Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, reached the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953. The mountain is called Sagarmatha in Nepal and Chomolungma in Tibet. The name Everest was given in the 1860s, after Sir George Everest, a British surveyor.
The first ascent
Hillary and Tenzing made the first confirmed ascent on 29 May 1953, as part of a British expedition led by John Hunt. They climbed the south side, the route that most Nepal expeditions still use today.
The name Everest
In the 1800s the mountain was known to the survey as Peak XV. In 1865 the Royal Geographical Society named it after Sir George Everest, a former Surveyor General of India. Everest himself did not propose the name.
Sagarmatha
Sagarmatha is the Nepali name. It is often translated as forehead of the sky. It was adopted officially in the 1960s, and the national park carries the same name.
Chomolungma
In Tibetan the mountain is Chomolungma, often translated as goddess mother of the world. The name is old and is widely used in Tibet and among Sherpa communities.
The role of the Sherpas
Sherpa climbers and high-altitude workers have been central to the history of the mountain, from the first ascent to the present. Many trekkers meet this history when they walk through Namche, Khumjung and Tengboche.
Later milestones
The mountain was first climbed without bottled oxygen in 1978, and the first winter ascent was in 1980. Records continue to be set, and the mountain is much busier than it was.
The 1953 expedition
The British expedition of 1953 was a large effort, with many climbers, Sherpa workers and tonnes of equipment. Two earlier climbers, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon, reached the south summit before Hillary and Tenzing made the final climb.
Earlier attempts
British expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s approached from Tibet. In 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared high on the mountain, and whether they reached the summit is still debated.
Women and other firsts
Junko Tabei of Japan was the first woman to reach the summit in 1975. Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was the first Nepali woman, in 1993. Many national and age records have followed.
Today
The mountain is climbed by hundreds of people each year in the spring season. Rules on permits, rubbish and safety are stricter than before, and the region remains a place of pilgrimage as well as adventure.
Plan it
Read where to see Everest and where Everest is.
