Charles Evans (mountaineer) in Liverpool until 1957. Evans was John Hunt's deputy leader on the 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition which made the first ascent of Everest in 1953. With Tom Bourdillon, he made the first ascent of the South Summit, coming within three hundred feet of the main summit of Everest on 26 May 1953, but was forced to turn back. Everest was summited by their teammates Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay three days later, on 29 May 1953. Evans was the leader of the expedition which first climbed Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest peak, in 1955. The following year he was
Tenzing Norgay 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. Tenzing ran away from home twice in his teens, first to Kathmandu and later Darjeeling, India, at that time the starting point for most expeditions in eastern Himalaya. He was once sent to Tengboche Monastery to become a monk, but he decided that was not for him and departed. At the age of 19, he