Tenzing Norgay GM (May 1914 – 9 May 1986), often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer. He and Edmund Hillary were the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953.

Tenzing came from a peasant family from Khumbu in Nepal, very near Mount Everest, which the Sherpas call Chomolungma. At the time he climbed Everest it was generally believed that he was born there, but in the 1990s it emerged that he was actually born and spent part of his early life in the Kharta Valley region in Tibet to the east of Mount Everest, but this had been kept secret for political reasons.

His exact date of birth is not known, but he knew it was in late May by the weather and the crops. After his ascent of Everest on 29 May, he decided to celebrate his birthday on that day thereafter.

He was originally called "Namgyal Wangdi", but as a child his name was changed on the advice of the head lama and founder of the famous Rongbuk Monastery, Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. Tenzing Norgay translates as "wealthy-fortunate-follower-of-religion". His father, a yak herder, was Ghang La Mingma (d. 1949) and his mother was Dokmo Kinzom (who lived to see him climb Everest); he was the 11th of 13 children, most of whom died young.

He ran away to Kathmandu twice as a boy, and, at age 19, eventually settled in the Sherpa community in Too Song Bhusti in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.

He took part as a high-altitude porter in three official British attempts to climb Everest from the northern Tibetan side in the 1930s.

Tenzing also took part in other climbs in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, and for a time in the early 1940s he lived in what is now Pakistan; he said that the most difficult climb he ever took part in was on Nanda Devi East, where a number of people were killed.

In 1947, he took part in an unsuccessful summit attempt of Everest. An eccentric Englishman named Earl Denman, Ange Dawa Sherpa, and Tenzing entered Tibet illegally to attempt the mountain; the attempt ended when a strong storm at 22,000 ft (6,700 metres) pounded them. Denman admitted defeat and all three turned around and safely returned.

In 1952, he took part in two Swiss expeditions led by Raymond Lambert, the first serious attempts to climb Everest from the southern Nepalese side, during which he and Lambert reached the then record height of 8,599 m (28,215 ft).

In 1953, he took part in John Hunt's expedition, his own seventh expedition to Everest, in which he and Hillary became the first to reach the summit. Afterwards he was met with adulation in India and Nepal, and was even worshipped by some people who believed him to be an incarnation of Buddha or Shiva.

He was awarded the George Medal from the British Government for his efforts with the expedition.

"It has been a long road...From a mountain coolie, a bearer of loads, to a wearer of a coat with rows of medals who is carried about in planes and worries about income tax."—Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing and Hillary were the first people to conclusively set their feet on the summit of Mount Everest, but journalists were persistently repeating the question which of the two men had the right to the glory of being the first one, and who was merely the second, the follower. Tenzing stressed the unity of such teams and of their achievements. He shrugged off the allegation of ever being pulled by anyone, but disclosed that Hillary was the first to put his foot on the summit. He concluded: "If it is a shame to be the second man on Mount Everest, then I will have to live with this shame."

Another interesting aside of this ascent was that all the photos that existed of the mountaineers on the top showed only Tenzing. When asked why there were no photos featuring Hillary, Sir Edmund replied, "Tenzing did not know how to operate the camera and the top of Everest was no place to start teaching him how to use it". Hillary and Tenzing remained on friendly terms throughout their lives.

Tenzing was married three times. His first wife, Dawa Phuti, died young in 1944. They had a son, Nima Dorje, who died at the age of four, and two daughters, Pem Pem, whose son Tashi Tenzing climbed Everest, and Nima, who married a Filipino graphic designer, Noli Galang. His second wife was Ang Lahmu, a cousin of his first wife. They had no children, but she acted as stepmother to his daughters. His third wife was Dakku, whom he married while his second wife was still alive, as allowed by Sherpa custom. They had sons Norbu, Jamling and Dhamey. Other relatives include his nephews Nawang Gombu and Topgay who took part in the 1953 Everest expedition.

Tenzing never learned to read or write, but he spoke several languages. His native language was Sherpa but he spoke fluent Nepali and had a working knowledge of English, Tibetan, and a few other languages of the Indian sub-continent.

Tenzing later became director of field training for the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. In 1978 he founded Tenzing Norgay Adventureshttp://www.tenzing-norgay.com/, a company providing trekking adventures in the Himalaya. As of 2003 the company was run by his son Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who himself reached the summit of Everest in 1996. Tenzing died of a bronchial condition in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India in 1986.

Tenzing House is a Primary Wing House at St Paul's School, Darjeeling in India, named in his honour.

*Tenzing Norgay and Malcolm Barnes After Everest (1978) *George Band, Everest Exposed (2005), an account of the 1953 expedition *Tashi Tenzing and Judy Tenzing, Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas of Everest (2003) *Ed Webster, Snow in the Kingdom (2000) *Ed Douglas, Tenzing: Hero of Everest (2003) *Jamling Tenzing Norgay, Touching My Father's Soul (2002)

* Article on Tenzing from Royal Geographical Society * Entry from people database * Peter H. Hansen, ‘Tenzing Norgay [Sherpa Tenzing] (1914–1986)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 18 May 2007 * Tenzing Norgay Adventures * article on him