Tenzing Norgay

Short version of Mount Everest 1952, released in black and white by Castle Films for the domestic market. The film records the swiss expedition which attempted to climb Mount Everest in 1952. Led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, the 1952 spring Swiss Mount Everest expedition saw Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reach a height of about 8,595 metres (28,199 ft) on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record, opening up a new route to Mount Everest and paving the way for further successes by other expeditions.

Record of the 1936 British Mout Everest Expedition led by Hugh Ruttledge. Although the North Col was reached, a combination of high winds, storms and waist-deep snow made progress above 7,000m difficult and, with the monsoon arriving early, Ruttledge called off the expedition. Members of the expedition were mountaineers Eric Shipton, Frank Smythe, Percy Wyn-Harris, Edwin Kempson, Dr. Charles Warren, Edmund Wigram, Peter Oliver and James Gavin. The party also included Tenzing Norgay. This was a very well-equipped expedition, which included oxygen and radio equipment.

In 1951, the 3rd French expedition to the Himalayas sets out to conquer the Nanda Devi (7,800m). The attempt to traverse the ridge between the main summit and Nanda Devi East resulted in the death of two members of the expedition. Team leader Roger Duplat and Gilbert Vignes disappeared on the ridge somewhere below the main summit. Tenzing Norgay was in a support team on this expedition; he and Louis Dubost climbed Nanda Devi East to look for the missing pair. Some years later Tenzing was asked what was the most difficult climb he ever did, expecting him to say Mount Everest; he surprised his interlocutors by saying Nanda Devi East. Filmed in Gevacolor.