Places in the 1953 Royal Geographic Society expedition to Everest (8848 m) were in great demand, so that Edmund Hillary was very happy to be part of it. In those days access to the Khumbu was restricted for political reasons, so the Everest Trek and supply of the top British team lead by Colonel Hunt's hopes took the nation and had a high profile in the press.

After months of preparation, and a failed summit bid, the team made its second attempt at the summit on the morning of 29 May 1953. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were chosen to continue to southeast Ridge while Colonel Hunt was to wait in the camp of four in the base of the South Col, and the rest of the team (including fellow Sherpa Tenzing) waiting for news at base camp. The expedition consisted of a dozen climbers, 35 Sherpa guides and 350 porters with 18 tons of food and equipment.

The first successful trip to Everest peak

This was a beautiful clear day Hillary and Tenzing but could not begin until Hillary's boots had thawed with overnight frozen solid. The final round of their trek to the summit of Everest is two and half hours and was very difficult. That had to cut the careful steps on a slope of snow working diagonally upward. Finally, they reached a rock step seemed insurmountable until Hillary found a crack so they can slip up.

Your trip could have ended Everest calamity. After have been rising for a while Tenzing had difficulties with the oxygen set. Your exhaust port is blocked with ice, and found that Hillary was having the same problem. If they had not solved they would have been forced to abandon the summit bid.

Because of the slope of the ridge, Hillary and Tenzing could not see the summit they came up, and I only saw when there were only thirty or forty feet away. And the joy, the couple had a sense of relief when they arrived to the top, especially with Tenzing had been very close in a report last year Everest Trek.

In an interview a few weeks after his Everest Trek, Hillary recalled how the point of view of the summit was clear: "there were no clouds at all." You could see "far-reaching in Tibet and Nepal." He also mentioned how the foreshortening effect of great height they had reached underneath it all "look rather flat, much like the view from an airplane." You could also see the fifth world's largest mountain, Mount Makalu (8,462 m). Hillary knew that they were in a privileged position of being able to see this peak above. "Makalu was quite a sight below us."

Looking north side of the mountain, Tenzing was able to see the monastery Rombuk, and be a Buddhist, this was special for him. Hillary commented on the difficulty of the route up the north face looked for a trekking to Everest.

They stayed in the summit for about fifteen minutes and then started down the mountain again. Hillary and Tenzing returned to Everest base camp, as the first people to reach the highest peak in the world and return safely.

The news of the successful Everest Trek took several days to reach Britain, and was announced the day before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In the fifties Britain was still experiencing a period of austerity after the war and rationing was established to continue for another year. Together with the coronation, the British team's performance, driven by the morality of the nation. On his return to England, the new queen knighted the New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary and, in recognition of his great achievement on Everest with Tenzing Norgay.

Kirsty Parsons is the Marketing Coordinator for Everest Base Camp Trek, an adventure website which provides holidays featuring the classic Everest trek, to Everest Base Camp, as well as several alternative Everest Trekking routes in the Himalayan region.

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