Hugh Ruttledge 20 May – was, as a result of disagreements between team members, never established. It was during this expedition that Wyn-Harris found the ice axe which belonged to Andrew Irvine, who had disappeared on the peak on the with George Mallory. One of the men rejected for this expedition was Tenzing Norgay, who made the first ascent of Everest in 1953 with Sir Edmund Hillary. Fortunately, Ruttledge had the foresight to hire Tenzing to come with him to Everest in 1936. In 1934 Ruttledge was awarded a Royal Geographical Society Founder's Gold Medal; his citation read 'For his journeys in
South Summit (Mount Everest) first climbed by Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon on the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition, on May 26, 1953. They were unable to continue on to the primary summit, but Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the next pair to make a summit bid, traversed the South Summit to reach the main peak. The distance separating the two summits is approximately . On reaching the South Col in 1953, expedition leader John Hunt was struck by the sight, writing "Above us rose the South Summit of Everest ... an elegant snow spire, breathtakingly close yet nearly 3000 feet above our heads