Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary
Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber from Darjeeling, India reached on the peak at 11:30 local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending.