Tenzing Norgay

Sardar Tenzing Norgay Sherpa (* May 29, 1914 in Tshechu, Nepal; † 9 May 1986 as Darjeeling ) was a Nepali - Indian mountaineers, porters and member of the Sherpa people. In 1953 he was with the New Zealander Edmund Hillary the first man to climb Mount Everest.

Life

Sardar Tenzing Norgay was probably born during a pilgrimage to the Tibetan monastery Ghang La. Originally it was called Namgyal Wangdi, but after a high Lama had announced that he was the reincarnation of a rich Sherpa, he was in Tenzing Norgay, German " wealthy or lucky followers of the religion," renamed. He grew up in a remote Tibetan village, but his parents emigrated with him when he was about six to eight years old, over the border into Nepal in the Khumbu region of. As a young man he moved to the area around Darjeeling, where many expeditions began in the Himalayas.

For some years he was doing odd jobs. In 1935, he took under the direction of Eric Shipton part in his first expedition to Mount Everest, the then nobody had climbed. He proved himself, was engaged from now on more often and won before the Everest success great recognition, among others, the Swiss Garwhal expedition under André Roch 1947, the Tibet trip by Giuseppe Tucci in 1948 and the French Nanda Devi Expedition 1951. the summit of Mount Everest he reached on May 29, 1953 along with the New Zealander Edmund Hillary. After the first summit rope team had advanced only up to the south summit ( 8760 m), the two climbers managed the transition to the " roof of the world " and thus the conquest of the "third pole ". Previously, he had already failed several times at the summit, most recently in 1952 in the context of two Swiss expeditions, in which he had come as an equal member of the expedition along with Raymond Lambert to just below the South Summit. In the Nepalese public, a dispute broke out, who then was the first of the above two roped now; Nepalis forced the primacy of their compatriot Tenzing Norgay, who had been to a signing a declaration to be able to move. Tenzing and Hillary always said that they had gone together to the summit, and remained lifelong friends. He was awarded by Queen Elizabeth II, the George Medal.

Tenzing was commissioned after the successful summit in 1953 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with the founding of the Indian Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and became its head of training. He contributed much to the development of mountaineering in India and also for self-esteem and awareness of the Sherpa. The funeral procession at his funeral in 1986 was about one kilometer long, a sign of great respect he had gained. At the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling Zoo was a statue of his companion of the ascent of Everest, Edmund Hillary, unveiled in his honor. One of his sons, Jamling Tenzing Norgay in 1996 also reached the summit of Mount Everest, also in 1997 one of his grandson, Tashi Tenzing.