Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Signed Ice Axe and Expedition Bag.

HILLARY, Edmund Percival and Tenzig Norgay.

$50,000.00

Item Number: 131524

Rare original cotton equipment bag used in the 1953 Everest expedition, inscribed “Hillary Expedition.” The expedition bag measures 34 inches by 16 inches. Accompanied by an ice axe boldly signed by twice by Edmund Hillary and his mountaineering partner Tenzig Norgay, the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Circa 1955. Wood and steel shaft measures 35 inches; steel blade measures 12 inches. Signed by Hillary twice (in black and silver ink). A unique collection of mountaineering history, signed by the two individuals that made history reaching the summit of Mount Everest.

Hillary and Norgay became the first two individuals to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953 as part of the 1953 British Everest expedition led by British Army officer John Hunt. Hunt named two two-man teams to make the final ascent to the summit and placed Hillary with Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay who had participated as a high-altitude porter in three official British attempts to climb Everest from the northern Tibetan side in the 1930s. Tenzing later wrote that Hillary took the first step onto the summit and he followed. They reached Everest’s 29,028 ft summit – the highest point on earth – at 11:30 am on May 29th 1953. The event marked a culminating moment in mountaineering history, and one of the great achievements of human stamina and will which garnered worldwide attention.