Tenzing Norgay
A Mountaineer
Fact File
Name: Tenzing Norgay
Date and Place of Birth: May 1914, Khumbu, Nepal
Died: 9 May 1986 (age 71), Darjeeling, India
The place he lived: India
1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition
Tenzing Norgay was a mountaineer and he took part on a lot of expeditions to climb the Everest.
In 1952, he took part in the two Swiss expeditions led by Edouard Wyss- Dunant and Gabriel Chevalley, after two previous US and British expeditions in 1950 and 1951.
Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about 8,595m, setting a new climbing record. The expedition opened up a new route to climb on the Everest.
Tenzing Norgay and Raymond Lambert reached on 28 May the then-record height of 8,600 meters and during this expedition Tenzing Norgay and Raymond Lambert became good friends.
Success on Mount Everest
In 1953, he took part in Jhon Hunt's expedition, his own seventh expedition to Everest.
A member of the team was Edmund Hillary who had saved from falling into a crevasse (A large crack in the snow) by Tenzing himself.
The expedition set up base camp in March 1953. their final base camp was located at south col (7,890 height).
Because of the bad weather (wind and snow storms) Tenzing and Edmund were held back for 2 days. At this stage they get support and were able to climb 610 meters and reach 8500 meters.
At the next morning Hillary discovered that his boots had frozen so he spent two hours warming them before he and Tenzing attempted the final ascent wearing 14 kg of packs.
The crucial move of the last part of the ascent was the 12 meters rock face later named the "Hillary step". Hillary saw a crack between the rock wall and the ice, and Tenzing followed. From there the way to reach the summit was relatively simple.
They reached Everest's summit (8848 m), the highest point on Earth, at 11:30 a.m.
Characteristics of a Mountaineer
A mountaineer has to be brave because during his journey he faced with life threating conditions and have to deal with thinning oxygen in the air.
To deal with these difficulties, a mountaineer need to be determined and imbued with a purpose because it is very easy to get discouraged and give up the summit.
A mountaineer need physical strength and mental because sometimes he has to deal alone with the dangers of the nature.
My opinion about this journey
I would like to participate in Tenzing's journey because it is a trip that really intrigues me because of the snow, the cold and how to survive in these conditions.