Tenzing Norgay

There are conflicting accounts of Tenzing's early life. In his autobiography, he wrote that he was a Sherpa born and raised in Tengboche, Khumbu, in northeastern Nepal.Tenzing & Ullman In a 1985 interview with All India Radio, he said his parents came from Tibet, but that he was born in Nepal.{{Request quotation|date=June 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbTgL6xpQuE| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/GbTgL6xpQuE| archive-date=17 November 2021 | url-status=live|title=Tenzing Norgay Sherpa's interview, in Tibetan, with All India Radio, Kurersong, India.|last=Sonam G. Sherpa|date=27 August 2013|access-date=27 March 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} According to many later accounts, including a book co-written by his son Jamling Tenzin Norgay, he was born in Tibet,{{Cite book|contributor-first=Jon|contributor-last=Krakauer|contributor-link=Jon Krakauer|title=Touching My Father's Soul: a Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest|last1=Norgay|first1=Jamling Tenzing|last2=Coburn|first2=Broughton|publisher=HarperSanFrancisco|year=2002|isbn=0062516876|publication-place=San Francisco, California|page=XV|contribution=Introduction|oclc=943113647|quote=Born in Tibet, raised in Nepal, and a resident of India since the age of 19, he had become a symbol of hope and inspiration for millions of caste-bound Indians, poverty-stricken Nepalese, and politically oppressed Tibetans – all of whom regard him as a countryman.}}{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/everestmountainw00cobu/page/112|title=Everest : Mountain Without Mercy|last=Coburn|first=Broughton|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=1997|isbn=0792270142|location=Washington, DC|page=[https://archive.org/details/everestmountainw00cobu/page/112 112]|oclc=36675993|quote=Jamling pulled out the string of flags he intended to display on the summit: Nepal, India, Tibet, U.S.A. and the United Nations. 'My parents are from Tibet, but lived for long periods in Nepal and India, where I was raised.'}} at Tse Chu in the Kama Valley, and grew up in Thame.{{cite web|date=1 March 2016|title=Leadership|url=http://www.thamesherpafund.org/about-1|access-date=17 May 2014|publisher=Thames Sherpa Fund|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922091423/http://www.thamesherpafund.org/about-1|url-status=live}} He spent his early childhood in Kharta, near the north of the country. Norgay went to Nepal as a child to work for a Sherpa family in Khumbu.{{Cite ODNB|id=50064|title=Tenzing Norgay}}{{cite book |last1=Webster |first1=Ed |title=Snow in the Kingdom : my storm years on Everest |date=2000 |publisher=Mountain Imagery |location=Eldorado Springs, Colorado |isbn=9780965319911}}{{cite news |last1=Rai |first1=Hemlata |title=The Fortunate Son |url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepalitimes/pdf/Nepali_Times_147.pdf |access-date=22 August 2014 |work=Nepali Times |date=30 May 2003 |archive-date=26 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826115131/http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepalitimes/pdf/Nepali_Times_147.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Das |first1=Sujoy |title=Sixty years of the dream conquest |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/sixty-years-of-the-dream-conquest/cid/1289402 |access-date=3 October 2020 |work=The Telegraph, Calcutta |date=6 April 2014 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031113439/https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/sixty-years-of-the-dream-conquest/cid/1289402 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://www.sherpals.com/ |title=Honours: Honours for Tenzing |date=7 October 2014 |access-date=4 March 2016 |archive-date=10 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310141209/http://www.sherpals.com/ |url-status=live }}

Khumbu lies near Mount Everest, which the Tibetans and Sherpas call Chomolungma; in Standard Tibetan, that name means "Holy Mother", or the goddess of the summit.{{cite book |title=Everest |date=1998 |edition=IMAX |author=Norgay's son |url=http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=22303843&trkid=&tctx= }}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Buddhism is the traditional religion of the Sherpas and Tibetans, and Norgay was Buddhist.

Although his exact date of birth is unknown, he knew it was in late May by the weather and the crops. After his ascent of Everest on 29 May 1953, he decided to celebrate his birthday on that day thereafter. His year of birth, according to the Tibetan calendar, was the Year of the Rabbit, making it likely that he was born in 1914. This agrees with Hunt's statement that he was 39 in 1953, and had "established himself (as) not only the foremost climber of his race but as a mountaineer of world standing".{{sfn|Hunt|1953|pp=60,61}}

Tenzing was originally called "Namgyal Wangdi", but as a child his name was changed on the advice of the head lama and founder of Rongbuk Monastery, Ngawang Tenzin Norbu.{{cite news |author=Hansen, Peter H. |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50064 |title=Tenzing Norgay [Sherpa Tenzing] (1914–1986) |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |access-date=18 January 2008 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/50064 |archive-date=4 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104211828/http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/50/101050064/ |url-status=live }} "Tenzing Norgay" translates as "wealthy-fortunate-follower-of-religion". His father, a Tibetan yak herder, was Ghang La Mingma (d. 1949), and his mother, who was Tibetan, was Dokmo Kinzom. She lived to see him climb Everest. Tenzing was the 11th of 13 children, several of whom died young.

