Mount Everest was first climbed successfully in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
Hillary, a New Zealand mountaineer, and Norgay, a Sherpa mountaineer from Nepal, reached the summit on 29 May 1953. They were members of a British expedition led by John Hunt. The pair used the South Col route and supplementary oxygen during their summit attempt.
Everest stands in the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China. Nepalese authorities call it Sagarmatha, while the Tibetan name is Chomolungma. Its official elevation is 8,848.86 metres, based on a 2020 measurement by Nepal and China.
George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared during a 1924 attempt, and it remains uncertain whether either reached the summit. Their story is separate from the confirmed 1953 ascent.