Officially speaking, the first ascent of Everest was in 1953 when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made it to the summit via the southeast ridge.
Officially speaking, the first ascent of Everest was in 1953 when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made it to the summit via the southeast ridge. Tenzing had gone very close to making it only a year earlier when he reached the height of 8,595m as part of a Swiss expedition.