Tenzing ran away from home twice in his teens, first to Kathmandu and later to Darjeeling, India (which at that time was the starting point for most expeditions in the eastern Himalayas), and eventually acquired Indian citizenship.{{cite web |title=Tenzing gets a new name |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/tenzing-gets-a-new-name/articleshow/4327707.cms |publisher=The Times of India |date=28 March 2009 |access-date=17 August 2023 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817191820/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/tenzing-gets-a-new-name/articleshow/4327707.cms |url-status=live }} He was once sent to Tengboche Monastery to become a monk, but he decided that was not for him and left.{{cite book |author=Ortner, Sherry B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLgim3BZ5mwC&q=norgay+Tengboche&pg=PA112 |title=Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2001 |page=112 |isbn=0-691-07448-8 |access-date=4 December 2020 |archive-date=28 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828072052/https://books.google.com/books?id=wLgim3BZ5mwC&q=norgay+Tengboche&pg=PA112 |url-status=live }} At the age of 19 he settled in the Sherpa community in the Too Song Busti district of Darjeeling.

File:Statue of Tenzing Norgay at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.jpg]]

File:Everest North Face toward Base Camp Tibet Luca Galuzzi 2006 edit 1.jpg]]

Norgay received his first opportunity to join an Everest expedition at age 20, when Eric Shipton was assembling the 1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition. After two other prospective team members failed their medical tests, Norgay was pushed forward by his friend Ang Tharkay, a Sherpa sirdar who had been on the 1933 British Mount Everest expedition. His attractive smile caught the eye of Shipton, who decided to take him on.{{Cite book |last=Shipton |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05QTCgAAQBAJ&q=His+name+was+Tensing+Norkay%E2%80%94or+Tensing+Bhotia |title=That Untravelled World: An Autobiography |date=2015-02-24 |publisher=Mountaineers Books |isbn=978-1-59485-898-7 |language=en |access-date=11 July 2023 |archive-date=28 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828072053/https://books.google.com/books?id=05QTCgAAQBAJ&q=His+name+was+Tensing+Norkay%E2%80%94or+Tensing+Bhotia |url-status=live }}

Norgay participated as a high-altitude porter in three official British attempts to climb Everest from the northern Tibetan side in the 1930s. On the 1936 expedition, he worked with John Morris. He also took part in other climbs in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. For a time in the early 1940s, Norgay lived in the princely state of Chitral (then in India, later a part of Pakistan) as batman to a Major Chapman. Norgay's first wife died and was buried there during his sojourn in the state. He returned to Darjeeling with his two daughters during the Indian partition of 1947, and managed to cross India by train without a ticket and without being challenged by wearing one of Major Chapman's old uniforms.

In 1947, Norgay participated in an unsuccessful summit attempt of Everest. The Canadian-born mountaineer Earl Denman, Ange Dawa Sherpa, and Norgay entered Tibet illegally to attempt the climb, an attempt which ended when a strong storm hit at {{convert|22000|ft}}. Denman admitted defeat, and all three turned around, returning safely. In 1947, Norgay became a sirdar of a Swiss expedition for the first time after having helped to rescue Sirdar Wangdi Norbu, who had fallen and been seriously injured. The expedition reached the main summit of Kedarnath at {{convert|22769|ft}} in the western Garhwal Himalaya with Norgay among the summit party.{{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 |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=9780300115017 |edition=1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse/page/236 236] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse/page/236 }} In 1951 he joined the 1951 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition.{{cite book |last1=Shipton |first1=Eric |title=That Untravelled World |date=1969 |publisher=Hodder and Staunton |pages=190–199, 97 |url=https://archive.org/details/thatuntravelledw0000eric/page/190/mode/1up?q=tensing|isbn=9780340216095}}

