Editing Edmund Hillary (section)

===1953 Everest expedition===
{{main|1953 British Mount Everest expedition}}
[[File:Edmund Hilary SLNSW FL18955534.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Hillary, Australia, July 1953]]

In 1949, the long-standing climbing route to the summit of Everest was closed by Chinese-controlled [[Tibet]]. For the next several years, [[Nepal]] allowed only one or two expeditions per year.<ref name="FallenGiants2">{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|last2=Weaver|first2=Stewart|title=Fallen Giants : A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|page=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286/page/n449 437]|isbn=9780300115017}}</ref> A Swiss expedition (in which Tenzing took part) attempted to reach the summit in 1952, but was forced back by bad weather and problems with oxygen sets {{convert|800|ft|m|-1}} below the summit.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|pp=48,235}}

{{External media | float = right | audio1 = [http://www.wnyc.org/story/sir-edmund-hillary-scales-heights-literary-society/ Sir Edmund Hillary Scales the Heights of Literary Society], 1954, Hillary speaks 5:00–18:57, [[WNYC]]<ref name="wnyc">{{cite web | title =Sir Edmund Hillary scales the heights of literary society | publisher =[[WNYC]] | url =http://www.wnyc.org/story/sir-edmund-hillary-scales-heights-literary-society/ | access-date =31 October 2016}}</ref> }}
In 1952, Hillary learned that he and Lowe had been invited by the [[Joint Himalayan Committee]] for the 1953 British attempt and immediately accepted.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=117}} Shipton had been named as leader but was replaced by Hunt. Hillary objected but was immediately impressed by Hunt's energy and determination.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=119}} Hunt asked [[Charles Evans (mountaineer)|Charles Evans]] and Hillary to form with him a small three-man planning group on the expedition.{{sfn|Gill|2017|p=185}}{{sfn|Hunt|1953|pp=107,121,134,138}} Hunt wrote that:{{sfn|Hunt|1953|p=28}}
{{blockquote|Hillary's testing in the Himalayas had shown that he would be a very strong contender, not only for Everest, but for an eventual summit party. When I met Shipton last autumn I well remember his prophesying this&nbsp;– and how right he was. Quite exceptionally strong and abounding in a restless energy, possessed of a thrusting mind which swept away all unproven obstacles, Ed Hillary's personality had made an imprint on my mind, through his Cho Oyu and Reconnaissance friends and through his letters to me.}}

Hillary had hoped to climb with Lowe, but Hunt named two teams for the ascent: [[Tom Bourdillon]] and [[Charles Evans (mountaineer)|Charles Evans]]; and Hillary and Tenzing.<ref name="FallenGiants3">{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|last2=Weaver|first2=Stewart|title=Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286/page/n296 284]–286|isbn=9780300115017}}</ref> Hillary, therefore, made a concerted effort to forge a working friendship with Tenzing.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=119}}{{sfn|Hunt|1953|pp=138,139}} Hillary wrote, "Tenzing had substantially greater personal ambition than any Sherpa I had met."{{sfn|Gill|2017|p=188}}

[[File:Tenzing and Hillary.jpg|thumb|right|Tenzing and Hillary]]

The Hunt expedition totalled over 400 people, including 362 [[porter (carrier)|porters]], 20 [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]] guides, and {{convert|10000|lbs|kg}} of baggage.<ref name=guard1>[https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/story/0,,966102,00.html "Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing reach the top"], Reuter (in ''[[The Guardian]]'', 2 June 1953)</ref><ref name=rgs/> Lowe supervised the preparation of the [[Lhotse|Lhotse Face]], a huge and steep ice face, for climbing. Hillary forged a route through the treacherous [[Khumbu Icefall]].{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=151}}{{sfn|Elish|2007|p=30}}

Cameraman [[Tom Stobart]] was Hillary's room-mate in Kathmandu. He described Hillary as:{{sfn|Gill|2017|pp=188,189}}
{{blockquote|a skeleton as tall as I was&nbsp;... a hatchet-thin face, and seemed tied together with steel&nbsp;... I had just got a rubber torch to pieces and couldn't get it together again. This human machine took charge. 'Let's give it a go' he said, using an expression we came to know so well in the following months. It may have meant that he would try to fix it, but did not. Actually it meant he would fix it, a subtle but important difference so far as Ed and his fellow countryman George Lowe, were concerned.}}

The expedition set up [[base camp]] in March 1953 and, working slowly, set up its final camp at the [[South Col]] at {{convert|25900|ft|m|-1}}. On 26 May, Bourdillon and Evans attempted the climb but turned back when Evans's [[oxygen system]] failed. The pair had reached the South Summit, coming within 300 vertical feet (91 m) of the summit.<ref name=rgs>[http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/documents/Reaching%20the%20Top3.pdf ''Reaching The Top''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216030022/http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/documents/Reaching%20the%20Top3.pdf |date=16 February 2008 }} Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved 13 January 2008.</ref><ref name="nzedge" /> Hunt then directed Hillary and Tenzing to attempt the summit.<ref name="nzedge" />

