb Everest?

If you have stood in Kathmandu or trekked toward the high Khumbu, you have probably wondered who was the first person to climb Everest. The short answer is that two men did it together: Edmund Hillary, a beekeeper and mountaineer from New Zealand, and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa climber with roots in Nepal and India. On 29 May 1953 they became the first people confirmed to stand on the summit of the world's highest mountain. But the fuller story, including who stepped up first, the expeditions that failed before them, and why Tenzing's role matters so much in Nepal, is far more interesting than a single name.

Key takeaways

• The first people confirmed to reach the summit of Everest were Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay (Sherpa), on 29 May 1953.
• They climbed as a roped team on the South Col route from the Nepal side and reached the top at about 11:30 a.m.
• Hillary said he stepped on first by a moment, but both men always described the climb as a shared achievement.
• The expedition was the ninth British attempt on Everest and was led by Colonel John Hunt.
• Earlier climbers tried for decades; George Mallory and Andrew Irvine vanished near the top in 1924, and whether they summited is still unknown.
• Hillary and Hunt were knighted; Tenzing received the George Medal because he was not a Commonwealth citizen.

The short answer: Hillary and Tenzing, together

The first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest was made by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the morning of 29 May 1953. They were members of a British-organised expedition, and they pushed to the summit together, tied to the same rope, supporting each other the whole way.

It is worth being precise about the word "confirmed." Several climbers had tried and died on Everest in earlier decades, and at least one pair came tantalisingly close. But Hillary and Tenzing were the first whose success was documented and verified, with photographs taken on the summit and a team that could vouch for the climb. That is why history records them as the first.

Both men were experienced and tough. Hillary, then 33, was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. Tenzing, born in May 1914 and so in his late thirties, was already one of the most respected Sherpa climbers in the world and was attempting Everest for the sixth time.

Who were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay?

Edmund Hillary

Edmund Hillary was born in New Zealand in 1919 and came to climbing through the mountains of his home country before joining Himalayan expeditions. After 1953 he was knighted and went on to a long career of exploration and, importantly for Nepal, of charitable work. Through the trust he founded, he helped build schools, hospitals, and airstrips in the Khumbu region, leaving a legacy in Sherpa communities that goes well beyond a single summit.

Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing Norgay was a Sherpa mountaineer whose life was woven into the high valleys below Everest. He grew up around the Khumbu and Thame area and later based himself in Darjeeling, India, working as a porter and climber on numerous Himalayan expeditions. By 1953 he was the expedition's sirdar, the head of the Sherpa team, and a mountaineer of genuine world standing.

Accounts of Tenzing's exact birthplace differ. In his own autobiography he described being a Sherpa born in the Everest region of Nepal, while later accounts, including one co-written by his son, place his birth in the Kama Valley in Tibet, with his upbringing in Thame. What is not in doubt is his standing as a Sherpa hero, claimed with pride by both Nepal and India. To understand his community, see our guide to the Sherpa people and the wider piece on who the Sherpas are.

The 1953 expedition: how the climb unfolded

A huge, carefully planned effort

The 1953 climb was the ninth British expedition to attempt Everest, and it was organised on a grand scale. It was led by Colonel John Hunt and relied on hundreds of porters, around twenty Sherpas, and tonnes of supplies to put a small group of climbers in position high on the mountain. The plan was methodical: establish a chain of camps up the Nepal-side route, then send out pairs of climbers to make the final push.

The first summit attempt fell short

On 26 May 1953, two members of the team, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon, made the first summit bid. They climbed to the South Summit, a subsidiary high point, and came within roughly the last 90 metres of the true top before a malfunctioning oxygen set and exhaustion forced them to turn back. It was an agonisingly close attempt, and it set the stage for the second pair.

Hillary and Tenzing reach the top

Hillary and Tenzing were the second summit pair. From a small tent pitched very high on the Southeast Ridge, they set out early on 29 May 1953. They reached the South Summit around 9 a.m. and then faced the final ridge, including a steep rock step.