{{Main|1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition}}

In 1952, he took part in the two Swiss expeditions led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant (spring) and Gabriel Chevalley (autumn), the first serious attempts to climb Everest from the southern (Nepalese) side, after two previous US and British reconnaissance expeditions in 1950 and 1951. Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about {{convert|8595|m|0}} on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record.{{cite web |url=http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Virtual_Everest/-116.html |title=Tenzing Norgay GM |publisher=The Royal Geographical Society |work=Imaging Everest |access-date=21 June 2007 |archive-date=14 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070414143647/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Virtual_Everest/-116.html |url-status=dead }} The expedition opened up a new route on Everest that was successfully climbed the next year. Norgay and Raymond Lambert reached on 28 May the then-record height of {{convert|8600|m|0}},{{cite book |title=The Himalayan Database |date=n.d. |page=??? |url=http://www.himalayandatabase.com/index.html |access-date=18 September 2015 |archive-date=17 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917034422/http://www.himalayandatabase.com/index.html |url-status=live }}{{failed verification|date=May 2021}} and this expedition, during which Norgay was for the first time considered a full expedition member ("the greatest honour that had ever been paid me") forged a lasting friendship between Norgay and his Swiss friends, in particular Raymond Lambert. During the autumn expedition, the team was stopped by bad weather after reaching an altitude of {{convert|8100|m|0}}.

{{Main|1953 British Mount Everest expedition}}

In 1953, Tenzing Norgay took part in John Hunt's expedition; Tenzing had previously been to Everest six times (and Hunt three).{{sfn|Hunt|1953|pp=29,60}} A member of the team was Edmund Hillary, who fell into a crevasse but was saved from hitting the bottom by Norgay's prompt action in securing the rope using his ice axe, which led Hillary to consider him the climbing partner of choice for any future summit attempt.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1575208/Sir-Edmund-Hillary.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1575208/Sir-Edmund-Hillary.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Sir Edmund Hillary |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=21 February 2014}}{{cbignore}}

At the time, newspaper reports variously referred to him as Tensing, Tenzing, Tenzing Bhotia, Tenzing Norgay, Tensing Norkey, Tenzing Sherpa or Dan Shin, as one Indian academic suggested.Everest 1953, Mick Conefrey, Mountaineers Books, 2014

The Hunt expedition totalled over 400 people, including 362 porters, 20 Sherpa guides and {{convert|10000|lb}} of baggage,{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/story/0,,966102,00.html |title=Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing reach the top | World news |work=theguardian.com |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=28 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028182039/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1953/jun/02/everest.nepal |url-status=live }} and like many such expeditions, was a team effort.

The expedition set up base camp in March 1953. Hillary wrote in 1975 about first meeting Norgay in Kathmandu on 5 March 1953:{{sfn|Gill|2017|p=188}}{{quote|

I was eager to meet Tenzing Norgay. His reputation had been most impressive even before his two great efforts with the Swiss expedition ... Tenzing really looked the part – larger than most Sherpas, he was very strong and active; his flashing smile was irresistible; and he was incredibly patient with all our questions and requests. His success in the past had given him great physical confidence – I think that even then he expected to be a member of the final assault party ... One message came through however in very positive fashion – Tenzing had substantially greater personal ambition than any Sherpa I had met.}}

Working slowly, the expedition set up their penultimate camp at the South Col, at {{convert|25900|ft}}. On 26 May, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans attempted the climb, but turned back when Evans' oxygen system failed. The pair had reached the South Summit, coming within 300 vertical feet (91 m) of the summit.{{cite web |url=http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/documents/Reaching%20the%20Top3.pdf |title=Reaching The Top |publisher=Royal Geographical Society |access-date=13 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216030022/http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/documents/Reaching%20the%20Top3.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2008 }} Hunt then directed Norgay and Hillary to go for the summit.

Snow and wind held the pair up at the South Col for two days. They set out on 28 May with a support trio comprising Ang Nyima, Alfred Gregory and George Lowe. Norgay and Hillary pitched a tent at {{convert|27900|ft}} on 28 May while their support group returned down the mountain. On the following morning, Hillary discovered that his boots had frozen solid outside the tent. He spent two hours warming them before he and Tenzing attempted the final ascent, wearing {{convert|30|lb|adj=mid}} packs.{{cite book |author=Hillary, Edmund |title=High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest|year=2013 |isbn=9788174369390 |url=https://archive.org/details/highadventureour0000hill |url-access=registration }} The last part of the ascent comprised a {{convert|40|ft|adj=mid}} rock face later named the "Hillary Step". Hillary saw a means to wedge his way up a crack in the face between the rock wall and the ice, and Norgay followed.{{cite book |last= Hillary |first= Edmund & Peter |title= Ascent: Two Lives Explored – The Autobiographies of Sir Edmund and Peter Hillary |year= 1986 |publisher= Doubleday |location= New York |isbn= 978-0-385-19831-8 }}

