The First Ascent of Mount Everest (1953)

Hello, my name is Tenzing Norgay. I grew up in a place with very big mountains. They were my playground. I loved to look at them every day. The tallest one was my favorite. It was so big it touched the clouds. My people call it Chomolungma, which means "Goddess Mother of the World". I thought it was the most beautiful mountain in the whole world. I had a big, big dream. My dream was to climb all the way to the very top of Chomolungma. I wanted to see what it was like to stand on top of the world. It was a happy dream.

One day, my dream started to come true. I met a friend named Edmund Hillary. He had the same dream as me. We decided to climb the big mountain together. We put on our warm, bright coats. They were red and blue like superhero capes. We put on our big, strong boots. Crunch, crunch, crunch went our boots in the snow. The wind was chilly, whoosh, but we were brave. We helped each other. When the path was tricky, I would help Edmund. When I needed a hand, he would help me. We were a team. We climbed up, up, up. The little houses below got smaller and smaller. We were getting closer to the clouds. It was hard work, but we kept going, together.

Then, on a special day, May 29th, 1953, we took the last few steps. Step, step, step... and we were there. We were on top of the world. I could see everything below me. The other mountains looked like little hills. The clouds were our neighbors. I felt so happy my heart was singing. My friend Edmund and I smiled big smiles. We did it. We had followed our big dream all the way to the top. I learned that when you work together with a friend, you can do amazing things. Even your biggest dreams can come true. I grew old and passed away, but my story shows that with a friend, you can climb any mountain.