The first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest happened on 29 May 1953 at about 11:30 in the morning, when Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, stood on the summit together. The first ascent of Everest was the first time any human reached the top of the world's highest mountain, and it came on the ninth British attempt, led by Colonel John Hunt, by the South Col route, using open-circuit supplemental oxygen.
Why the 1953 climb still matters on an Everest trek today
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay walked in through the same Khumbu valleys that trekkers cross today, then climbed higher than anyone had before. You do not have to be a climber to follow the start of their story. The Everest Base Camp trek takes you to the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, the very place the 1953 climbers passed through on their way up, and our Everest Base Camp trek guide walks you through how the route works day by day. Standing at Base Camp, you look up at the first section of ground Hillary and Tenzing crossed on 29 May 1953.
Who climbed Everest first?
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the two men who first reached the summit of Everest, on 29 May 1953. Hillary was a New Zealander, and Tenzing was a Sherpa who had spent years on the mountain. They climbed as a pair on the final push, but they were part of a large British expedition with many climbers, Sherpas, and porters behind them. Reaching the top was the work of one rope of two men and the effort of a whole team.
Colonel John Hunt led the 1953 expedition, which was the ninth British attempt on Everest. Hunt planned the climb in stages, moving camps and oxygen up the mountain so a summit pair would have the best chance on the last day. The plan sent two pairs toward the top in turn. Hillary and Tenzing were the second pair, and they were the ones who made it.
The first ascent of Everest in brief
- Date: 29 May 1953, at about 11:30 in the morning
- Climbers: Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa
- Expedition: the ninth British attempt, led by Colonel John Hunt
- Route: the South Col route, up the Khumbu Icefall, through the Western Cwm, up the Lhotse Face to the South Col, then the southeast ridge
- Oxygen: open-circuit supplemental oxygen
- First summit pair, three days earlier: Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, who reached the South Summit on 26 May 1953 and turned back
The South Col route, the way they climbed
The South Col route climbs Everest from the Nepal side, and it is the line Hillary and Tenzing followed in 1953. The route begins at the Khumbu Icefall, a broken river of ice above Base Camp, then goes through the Western Cwm, a high valley of snow. Above that, climbers go up the Lhotse Face to the South Col, the high saddle between Everest and its neighbour Lhotse. From the South Col, the southeast ridge leads up to the summit.
In 1953, open-circuit supplemental oxygen was a key part of how the team reached the top. In the thin air high on Everest, bottled oxygen helped the climbers move and think in conditions that would otherwise wear them down fast. The team carried oxygen sets up the mountain in stages, and the summit pair used them on the final climb. Choosing the right oxygen system was one of the hardest decisions the expedition faced.
The first summit pair: Bourdillon and Evans, 26 May 1953
On 26 May 1953, three days before Hillary and Tenzing succeeded, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans made the first summit attempt of the expedition. They climbed to the South Summit, a point within about 90 metres of vertical height below the true top of Everest. That was the closest anyone had ever come to the summit. From there they could see the final ridge ahead of them.
Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon turned back at the South Summit, after a problem with their oxygen system and deep exhaustion. They were using closed-circuit oxygen, a different system from the open-circuit sets Hillary and Tenzing would use. With their oxygen failing and the day getting on, going higher would have risked their lives. Their decision to turn around, so close to the top, took its own kind of courage.
On 26 May and 29 May 1953, the expedition made two summit attempts three days apart, and the difference between them decided who reached the top. Bourdillon and Evans went first, on closed-circuit oxygen, and got as far as the South Summit before turning back. Hillary and Tenzing followed on open-circuit oxygen and went all the way. The two attempts, side by side, show how narrow the margin was between reaching the summit and having to retreat.
First ascent of Everest: key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1920s onward | British attempts on Everest begin, approaching from Tibet |
| 1924 | George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappear high on the mountain |
| 26 May 1953 | Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans reach the South Summit and turn back |
| 29 May 1953 | Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit at about 11:30 am |
| 30 May 1953 | Jan Morris sends a coded message from Base Camp |
| 2 June 1953 | News reaches London on the morning of the Queen's coronation |
How the news reached London on coronation day
On 2 June 1953, the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, the news of the first ascent reached London. The timing felt like a gift to a country celebrating a new queen. Newspapers carried the mountain and the coronation on the same day. For many people in Britain, the two events are still linked in memory.
Jan Morris, the Times correspondent with the expedition, sent a coded message from Base Camp on 30 May 1953. The code was used so no rival newspaper could take the story from the wires first. The plain-sounding words hid the real news that the summit had been reached. It travelled from Base Camp down through Nepal and on to London in time for the coronation morning.
Honours after the climb
Edmund Hillary was knighted for the first ascent, and Colonel John Hunt, the expedition leader, was knighted as well. The climb was treated as a national achievement, and the honours reflected that. Both men carried their titles for the rest of their lives. Their names became fixed to the story of Everest.
Tenzing Norgay was awarded the George Medal, rather than a knighthood, for the same climb. As a non-Commonwealth citizen, he was not eligible for the knighthood that Hillary and Hunt received. The George Medal was the honour open to him, and it recognised his part in the ascent. The difference in awards has been discussed ever since.
Decades of attempts, and the mystery of Mallory and Irvine
British expeditions had been trying to climb Everest since the 1920s, long before the 1953 success. In those early years they approached the mountain from Tibet, because Nepal was closed to outsiders. Attempt after attempt was turned back by bad weather and the thin air high on the mountain. The 1953 climb rested on more than thirty years of these efforts.
For more than thirty years before 1953, the world's highest mountain had turned back every expedition that came for it. The early British teams reached the mountain through Tibet and climbed high on it, but never to the top. George Mallory and Andrew Irvine's disappearance in 1924 was the hardest reminder of what the mountain could take. When Hillary and Tenzing succeeded on 29 May 1953, they closed a story that had run since the 1920s.
In 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared high on Everest, and their fate became one of mountaineering's longest mysteries. The two men were last seen climbing toward the summit before cloud closed over them. Whether they reached the top before they died has never been settled. Their story is part of why the confirmed 1953 ascent means so much, because it was the first climb anyone could be sure of.
Who was the first person to climb Everest?
Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, made the first confirmed ascent of Everest on 29 May 1953 at about 11:30 in the morning. They climbed by the South Col route using open-circuit supplemental oxygen, on the ninth British attempt, led by Colonel John Hunt.
What route did the 1953 expedition climb?
The 1953 expedition climbed the South Col route from the Nepal side. It goes up the Khumbu Icefall, through the Western Cwm, up the Lhotse Face to the South Col, and then along the southeast ridge to the summit.
Who reached the South Summit before Hillary and Tenzing?
Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans reached the South Summit on 26 May 1953, three days before the successful climb. They came within about 90 metres of vertical height below the top, then turned back after an oxygen-system problem and exhaustion.
Why did the news arrive in London on coronation day?
The news reached London on the morning of 2 June 1953, the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, by chance of timing. Jan Morris, the Times correspondent, had sent a coded message from Base Camp on 30 May, and it travelled out in time to be published on coronation morning.
Why was Tenzing Norgay not knighted?
Tenzing Norgay was not eligible for a knighthood because he was not a Commonwealth citizen. He was awarded the George Medal for the first ascent, while Edmund Hillary and Colonel John Hunt were both knighted.
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