From there, the following effort was relatively simple. They reached Everest's {{convert|29028|ft|adj=mid}} summit, the highest point on Earth, at 11:30 a.m.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1478658.htm |title=Environment & Nature News — Everest not as tall as thought – 10/10/2005 |publisher=Abc.net.au |date=10 October 2005 |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511184616/http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1478658.htm |url-status=live }} As Hillary put it, "A few more whacks of the ice axe in the firm snow, and we stood on top."{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/history/firstsummit2.html |title=NOVA Online | Everest | First to Summit (2) |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225143204/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/history/firstsummit2.html |url-status=live }}

File:Edmund Hillary & Sherpa Tenzing.jpg greets Tenzing Norgay, {{circa|1971}}.]]

They spent only about 15 minutes at the summit. Hillary took the famous photo of Norgay posing with his ice-axe, but since Norgay had never used a camera, Hillary's ascent went unrecorded. However, according to Norgay's autobiography Man of Everest, when Norgay offered to take Hillary's photograph Hillary declined—"I motioned to Hillary that I would now take his picture. But for some reason he shook his head; he did not want it."{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3740536.stm |title=Asia-Pacific | Obituary: Sir Edmund Hillary |work=BBC News |date=11 January 2008 |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=27 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227071557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3740536.stm |url-status=live }}Norgay left chocolates in the snow as an offering, and Hillary left a cross that he had been given. Additional photos were taken looking down the mountain, in order to re-assure that they had made it to the top and to document that the ascent was not faked.{{cite web |url=http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/concepts/Virtual_Everest/-285.html |title=The Photographs |publisher=Imagingeverest.rgs.org |date=29 May 1953 |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=5 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905191639/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/concepts/Virtual_Everest/-285.html |url-status=dead }} The two had to take care on the descent after discovering that drifting snow had covered their tracks, complicating the task of retracing their steps. The first person they met was Lowe, who had climbed up to meet them with hot soup.

Afterwards, Norgay was met with great adulation in Nepal and India. Hillary and Hunt were knighted by Queen Elizabeth II,{{London Gazette|issue=39886|page=3273|date=12 June 1953}} while Norgay received the George Medal for his efforts on the expedition.{{cite news |title=Man of the mountains Tenzing dies |first=Paul |last=Vallely |work=The Times |date=10 May 1986}} It has been suggested that Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru refused permission for Norgay to be knighted.

{{cquote|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}}

Nonetheless, there was some inequity, according to National Geographic,{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2018/08/sherpas-and-ethics-everest |title=Sherpas and the ethics of Everest |date=8 April 2018 |publisher=NGS |access-date=17 May 2019 |quote=Often overlooked and rarely adequately rewarded, Nepal's 'people of the east' have been helping adventurers up Mount Everest for a century, but at what cost? |archive-date=17 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517124643/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2018/08/sherpas-and-ethics-everest |url-status=live }}

"Hillary was knighted for being the first known person to climb to the top of Mount Everest. But Tenzing, who simultaneously reached its summit, only received an honorary medal. In the years since there's been growing disquiet at the lack of official recognition."

Norgay and Hillary were the first people to conclusively set foot 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?" Colonel Hunt, the expedition leader, declared, "They reached it together, as a team."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/asia/11iht-obits.3.9154035.html|title=Sir Edmund Hillary, 88, a conqueror of Everest|last=Mcfadden|first=Robert D.|date=1 January 2008|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=18 January 2017|archive-date=19 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119052647/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/asia/11iht-obits.3.9154035.html|url-status=live}}

Norgay eventually ended the speculation by revealing that Hillary was first in his 1955 autobiography. It was ghost-written by American writer James Ramsay Ullman as Tenzing could speak several languages but could not read or write. They were roped six feet apart, with most of the 30 foot rope in loops in his hand:{{sfn|Gill|2017|pp=214,215}}Tenzing & Ullman p. 268

{{quote| A little below the summit Hillary and I stopped. ... I was not thinking of 'first' and 'second'. I did not say to myself, there is a golden apple up there. I will push Hillary aside and run for it. We went on slowly, steadily. And then we were there. Hillary stepped on top first. And I stepped up after him ... Now the truth is told. And I am ready to be judged by it.}}

Tenzing Norgay became the first Director of Field Training of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, when it was set up in 1954.

File:Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling in 2011.jpg

In January 1975, with permission of the King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Norgay served as sirdar (guide) for the first American tourist party allowed into the country.{{cite web |last=Giles |first=Kea |url=http://keagiles.blogspot.com/2010/04/branding-bhutan.html |title=Dragonfly Wars: 'Branding Bhutan' — or the story of a 'Trek through Time' |publisher=Keagiles.blogspot.com |date=4 April 2010 |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=8 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308085244/http://keagiles.blogspot.com/2010/04/branding-bhutan.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=28 June 1982 |location=Boulder, CO |work=Daily Camera |title=Trek through Time |pages=1C, 3C}} Brought together by a company then called Mountain Travel (now called Mountain Travel-Sobek), the group first met Norgay in India before beginning the trek. The official trek began in Paro, northern Bhutan and included a visit to Tiger's Nest (Paro Taktsang), the ancient Buddhist monastery, before returning to India via Nepal and Sikkim. Norgay even introduced his group to the King of Sikkim (the last king of Sikkim, as Sikkim is now a part of India) and also brought them to his home in India for a farewell celebration.

In 1978 Norgay founded Tenzing Norgay Adventures,{{cite web |url=http://www.tenzing-norgay.com/ |title=Welcome to the site of Tenzing Norgay Adventures |publisher=Tenzing-norgay.com |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=11 September 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050911230613/http://www.tenzing-norgay.com/ |url-status=dead }} a company providing trekking adventures in the Himalayas. As of 2021, the company was run by his son Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who himself reached the summit of Everest in 1996.{{Cite web|last=Norgay|first=Jamling Tenzing|title=Introduction by Tenzing Norgay Adventures – Jamling|url=http://www.tenzing-norgay.com/pages/|access-date=5 August 2021|website=Tenzing Norgay Adventures|archive-date=5 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805055426/http://www.tenzing-norgay.com/pages/|url-status=dead}}

On 10 May 1984 Tenzing Norgay, together with Grp Capt A. J. S. Grewal, Principal of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, attended the 10th-anniversary celebrations of The School of Adventure, Mysore, Karnataka held at the Mysore Institution of Engineers' auditorium.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}

In 1938, after Norgay's third Everest expedition as a porter, the Himalayan Club awarded him its Tiger Medal for high-altitude work.

On 7 June 1953, it was announced that the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II wished to recognize Norgay's achievements. 10 Downing Street announced on 1 July that, following consultation with the governments of India and Nepal, the Queen had approved awarding Norgay the George Medal.{{cite news |title=George Medal for Tensing — Award Approved by the Queen |work=The Times |location=London |issue=52663 |date=2 July 1953 |page=6}}Hansen (2004): "In Britain the queen gave Tenzing the George Medal, a comparatively obscure but high civilian award for gallantry" He also received, along with the rest of the Everest party, the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} In May 2013, Norgay's grandson, Tashi Tenzing, said he believed his grandfather should have been knighted, not just given "a bloody medal".{{cite news |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Tenzing-should-have-been-knighted/tabid/417/articleID/299631/Default.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130703155357/http://www.3news.co.nz/Tenzing-should-have-been-knighted/tabid/417/articleID/299631/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 July 2013 |work=3 News NZ |title=Tenzing 'should have been knighted' |date=30 May 2013 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/29/everest-anniversary-tenzing-norgay |work=The Guardian |title=Everest anniversary: Tenzing Norgay's grandson calls for 'gesture' from Britain |date=29 May 2013 |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-date=6 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406050237/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/29/everest-anniversary-tenzing-norgay |url-status=live }}

In 1953, King Tribhuvan of Nepal presented him with the Order of the Star of Nepal, 1st Class (Supradipta-Manyabara-Nepal-Tara).{{cite web |url=http://www.achievement.org/achievers/hil0/large/hil0-038.jpg |title=Tenzing Norgay photograph |publisher=Achievement.org |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212151540/http://www.achievement.org/achievers/hil0/large/hil0-038.jpg |archive-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}

In 1959, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of India.{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019215108/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |url-status=dead }} Indian Mountaineering Foundation presented him with its gold medal.{{Cite web |title=Legendary Mountaineers of HMI – Himalayan Mountaineering Institute |url=https://hmidarjeeling.com/legendary-mountaineers-of-hmi/ |access-date=12 October 2022 |language=en-US |archive-date=28 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928130729/https://hmidarjeeling.com/legendary-mountaineers-of-hmi/ |url-status=live }}

On 1 March 1963, Norgay was awarded the honorary title of "Merited Master of Sport of the USSR" by the Soviet Union, becoming the first foreigner to receive this distinction.{{cite web |url=https://archive.pib.gov.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/EDUCATION/1963-JAN-MARCH-EDUCATION/PDF/EDU-1963-03-03_130.pdf |title=Highest Russian Award for Shri Tenzing Norgay: Soviet Union Honours Everest Hero |publisher=Press Information Bureau, Government of India |date=3 March 1963 |access-date=17 September 2022 |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171313/https://archive.pib.gov.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/EDUCATION/1963-JAN-MARCH-EDUCATION/PDF/EDU-1963-03-03_130.pdf |url-status=live }}

In September 2013, the Government of Nepal proposed naming a {{convert|7916|m|adj=mid|ft}} mountain in Nepal Tenzing Peak in Norgay's honour.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/06/mount-everest-hillary-tensing-peaks |work=The Guardian |title=Mount Everest: Hillary and Tenzing to have peaks named after them |date=6 September 2013 |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-date=11 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130911073343/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/06/mount-everest-hillary-tensing-peaks |url-status=live }} Both Tenzing Peak and Hillary Peak are points on the long Ridge from Cho Oyu to Gyuchung Kang with Tenzing Peak nearer to Cho Oyu.

In July 2015, the highest-known, {{convert|3.4|km|ft|adj=mid|-high}} mountain range on the dwarf planet Pluto was named Tenzing Montes.{{cite web|url=https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1704/|title=International Astronomical Union – IAU|website=www.iau.org|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=7 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907204238/https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1704/|url-status=live}}

File:House of Tenzing Norgay in Darjeeling.jpg where Norgay spent his last years]]

Norgay 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.Tenzing and Barnes

Norgay's second wife was Ang Lahmu, a cousin of his first wife. They had no biological children, but she was adoptive mother to their daughters from his earlier marriage with her cousin.

His third wife was Dakku, whom he married while his second wife was still alive, as allowed by Sherpa custom (see polygyny). They had three sons (Norbu, Jamling and Dhamey), and one daughter, Deki, who married American lawyer Clark Trainor. Jamling would join Peter Hillary, Edmund Hillary's son, in climbing Everest in 2003 on the 50th anniversary of their fathers' climb.

{{Anchor|Descendants}}

Other relatives include Norgay's nephews, Nawang Gombu and Topgay, who took part in the 1953 Everest expedition; and his grandsons, Tashi Tenzing, who lives in Sydney, Australia, and the Trainor grandsons: Tenzing, Kalden, and Yonden. Tenzing Trainor is an actor who appeared on the Disney Channel comedy Liv and Maddie.{{Cite web |last=Hailu |first=Selome |date=2022-11-04 |title=‘On My Block’ Spinoff ‘Freeridge’ at Netflix Casts Tenzing Norgay Trainor and Peggy Blow |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/on-my-block-freeridge-tenzing-norgay-trainor-and-peggy-blow-1235423618/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=Variety |language=en-US |quote=[Trainor's] credits include Netflix’s 'Boo, Bitch' and Disney Channel’s 'Liv and Maddie.'}}

File:Tenzing Norgay memorial.jpg

Norgay died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India, on 9 May 1986{{Cite book|contributor-first=Jon|contributor-last=Krakauer|contributor-link=Jon Krakauer|title=Touching My Father's Soul: a Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest|last1=Norgay|first1=Jamling Tenzing|last2=Coburn|first2=Broughton|publisher=HarperSanFrancisco|year=2002|isbn=0062516876|publication-place=San Francisco, California|page=XVI|contribution=Introduction|oclc=943113647|quote=On May 9, 1986, while Jamling was still enrolled at Northland, he received word that his father had abruptly collapsed and died.}} at the age of 71.{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/remembering-tenzing-norgay-on-his-29th-death-anniversary/1/437369.html|title=Tenzing Norgay: Interesting facts about the Mountaineer's Life|website=India Today|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427193232/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/remembering-tenzing-norgay-on-his-29th-death-anniversary/1/437369.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal |title= TENZING NORKAY, 72, IS DEAD: CLIMBED EVEREST WITH HILLARY |date= 10 May 1986 |journal= The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/10/obituaries/tenzing-norkay-72-is-dead-climbed-everest-with-hillary.html |access-date= 16 October 2018 |archive-date= 16 October 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181016203251/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/10/obituaries/tenzing-norkay-72-is-dead-climbed-everest-with-hillary.html |url-status= live }} His remains were cremated in the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, his favourite haunt. His widow, Dakku, died in 1992.{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/09/23/daku-norgay/|title=Daku Norgay|website=orlandosentinel.com|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=19 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519201148/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1992-09-23/news/9209230223_1_tenzing-norgay-everest-sir-edmund-hillary|url-status=live}}

