<Li> The Swiss attempted another expedition in the autumn of 1952 under the lead of Gabriel Chevalley . Besides Chevalley, the team included again Lambert and Tenzing from the spring expedition, as well as five new climbers . In late November, the team was stopped by bad weather after reaching an altitude of 8100 metres . </Li> <Li> Several Western climbing journals reported that the Soviet Union had launched an attempt from Tibet in October with the aim of reaching the summit before the following year's British expedition . The alleged expedition, apparently led by Pavel Datschnolian, was said to have been a disaster, resulting in the deaths of Datschnolian and five other men . Both Russian and Chinese authorities have consistently denied that such an attempt took place, no physical evidence has ever been found to confirm its existence, nor is there any record of a person named Pavel Datschnolian . </Li> <Ul> <Li> In 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt and organized and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee, returned to Nepal . After Wilfrid Noyce and Annullu had forced a passage to the South Col, two climbing pairs previously selected by Hunt attempted to reach the summit . The first pair, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon, using closed - circuit oxygen, achieved the first ascent of the 8,750 m (28,700 ft) South Summit, within as little as 100 m (300 ft) of the final summit, but could go no further because of oxygen equipment problems and lack of time . Two days later, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its fittest and most determined climbing pair . Using conventional open - circuit oxygen, the summit was eventually reached at 11: 30 a.m. local time on May 29, 1953 by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali, climbing the South Col route . They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending . Although they characterized it as the culmination of a team effort by the whole expedition, there was intense public speculation as to which of the pair had set foot on the summit first . A few years later to end the speculation Tenzing disclosed that it was Hillary . News of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation . Times reporter James Morris sent a coded message by runner to Namche Bazaar, where a wireless transmitter was used to relay the message to London . The conquest of Everest was probably the last major news item to be delivered to the world by runner . Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, Hillary and Hunt discovered that they had been knighted for their efforts . </Li> </Ul> <Li> In 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt and organized and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee, returned to Nepal . After Wilfrid Noyce and Annullu had forced a passage to the South Col, two climbing pairs previously selected by Hunt attempted to reach the summit . The first pair, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon, using closed - circuit oxygen, achieved the first ascent of the 8,750 m (28,700 ft) South Summit, within as little as 100 m (300 ft) of the final summit, but could go no further because of oxygen equipment problems and lack of time . Two days later, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its fittest and most determined climbing pair . Using conventional open - circuit oxygen, the summit was eventually reached at 11: 30 a.m. local time on May 29, 1953 by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali, climbing the South Col route . They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending . Although they characterized it as the culmination of a team effort by the whole expedition, there was intense public speculation as to which of the pair had set foot on the summit first . A few years later to end the speculation Tenzing disclosed that it was Hillary . News of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation . Times reporter James Morris sent a coded message by runner to Namche Bazaar, where a wireless transmitter was used to relay the message to London . The conquest of Everest was probably the last major news item to be delivered to the world by runner . Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, Hillary and Hunt discovered that they had been knighted for their efforts . </Li>

Who was the second man to climb mount everest