It has been 67 years since New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, together with Nepal's Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, on May 29, 1953, became the first to scale the 29,028 foot (8,848 metre) summit of Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border.
Both the climbers were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest which was led by John Hunt and reached the top of the world at 1130 local time after a gruelling climb up the southern face on May 29th.
As per news reports, both hugged each other with joy and stayed on the summit for just 15 minutes because they were low on oxygen. It was also reported that Sherpa Tenzing buried some sweets and biscuits in the snow as a Buddhist offering to the gods.
By late afternoon they were back at the South Col camp and on June 2 word of the conquest was broken by the London Times.
The expedition set up base camp in March 1953. The final camp was set up at the South Col.
British expedition leader John Hunt chose the strapping six-foot (1.83 metre) New Zealander, then a beekeeper from near Auckland, because of his experience in the Himalayas and reputation for immense energy and strength.
The second pairing in the 14-man party to attempt the summit, Hillary and Tenzing set off on a cloudless morning after spending a night at high altitude on the south peak of the South Col.
Encumbered by clothing and oxygen equipment that modern climbers would deem museum pieces, they inched ahead until they reached the most formidable problem on the final ridge, a 40 foot (13 metre) rock now known as the Hillary Step.
Hillary 'jammed' his way up a narrow crack running vertically up the rock using all his strength and determination. He then hauled Tenzing up and they moved on with little left to impede them.
At 11.30 a.m. they became the first to step onto the summit of the highest mountain on earth. For years neither would say who stepped foot on the summit first, but after Tenzing's death, Hillary revealed it was him.
Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above the sea level and is located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas.