• In 2003, commemorating the golden jubilee of Norgay's summit of Everest, the Indian government renamed its highest adventure sports award, the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award after him.{{cite press release|title=Prime Minister Inaugurates Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the first assent of Mount Everest|url=http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/rmay2003/20052003/r200520039.html|publisher=Press Information Bureau, India|access-date=1 February 2021|date=20 May 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050106163533/http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/rmay2003/20052003/r200520039.html|archive-date=6 January 2005}}
• {{cite news |title=Vajpayee to inaugurate celebrations marking Everest conquest |url=https://zeenews.india.com/home/vajpayee-to-inaugurate-celebrations-marking-everest-conquest_99615.html |access-date=1 February 2021 |work=Zee News |date=20 May 2003 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128113031/https://zeenews.india.com/home/vajpayee-to-inaugurate-celebrations-marking-everest-conquest_99615.html |url-status=live }}

• In 2011, Indian comic publisher Amar Chitra Katha released a children's comic book about Tenzing Norgay.{{ cite web |url=http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/us/tenzing-norgay/ |title=Tenzing Norgay — Amar Chitra Katha |access-date=4 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105000323/http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/us/tenzing-norgay |archive-date=5 January 2015 }}

• In Intolerable Cruelty, the 2003 American film by the Coen brothers, Norgay is mentioned by the film's main character in creating metaphor for the positive act of enabling.{{cite book |author1=Richard Young |author1-link=Richard Young (photographer) |title=The Big Book of Glamour: 200 Secrets for Easier, Quicker and More Dynamic Photography |date=2015 |publisher=Amherst Media |isbn=978-1-60895-839-9 |page=94 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2aEsDQAAQBAJ&q=Tenzing+Norgay+Intolerable+Cruelty+%282003%29&pg=PA94 |access-date=13 April 2021 |language=en |chapter=Find Your Tenzing Norgay |archive-date=28 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828072053/https://books.google.com/books?id=2aEsDQAAQBAJ&q=Tenzing+Norgay+Intolerable+Cruelty+%282003%29&pg=PA94 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author1=Brian Eggert |title=Intolerable Cruelty (2003) – Deep Focus Review – Movie Reviews, Critical Essays, and Film Analysis |url=https://deepfocusreview.com/reviews/intolerable-cruelty/ |website=Deep Focus Review |access-date=13 April 2021 |date=2020 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412214303/https://deepfocusreview.com/reviews/intolerable-cruelty/ |url-status=live }}

• Filming on Tenzing began in 2025, with a cast featuring Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/apples-new-everest-film-tenzing-starts-shooting-in-nepal-with-tom-hiddleston-as-sir-edmund-hillary/DNNLSKNZEBEGVKYL24KMIIOSHU/|title= Apple’s new Everest film Tenzing starts shooting in Nepal with Tom Hiddleston as Sir Edmund Hillary|first=Tom|last=Rose|website=NZ Herald|date=7 May 2025|accessdate=7 May 2025}}

• One of the buildings at Everest Court, Mottingham in Kent, England is named after him.
• In January 2008, Lukla Airport was renamed Tenzing–Hillary Airport in honour of the pair and their achievement.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldhum.com/weblog/item/introducing_tenzing_hillary_airport_20080211/ |title=Introducing Tenzing Hillary Airport — Travel Blog |publisher=World Hum |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=10 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210152741/http://www.worldhum.com/weblog/item/introducing_tenzing_hillary_airport_20080211/ |url-status=live }}
• Tenzing Montes is the name of an icy mountain range on the surface of Pluto.{{cite web |url=http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20170907 |title=Pluto Features Given First Official Names |publisher=NASA |date=7 September 2017 |access-date=25 September 2017 |archive-date=25 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925201655/http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20170907 |url-status=live }}
• Minor planet 6481 Tenzing is named in his honour.{{cite web |url=https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=6481 |title=(6481) Tenzing = 1950 QK = 1978 UC3 = 1981 SV5 = 1987 DA = 1988 RH2 = 1994 EP2 |publisher=Minor planet center |access-date=20 March 2020 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304134438/http://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=6481 |url-status=live }}

