May 29, 1953: Sir Edmund Hillary (though not yet a knight of the realm)and Tenzing Norgay achieve the first successful summit of Mount Everest (aka Chomolungma).After a freezing night at 27,900 feet, the New Zealand climber and his Nepalese Sherpa guide made their way up to the South Summit,climbeda 40′ vertical stone obstacle (afterward known to climbers as the “Hillary Step” – and still one of the most dangerous portions of an Everest climb, due to its technical difficulty and extreme elevation) and made their way to the top of Earth’s highest peak.
The climbers arrived on the summit around 11:30a.m. News of theclimb quickly reached England and the rest of the world -though the summit success didn’t becomepublic knowledge until June 2, which also happened to be coronation day for Queen Elizabeth II. Hillary received his knighthood shortly after his return from Nepal. Tenzing Norgay, a hero in his native Nepal, received the British Empire Medal. (For the record, the Queen can only knight citizens of Great Britain or nationsbelonging tothe British Commonwealth. As a citizen of Nepal, Tenzing Norgay did not qualify for the honor.)
The first successful summit of Everest from the Chinese side occurred in 1960, seven years after Hillary and Tenzing’s historic climb.
To this day, the Sherpas of Nepal provide critical assistance and support to expeditions attempting to climb the Nepalese side ofEverest. Several members of Tenzing Norgay’s family have climbed to the summit of Everest, including his son Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who not only reached the summit but served as climbing leader for the IMAX expedition which climbed (and filmed) Everest in 1996, the year a killer storm trapped several expeditionsat the top ofthe mountain. (For the record, his book Touching My Father’s Soul is a good read.)
For anyone who appreciates high-altitude climbing and mountaineering, May 29 holds special meaning. In reaching the top of the world, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay opened a road many would follow, and many more would appreciate through books and film. Some may argue the wisdom (and danger) of opening the high mountains to exploration, but no one can argue the strength and determination these men exhibited, or the amazing achievement represented by their successfulsummit bid, madewith a limited level of gear and support unthinkable to most modern expeditions.
Tip of the Horns, History.com
Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Webloggin, third world county, Conservative Cat, and Big Dog’s Weblog, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
I’ve only been a low-level rock climber but have always been a kinda fan of mountaineering, ever since… the Hillary climb of Everest hit the news when I was a boy. In fact, here’s a key to many of my passwords: they are encrypted versions of the technical names of some of the world’s famous peaks.
There. That ought to make sussing out my passwords pretty easy. *heh* Yeh, and the folks I show my bank card’s “PIN number” to go “Huh?!?!” too. My four-number PIN is written on the back of my bank card as an eight letter word which has no correspondence whatsoever to the number, except in my memory of an address from 30 years ago… where neither I nor anyone associated with me ever lived or worked… But meaningful to me because of a quirky happenstance. ;-)
Hey! Another rabbit trail: from childhood memories of Sir Edmund to a trip down an entirely different memory lane. “Early” oldtimer’s disease? *VBG*
Comment by David — May 29, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
Move over…there’s a yak in your boat. Always liked low-level rock climbing (and am teaching YtY to follow in my footsteps, which means I have a climbing partner who’s always available) and I’ve read most of what’s been published on high-altitude climbing. Sadly, much of it represents little more than hours of my life I won’t be getting back, but there are definitely some good ones in the bunch, Breashears’ book about the IMAX expedition and Jamling Tenzing Norgay’s books among them.
Far as passwords are concerned, I’ve seen your posts on passwording, and my own – though probably not quite as well encrypted as yours – don’t bear any resemblance to English either. Of course, I still know people who use the old “password” as password “trick” – despite my telling them it hasn’t been clever in about 15 years, and that it’s usually the first one most people try. Not that they listen.
Comment by Random Yak — May 30, 2007 @ 7:43 am