Hillary led the way up this awkward obstacle, wedging himself into a crack to haul his body up the rock; the feature has been known ever since as the Hillary Step. He then brought Tenzing up behind him. A short while later, at about 11:30 a.m., the two men stood on the summit of Everest, the first people confirmed to do so. Hillary photographed Tenzing holding ice axes with flags attached; there is no matching photo of Hillary on top, because Tenzing had never used the camera and the summit was no place for a lesson.

| 1953 expedition at a glance | Detail | | --- | --- | | Expedition leader | Colonel John Hunt (Britain) | | Summit pair | Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay | | Summit date | 29 May 1953 | | Approximate summit time | 11:30 a.m. | | Route | South Col, Nepal side | | Earlier attempt | Evans and Bourdillon, 26 May, turned back near the top |

Who actually stepped on the summit first?

This is one of the most-asked questions about the climb, and for years it was a sensitive one. In the days after the ascent, there was pressure to declare a single "first" man, which risked turning a team triumph into a contest between nations.

Hillary and Tenzing handled it with grace. Hillary eventually stated that he stepped onto the summit a moment ahead of Tenzing, simply because of the order they were climbing in. Tenzing, in his own account, confirmed that Hillary's foot touched the top first but stressed that they arrived as a team. Both men repeated, again and again, that they climbed together and should be remembered together. For most historians and for the people of Nepal, that shared answer is the right one.

Did anyone climb Everest before 1953?

The early attempts

Everest had drawn climbers for decades before 1953. In the 1920s, British expeditions approached from the Tibet side, since Nepal was then closed to outsiders. These early teams pushed higher and higher with primitive equipment, basic oxygen sets, and woollen clothing that would horrify a modern climber.

The Mallory and Irvine mystery

The most haunting story belongs to George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine. On 8 June 1924 they set off for the summit and were last seen alive only a few hundred vertical metres from the top before clouds closed in. They never returned. Mallory's body was found in 1999, and partial remains believed to be Irvine's were located in 2024, but neither discovery settled the question of whether they reached the summit before they died.

Because there is no proof they made it, and because they did not come back, the record of the first confirmed ascent still belongs to Hillary and Tenzing. But the Mallory and Irvine mystery remains one of the great unanswered questions in mountaineering, and it is a reminder of how deadly the mountain has always been. For more on that danger, see how many people die on Everest and the realities of the Everest death zone.

How the news reached the world

In 1953 there were no satellite phones on the mountain. Word of the success was carried on foot from base camp down to the radio post at Namche Bazar and then relayed by coded message to London. The timing was extraordinary: the news reached Britain on 1 June 1953, the day before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and was celebrated as a gift to the new monarch.

The honours that followed reflected the era as much as the achievement. Hillary and the expedition leader John Hunt were knighted by the Queen. Tenzing, because he was not a citizen of a Commonwealth country, was instead awarded the George Medal, a high British civilian honour. In Nepal and India he was, and remains, a national hero in his own right.

Why this story still matters in Nepal

For visitors today, the 1953 ascent is not just a history-book fact. It is the moment that put Nepal's mountains on the world map and helped launch the trekking and climbing industry that now welcomes travellers every season. The Khumbu region that Hillary and Tenzing climbed through is the same landscape you walk on the way to Everest Base Camp, and the Sherpa communities they relied on are central to that journey today.

If the story has you dreaming of the high Himalaya yourself, the good news is that you do not need to be a mountaineer to get close. The classic walk is the Everest Base Camp trek, which follows valleys steeped in this history. You can also read about what life is like for the Sherpas who make every Everest expedition possible. And before you go, learning a few basic Nepali phrases will earn you warm smiles in the teahouses along the trail.

Sources

• 1953 British Mount Everest expedition — Wikipedia
• Edmund Hillary — Britannica
• Tenzing Norgay — Wikipedia
• Tenzing Norgay — Britannica
• Mount Everest: The historic ascent of 1953 — Britannica
• Hillary and Tenzing reach Everest summit, 29 May 1953 — History.com
• Hillary and Tenzing reach summit of Everest — NZ History
• Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, 1953 — National Geographic
• 1924 British Mount Everest expedition — Wikipedia
• George Mallory — Britannica