'This was a mountain that he had to climb': How Hillary and Tenzing survived the 'death zone' to conquer Everest

To reach Everest's summit, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay faced many challenges. They climbed sheer rock while battling ice and low oxygen levels. This dangerous part of the mountain is known as the "death zone." Seventy-two years ago, they shared their victory with the BBC.

On July 3, 1953, Hillary expressed relief at reaching the summit. He said, "Relief that we had found the summit for one thing and relief that we were there." Tenzing also felt immense relief and joy after surviving the icy terrain. They had scaled a daunting 40-foot vertical rock face in this treacherous region.

Everest stands at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet) above sea level. It straddles the border of Nepal and Tibet. The British named it after surveyor George Everest in 1856. Locally, it is known as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Chomolungma in Tibet.

The term "death zone" was coined by Edouard Wyss-Dunant in 1952. He led a Swiss attempt to climb Everest that year, which included Tenzing. The death zone refers to altitudes above 8,000 meters (26,000 feet). At this height, low oxygen levels can be fatal for climbers.

Humans are not built to survive extreme cold and low oxygen levels. Climbers suffer from hypoxia when their bodies lack sufficient oxygen. This can lead to heart problems and impaired judgment under stress. Some climbers experience delirium or even remove their clothing due to confusion.

Tenzing and Hillary acclimatized by establishing camps at increasing altitudes during April and May of 1953. This helped their bodies adjust to lower oxygen levels by expanding lung capacity. However, acclimatization becomes difficult above 6,000 meters (19,700 feet).

They brought special oxygen equipment to help combat altitude effects but knew the challenge was immense. Three days before their ascent, two climbers nearly reached the summit but turned back due to exhaustion and malfunctioning equipment.

On May 29, 1953, Tenzing and Hillary began their second attempt early in the morning. As they climbed through snow along an exposed ridgeline toward the peak, doubts crept into Hillary's mind about continuing on. Despite these doubts, both men encouraged each other to keep going.

Tenzing felt a strong connection to Everest; he believed he was destined to climb it. His son Jamling shared that Tenzing had attempted this climb six times over more than two decades before succeeding with Hillary.

The last major obstacle was a sheer vertical rock face with no visible holds for climbing. With Tenzing holding onto him with a rope for support, Hillary wedged himself into a narrow crack between rocks and ice before slowly inching upward.

Once he reached the top of this section—later named the Hillary Step—he threw down a rope for Tenzing to follow him up safely. After overcoming this barrier, they continued along a ridge until they finally saw the summit just ahead.

When they stood on top of Everest together, they embraced in joy. Hillary took photos of Tenzing waving flags from Britain, India, Nepal, and the United Nations while enjoying breathtaking views from above.

Tenzing buried sweets as an offering according to his Buddhist beliefs since nothing could remain permanently at such heights. They searched for evidence of missing climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine but found none; Mallory’s body was discovered later in 1999.

They spent only fifteen minutes on top due to dwindling oxygen supplies before descending back down together as equals without revealing who stepped onto the peak first first.
Hillary greeted fellow climber George Lowe upon returning: “Well George,” he said cheerfully,"we knocked the bastard off."

News of their achievement reached outside world on June 2nd—the eve of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation—and both men received honors afterward while controversy arose over Tenzing's recognition compared to others'.

Since then many adventurers have attempted similar feats on Everest every year generating income for Nepal’s government despite its dangers; nine people died or went missing there last year alone according tourism department records showing over three hundred deaths recorded since records began century ago .

Due global warming melting glaciers exposing frozen bodies left behind clean-up campaigns launched by Nepalese government aim recover remains including five retrieved last year from hazardous areas known as death zones .