Tashi Wangchuk Tenzing () is an Indian-born Nepalese Australian

Sherpa SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organisation originally set up in 2002 to run and manage the SHERPA Project. History SHERPA began as an endeavour to support the establishment of a number of open ...

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

. His maternal grandfather,

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to ...

, made the first ascent of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

on 29 May 1953.

Early life

Tashi was born to Pem Pem, who was the daughter of

. He spent part of his childhood in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

, India where he attended St Paul's School excelling at distance and sprint running, soccer, cricket, gymnastics, karate, hockey and horse-riding as well as oil painting and

batik Batik is a dyeing technique using wax Resist dyeing, resist. The term is also used to describe patterned textiles created with that technique. Batik is made by drawing or stamping wax on a cloth to prevent colour absorption during the dyein ...

. Tashi then went on to the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

to gain a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in Sociology. He established the Delhi University Climbing Club and studied at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. His grandfather, Tenzing Norgay, established this Institute after his ascent of Everest to offer professional climbing instruction. Tashi graduated from the Institute as an instructor and still sometimes delivers courses there as a guest instructor.

Career

Since leaving University Tashi has led trekking and climbing trips in Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Kashmir and the Indian Himalaya. In 1993 Tashi led the 40th Anniversary Everest Expedition to mark the 40th anniversary of the first successful expedition of his grandfather, Tenzing Norgay. While his team was successful in getting two members to the summit on 10 May, Tashi's uncle and climbing partner, Lobsang Tshering, fell to his death on the descent from the summit. Tashi himself missed the summit as well by just 400 metres, having to turn back with snow blindness. On 23 May 1997 Tashi reached the summit of Everest. In 1998/99 he spent 9 months working for the Australian Antarctic Division at Mawson Station in the Antarctic and now guides treks there. Tashi again reached the summit of Mount Everest for the second time in 2002. On 16 May 2007, he reached the summit of Mount Everest from the Tibetan side. Tashi is a contributor of SummitJournal.com, an international adventure and exploration project.

Personal life

Tashi was married to Australian Judy Pyne Tenzing, and they have a son and daughter. He later returned to Nepal and married a Sherpa woman called Bandi Nima Sherpa and now lives in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

and runs a trekking company "Tenzing Asian Holidays". In May 2013 Tashi Tenzing said he believed his grandfather Tenzing Norgay should have been knighted, not just given "a bloody medal". His cousin is actor Tenzing Norgay Trainor, best known as Parker in '' Liv and Maddie''.

Summits

He is usually credited as Tashi Wangchuk Tenzing of Australia, sometimes with a note that he is Tenzing's grandson ;Everest *23 May 1997 *16 May 2002 *16 May 2007 ;Cho Oyu *9 May 2006

References

External links