1953 British Mount Everest expedition
Name Function Profession Age at time of selection ( 1 November 1952 )
John Hunt Expedition leader and mountaineer British Army Colonel 42
Charles Evans Deputy expedition leader and mountaineer Physician 33
George Band Mountaineer Graduate in geology 23
Tom Bourdillon Mountaineer Physicist 28
Alfred Gregory Mountaineer Director of travel agency 39
Wilfrid Noyce Mountaineer Schoolmaster and author 34
Griffith Pugh Doctor and mountaineer Physiologist 43
Tom Stobart Cameraman and mountaineer Cameraman 38
Michael Ward Expedition doctor and mountaineer Physician 27
Michael Westmacott Mountaineer Statistician 27
Charles Wylie Organizing secretary and mountaineer Soldier 32
Edmund Hillary Mountaineer Apiarist 33
George Lowe Mountaineer Schoolmaster 28
Tenzing Norgay Mountaineer and guide 38
Sherpa Annullu Mountaineer and guide
Expedition participants
The expedition participants were selected for their mountaineering qualifications and also for their expertise in providing a number of other necessary skills and support services . Griffith Pugh 's impact is often overlooked . He improved activities such as hydration and oxygen intake , and enabled sustained mountaineering efforts . His ideas revolutionised almost every aspect of British high-altitude mountaineering , transforming the climbers ' attitude to oxygen , the clothes they wore , their equipment , fluid intake and acclimatisation . [ 44 ] While most were from the United Kingdom itself , they were also drawn from other countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations . [ 45 ] The leader , Hunt , had been born in India . [ 6 ]
The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit on Friday, 1953. Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organised and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee. News of the expedition's success reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation,