Everest 1965: When Indian mountaineers came of age

But the slope led on and on. Heavens, was there no end? And then, suddenly, there was an end—no more little humps, only a white little dome curving slightly above us. Incredible! It was the summit of Everest," writes Captain H.P.S. Ahluwalia in his book Higher Than Everest (1973).

- Shail Desai

On 29 May 1965, Ahluwalia, H.C.S. Rawat and Phu Dorji climbed the highest mountain in the world. It was the first time three mountaineers had stood together on Everest's summit.

This was another feather in the Third Indian Everest Expedition's hat. Over 10 days, nine members had reached the summit, the most until then from a single team. Nawang Gombu, who had seen success with the 1963 American expedition, became the first man to climb the mountain twice. And at 23 years, Sonam Wangyal was the youngest summiteer at the time.

The world sat up and took notice of this remarkable feat. Since Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary's first ascent in 1953, just two other expeditions—the Swiss in 1956 and the Americans in 1963—had climbed Everest from Nepal. A Chinese team's claim of having summited from Tibet in 1960 was disputed.

Indian teams had made two previous attempts, but had fallen short. Though Tenzing, a resident of Darjeeling, had been celebrated by India, the success in 1965 was special. As President S. Radhakrishnan explained, the first man to climb Everest "was also an Indian, although he shared the honour with his companion from New Zealand". However, "this conquest is entirely an Indian effort and is therefore more thrilling".

Sixty years ago, in the world of mountaineering, was the period of 8,000ers. Between 1950-60, thirteen of the fourteen 8,000-metre mountains of the world saw first ascents. There was a constant rush of various teams trying to "reserve" a mountain. With national glory at stake, each success produced overnight heroes who until then either took to climbing as a passion or, like in Tenzing's case, a profession.