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 eventually settled in the Sherpa community in Toonsong Busty in Darjeeling. Norgay received his first opportunity to join an Everest expedition when he was employed by Eric Shipton, leader of the 1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition. As a 20-year-old his chance came when two of the others failed their medical tests. As a friend of Ang Tharkay (a Sherpa "sirdar" who had been on the 1933 British Mount Everest expedition), Norgay was quickly pushed forward, and his attractive smile caught the eye of Shipton, who decided to take him on. Norgay participated as a high-altitude porter in three official