18 Facts About Ang Tharkay

Ang Tharkay was a renowned Nepalese Sherpa mountain climber and explorer who acted as a guide and later sirdar for many Himalayan expeditions.

Ang Tharkay was "beyond question the outstanding Sherpa of his era" and he introduced Tenzing Norgay to the world of mountaineering.

Ang Tharkay was born in 1907 to a poor family in Kunde, just north of Namche Bazaar in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal, near Mount Everest.

Ang Tharkay was married to Ang Yangjin and they had a daughter and four sons.

Ang Tharkay was well-built though only about 5 feet tall.

Ang Tharkay became a successful road building contractor in western Sikkim.

The first time Ang Tharkay was chosen for an expedition was in 1931 by a German party for Kangchenjunga.

Ang Tharkay was on the 1935 British Everest expedition and it was because of Ang Tharkay that a friend of his, Tenzing Norgay, got his first engagement as a Sherpa guide.

Also that year Ang Tharkay was in the party supporting Reginald Cooke's solo ascent of Kabru.

Ang Tharkay was sirdar in 1937 for Shipton's five-month survey of 1,800 square miles of Karakoram territory north of K2 and again on the 1938 Everest expedition.

Ang Tharkay was sirdar on the successful 1950 French Annapurna expedition with Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal to Annapurna, the first eight-thousander to be climbed.

Herzog had invited him to be in the summit team but Ang Tharkay had declined, saying his feet were starting to freeze.

Ang Tharkay went as sirdar to Cho Oyu in 1952, to Dhaulagiri and Nun in 1953, Makalu in 1954 and Kamet in 1955.

Ang Tharkay took a party to the Annapurna Sanctuary in 1975, and in 1978 at the age of 70 he led the Sherpas for the French attempt on Dhaulagiri.

The Royal Geographical Society said of Ang Tharkay, "He was exceptional as both climber and sirdar, and his character won high praise from all who knew him".

Ang Tharkay had a shrewd judgement both of men and of situations, and was absolutely steady in any crisis.

Ang Tharkay was a most lovable person, modest and unselfish and completely sincere, with an infectious gaiety of spirit.

Ang Tharkay was awarded a Tiger Badge by the Himalayan Club in 1939, in recognition of his contribution to the 1938 British Mount Everest expedition.