London, 1956. 320 pp, b/w photos. Hardcover, 7½''x5''. Near Fine. This is a later British edition of Tenzing's book, written by Tenzing and Ullman together in Switzerland in the summer of 1954.
In a copy of Tenzing's book Man of Everest (also called Tiger of the Snows), these climbers signed their names:
SIGNED by:
Tenzing Norgay, Nepali, First man with Hillary to climb Mt Everest
Nawang Gombu, Nepali, With Whittaker, first to climb Mt Everest twice
Lute Jerstad, Second & Third Americans with Barry Bishop to climb Mt Everest
Chris Bonington, British, Led 4 Mt Everest Expeditions, dozens world-wide
Reinhold Messner, Italian, First to climb all 14 8000 meter peaks.
Junko Tabei. Japanese, First woman to climb Everest
This copy of Tenzing's book is rare in that it has the signatures of both Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the same page. It is also signed by these great climbers, Junko Tabei (Japan, first woman on Everest), Nawang Gombu (Tenzing's nephew and first man to climb Everest twice) Chris Bonington, Reinhold Messner and James Whittaker. The 7 westernersand two Asians signed the book in 1992 when we met in LA for an American Himalayan Foundation fund raising event.
The most difficult of these signatures to obtain was Tenzing. Authors now generally visit bookshops to give a talk and sign books, something that was impossible and unnecessary for Tenzing in the 1950s, or even the 60s and 70s. Getting Hillary and Tenzing to sign their books could never happen as they generally saw each other when Hillary visited the villages in Nepal where he was building schools and hospitals. We see a few books that people probably carried to Darjeeling as Tenzing lived there.
One of the most popular books in the Everest literature. Tenzing was on Everest 7 times, plus many other Himalayan expeditions. This is the UK edition of Tiger of the Snows, and I believe it was published earlier than the US edition, even though Ullman was an American.
Tenzing Norgay (1914 – 1986) was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer. He and Sir Edmund Hillary were the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. Tenzing was not only the greatest Sherpa climber of his generation, he was also the first common born Asian of any nationality to achieve world wide fame.
In his twenties Tenzing moved to the Sherpa community in Too Song Bhusti in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India, specifically to join Everest expeditions.
He took part as a high-altitude porter in three official British attempts to climb Everest from the northern Tibetan side in the 1930s starting in 1935. Tenzing also took part in other climbs in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, and for a time in the early 1940s he lived in what is now Pakistan; he said that the most difficult climb he ever took part in was on Nanda Devi East, where a number of people were killed.
In 1947, he took part in an unsuccessful Everest summit attempt. An eccentric Englishman named Earl Denman, with Ange Dawa Sherpa, and himself entered Tibet illegally to attempt the mountain; the attempt ended when a strong storm at 22,000 feet pounded them. Denman admitted defeat and all three turned around and safely returned.
In 1952, he took part in two Swiss expeditions and teamed up with Raymond Lambert, the first serious attempts to climb Everest from the southern Nepalese side, during which he and Lambert reached the then record height of 8,599 m (28,215 ft). Lambert and Tenzing always knew that Tenzing could have summited on this climb, and Tenzing always regretted that he did not succeed with Lambert, a true friend, rather than with Hillary.
In 1953, he took part in Sir John Hunt's expedition, his own seventh expedition to Everest, in which he and Hillary became the first men to reach the summit. Afterwards he was met with adulation in India and Nepal, and even literally worshiped by some people who believed he must be an incarnation of Buddha or Siva.
He had two sons, Jamling and Norbu. I have met them both, Norbu many times as he lives in California. Jamling climbed Everest in the Imax Evrest film by David Breashears. Other relatives include his nephews, Gombu and Topgay, who also took part in the 1953 Everest expedition.
Tenzing later became director of field training for the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. In 1978, he founded a company, Tenzing Norgay Adventures, that offers trekking in the Himalaya. As of 2003, the company is run by his son Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who himself reached the summit of Everest in 1996. Tenzing died in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India in 1986.
