Pen-y-Gwryd expeditions took place, at Helyg near Capel Curig. On the right at the hotel entrance there is a Tyrolean-style Stüberl (dining room) with the signatures, written on the ceiling, of the teams that did the first ascent of Everest in 1953 and of the first ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955 – these include Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, Sir John Hunt, Charles Evans, George Band, Joe Brown, John Angelo Jackson, Wilfred Noyce, Tony Streather, Tom Mackinnon, Norman Hardie, Neil Mather, John Clegg and others, including Noel Odell from Mallory's 1924 expedition and Chris Bonington of later successes. There are many
Everest Marathon 1987, since when it has been run every two years. In 2003 an alternative race, The Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon, was started which is held every year on 29 May to commemorate the first successful 1953 Everest expedition by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The Everest Marathon (1987–present) starts at Gorak Shep at 5,212 m (17,100 ft), the site of the 1953 Everest Base Camp, and finishes in Namche Bazaar, with a 6-mile "Thamo loop" at the end to make the full marathon distance. The Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon (2003–present) starts at the current Everest Base Camp below the Khumbu