• Red pandas at several zoos are named in his honour.{{cite web|url=http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=109562&pageId=182588|title=Knoxville Zoo's Red Panda Cubs Officially Named – City of K...|website=www.knoxvilletn.gov|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831091231/http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=109562&pageId=182588|archive-date=31 August 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/SF-Zoos-Adorable-New-Red-Panda-Named-Tenzing-258335091.html|title=San Francisco Zoo's Adorable New Red Panda Named 'Tenzing'|website=nbcbayarea.com|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=31 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831090145/http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/SF-Zoos-Adorable-New-Red-Panda-Named-Tenzing-258335091.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://hamiltonzoo.co.nz/news-and-diaries/zoo-news/red-panda-tenzing-/|title=Tenzing Norgay's family learns of red panda namesake – Hamilton Zoo|website=hamiltonzoo.co.nz|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=8 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208075718/http://hamiltonzoo.co.nz/news-and-diaries/zoo-news/red-panda-tenzing-|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://hamiltonzoo.co.nz/news-and-diaries/zoo-news/red-pandas-now-classified-as-endangered/|title=Red pandas now classified as endangered – Hamilton Zoo|website=hamiltonzoo.co.nz|access-date=31 August 2017|archive-date=9 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209151447/http://hamiltonzoo.co.nz/news-and-diaries/zoo-news/red-pandas-now-classified-as-endangered/|url-status=dead}}

• The energy drink brand Tenzing is named in his honour.{{cite web|url=https://tenzingnaturalenergy.com/pages/our-story|title=Out Story - Team TENZING|access-date=10 October 2022|archive-date=28 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828072149/https://tenzingnaturalenergy.com/pages/our-story|url-status=live}}

Relatives of Tenzing Norgay:

• Nawang Gombu Sherpa (nephew)
• Lobsang Tshering (nephew)
• Jamling Tenzing Norgay (son)
• Tashi Tenzing (grandson)
• Tenzing Norgay Trainor (grandson)

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• Tony Astill, Mount Everest The Reconnaissance 1935 (2005)
• George Band, Everest Exposed (2005), an account of the 1953 expedition
• {{cite book |last= Gill |first= Michael |title= Edmund Hillary: A Biography |year= 2017 |publisher= Potton & Burton |location= Nelson, NZ |isbn= 978-0-947503-38-3 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hunt |first= John |title= The Ascent of Everest |url=https://archive.org/details/ascentofeverest0000hunt |url-access=registration |year=1993 |orig-year=First published 1953 |publisher= Hodder & Stoughton |location= London |isbn= 0-89886-361-9 |ref={{SfnRef|Hunt|1953}} }} (The Conquest of Everest in America)
• Tashi Tenzing and Judy Tenzing, Tenzing Norgay and 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)
• Tenzing Norgay and Malcolm Barnes, After Everest (1978)
• Tenzing Norgay and James Ramsey Ullman Man of Everest (1955) (also published as The Tiger of the Snows)

{{commons category}}

• [http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Virtual_Everest/-116.html Tenzing Norgay] at the Royal Geographical Society. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070414143647/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Virtual_Everest/-116.html |date=14 April 2007 }}.
• [http://www.sherpatenzingnorgay.com/index-noflash.html Tenzing Norgay Sherpa Foundation]
• {{cite web|url=http://home.123india.com/alokghosh/Heritage/Our%20Sportsmen.htm|title=OUR SPORTSMEN: Tenzin Norgay|website=123india.com|access-date=27 September 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210527/http://home.123india.com/alokghosh/Heritage/Our%20Sportsmen.htm}}
• {{Internet Archive author |sname= |sopt=w}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1954–59}}

{{Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norgay, Tenzing}}

Category:1914 births

Category:1986 deaths

Category:People from Solukhumbu District

Category:Recipients of the George Medal

Category:Tibetan Buddhists from India

Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Nepal

Category:Nepalese mountain climbers

Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports

Category:Recipients of the Order of the Star of Nepal

Category:Sherpa summiters of Mount Everest

Category:Nepalese emigrants to India

Category:Naturalised citizens of India

Category:Indian summiters of Mount Everest

Category:Nepalese summiters of Mount Everest

*

Category:Edmund Hillary

Category:Recipients of Indian Mountaineering Foundation's Gold Medal

Category:Nepalese recipients of the George Medal

Category:20th-century Indian Buddhists

Category:20th-century Nepalese Buddhists

Category:Recipients of Himalayan Club Tiger Badge