In 2003, the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's historic ascent of Mount Everest, an event which became a defining moment in twentieth-century adventure and which delivered fame and glory to the men who took part in it.
All, perhaps, except Tenzing, who, after a brief honeymoon period with the world's media and political leaders, returned to his humble home in the hill station of Darjeeling, India and never properly received the credit and plaudits he so richly deserved. In 1986 he passed away, having touched the hearts of all those he came across and having done so much for his people.
Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest is the inspiring story of this poor and illiterate man who left his small ancestral village in a remote part of the Himalaya and through grit, courage and sheer determination climbed the world's highest mountain and became a hero around the world. But it is also the story of Tenzing's family and the Sherpa people who over a century of adventure, have contributed so much to exploration in the Himalaya but who maintain a respect and reverence for the mountains.
