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High Society: LIFE With Hillary and Tenzing After the First Ascent of Everest

4 minute read

It’s been more than 60 years since Edmund Hillary (later Sir Edmund, of course) and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to summit Mount Everest, and all these decades later their feat still resonates as one of the 20th century’s signature moments. Here, LIFE.com looks back at that remarkable time with some rare photos from the celebrations after the climb, as well as page spreads from the cover story that ran in LIFE a few months later chronicling the accomplishment — and the bitter controversy that swirled around the entire event.

As LIFE noted in its July 13, 1953, issue, the historic ascent was hardly greeted with unalloyed goodwill and enthusiasm from all corners of the globe. In fact, international politics and racial pride were quickly thrust into the conversation about Hillary’s and Tenzing’s astonishing feat.

“Everest’s Conqueror’s Come Back,” LIFE roared in one headline in that special issue, then immediately blunted the celebratory tone with a caveat: “They bring thrilling stories of a great deed, but little men besmirch their riotous welcome.”

Thus — in a sad foreshadowing of the often contentious debate that had dogged so many attempts on Everest throughout the years (Is it worth the risk of life and limb? What does the local community get out of it?) — the very first successful climb to the top of the world’s highest peak sparked some often quite ugly jockeying for credit and supremacy. Jockeying, it should be noted, that both Hillary and Tenzing, who were fast friends, readily denounced.

(Also, while LIFE makes more than one mention of “British climbers” in its reporting, Edmund Hillary was in fact a proud, born-and-raised New Zealander. He died in 2008, at the age of 88, in Auckland. Tenzing died two years before Hillary, at age 71, in India.)

[MORE: See the TIME article, “60 Years After Man First Climbed Everest, the Mountain Is a Mess.”]

“The climbers who conquered Everest,” LIFE wrote, “came down to a world eager to see them, honor them and hear their full story. . . . They came down to such a welcome — such surging excitement and hero worship — as had never before stirred the steamy lowlands of Nepal.”

The first official welcomers met the mountaineers outside of Banepa [the article continues], 20 miles from Nepal’s capital Katmandu. In the lead was British embassy party, bearing beer and sandwiches; then came the Nepalese to garland the heroes with flowers and sprinkle them with kumkum, a vermilion powder of rejoicing. Devil dancers met that at Bhadgaon, still 15 miles out. The wife of Sir John Hunt, the expedition’s leader, came out to meet him. Tenzing’s wife and their two teenage daughters flew from Darjeeling, India. . . .

[See all of TIME.com’s coverage of Nepal.]

To the distress and the half-resentful bewilderment of Colonel Hunt and his British climbers, however, these first wild welcomings carried a clear implication that, in Asia, the real hero of Everest was Tenzing alone. The conquest of Everest, a product of selfless teamwork between Asian and European, was being twisted into an ugly tool of Asian nationalism, inflamed further by the normal British habit of treating the hired Tenzing like a hired man. . . .

Today, as men and women continue to test their own mettle on the peaks of the Himalayas and on the heights of other, equally lethal mountain ranges around the globe — occasionally losing toes, noses, fingers and even lives in the process — the pictures in this gallery are a reminder that for some people, the risks have always, unquestionably, been worth it.

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay 1953
Caption from LIFE. "Moving down after triumph, Hillary and Tenzing are still united and delighted."James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Caption from LIFE. "Street banner, like most in Katmandu, singled out Sherpa Tenzing for honors of Everest."James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Edmund Hillary 1953
Not published in LIFE. Edmund Hillary (later Sir Edmund Hillary), 1953.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Tenzing Norgay 1953
Not published in LIFE. Tenzing Norgay (George Medal honoree), 1953.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
John Hunt 1953
Not published in LIFE. John Hunt (later Sir John Hunt), leader of the successful 1953 Everest expedition.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Nepalese greet Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, 1953.
Not published in LIFE. Nepalese greet Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, 1953.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Caption from LIFE. "Heroes ride into welcoming throng in Temple Square of Bhandgaon. Tenzing stands in leading jeep, Hunt and Hillary sit in second."James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Celebrating Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, Nepal, 1953.
Not published in LIFE. Celebrating Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, Nepal, 1953.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Getting ready for heroes, devil dancers prance in Temple Square, Nepal, 1953.
Caption from LIFE. "Getting ready for heroes, devil dancers prance in Temple Square."James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Tenzing Norgay, 1953
Not published in LIFE. Tenzing Norgay arrives in India after first ascent of Mt. Everest, 1953.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
John Hunt, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, 1953
Not published in LIFE. From left: John Hunt, Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay in India, after the first ascent of Mt. Everest, 1953.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Reception for the 1953 Everest expedition, Nepal.
Not published in LIFE. Reception for the 1953 Everest expedition, India.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Edmund Hillary, 1953
Not published in LIFE. Edmund Hillary at a reception for the 1953 Everest expedition, India.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
John Hunt, Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay in Nepal, 1953.
Not published in LIFE. John Hunt, Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay at a reception for the 1953 Everest expedition, India.James Burke—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summit Everest, May 1953
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953.LIFE Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine
LIFE magazine, July 13, 1953. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right.Life Magazine

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