Snow and wind delayed them at the South Col for two days. They set out on 28 May with the support of Lowe, [[Alfred Gregory]], and Ang Nyima.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=197}} The two pitched a tent at {{convert|27900|ft|m|-1}} on 28 May, while their support group returned down the mountain.<ref name="FallenGiants4">{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|last2=Weaver|first2=Stewart|title=Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|page=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286/page/n300 288]|isbn=9780300115017}}</ref> On the following morning Hillary discovered that his boots had frozen solid outside the tent. He spent two hours warming them over a stove before he and Tenzing, wearing {{convert|30|lb|kg|0|adj=on}} packs, attempted the final ascent.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=213}} The final obstacle was the {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=on}} rock face later called "[[Hillary Step]]"; Hillary later wrote:
{{blockquote|I noticed a crack between the rock and the snow sticking to the East Face. I crawled inside and wriggled and jammed my way to the top{{nbsp}}... Tenzing slowly joined me and we moved on. I chopped steps over bump after bump, wondering a little desperately where the top could be. Then I saw the ridge ahead dropped away to the north and above me on the right was a rounded snow dome. A few more whacks with my ice-axe and Tenzing and I stood on top of Everest.<ref>{{cite book|title=Two Generations|pages=27–28}}</ref>}}

[[File:Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.jpg|thumb|Hillary and Tenzing on return from the summit of Everest]]

Tenzing wrote in his 1955 autobiography that Hillary took the first step onto the summit and he followed. They reached Everest's {{convert|29,028|ft|m|abbr=on}} summit{{snd}}the highest point on earth{{snd}}at 11:30&nbsp;am.<ref name="Christchurch" /><ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1478658.htm "Everest not as tall as thought"]. Agence France-Presse (on abc.net.au), 10 October 2005</ref>

They spent about 15 minutes at the summit. Hillary took a photo of Tenzing posing with his ice-axe, but there is no photo of Hillary; Tenzing's autobiography says that Hillary simply declined to have his picture taken. They also took photos looking down the mountain.<ref name="photos">Joanna Wright (2003). "[http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/concepts/Virtual_Everest/-285.html The Photographs]", in ''Everest, Summit of Achievement'', by the [[Royal Geographical Society]]. Simon & Schuster, New York. {{ISBN|0-7432-4386-2}}. Retrieved 11 January 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905191639/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/concepts/Virtual_Everest/-285.html |date=5 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Sir Edmund Hillary |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3740536.stm |access-date=1 June 2021 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=11 January 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir Willoughby Norrie, and George Lowe at Government House, Wellington, 1953.jpg|thumb|Hillary (left) and [[George Lowe (mountaineer)|George Lowe]] (right) with Governor-General [[Sir Willoughby Norrie]] at [[Government House, Wellington]], 20 August 1953]]

Tenzing left chocolates at the summit as an offering, and Hillary left a cross given to him by John Hunt.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=229}} Their descent was complicated by drifting snow that had covered their tracks. The first person they met was Lowe; Hillary said, "Well, George, we knocked the bastard off."<ref name="'We knocked the bastard off'"/>

They returned to [[Kathmandu]] a few days later and learned that Hillary had already been appointed a [[Order of British Empire|Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] and Hunt a [[Knight Bachelor]].<ref name="Gazette2">{{cite news|last1=Editorial Staff|title=(announcements)|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39886/page/3273|access-date=12 March 2018|work=The [[London Gazette]]|page=3273|date=12 June 1953}}</ref> News reached Britain on the day of [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II's coronation]], and the press called it a coronation gift.<ref>{{Citation| agency=[[Reuters]]| title=2 of British Team Conquer Everest| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| page=1| date=2 June 1953| url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0529.html| access-date=18 December 2009}}</ref> 
The 37 members of the party later received the [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal]] with {{small caps|mount everest expedition}} engraved along the rim.{{sfn|Johnston|Larsen|2005|p=76}}
In addition to the [[knight]]ing of Hillary and Hunt, Tenzing{{snd}}ineligible for knighthood as a Nepalese citizen{{snd}}received the [[George Medal]].<ref>"George Medal for Tensing – Award Approved by the Queen" in ''[[The Times]]'' (London), issue 52663 dated Thursday 2 July 1953, p. 6</ref><ref name=NorgayODNB>{{cite ODNB|first=Peter H.|last=Hansen|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50064|title=Tenzing Norgay [Sherpa Tenzing] (1914–1986)|format=(subscription required)|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/50064 |access-date=18 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Man of the mountains Tenzing dies|first=Paul|last=Vallely|work=The Times|location=UK|date=10 May 1986}}</ref> Tenzing also received the [[Order of the Star of Nepal|Star of Nepal]] from [[King Tribhuvan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/world/asia/11cnd-hillary.html|title=Edmund Hillary, First on Everest, Dies at 88|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=10 January 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 October 2017|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>