The first ascent of an 8,000-metre peak came in 1950, when Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal reached the top of Annapurna. But people had been climbing above 8,000 metres for almost thirty years by then, and a large share of them were Sherpa and Tibetan climbers carrying loads for British and German expeditions. By one frequently quoted count, 21 of the first 35 people above that height were porters.
This is the short version of our White Paper No 9, The Invisible Engines of the Himalaya. It covers the men behind that record, from Everest in 1924 to K2 in 1939.
1922: the first deaths
The 1922 British Everest expedition was the first to use bottled oxygen seriously. George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce reached about 8,320 metres with it, a new altitude record. It was also the year of the first deaths on Everest. On 7 June an avalanche below the North Col swept away a party of porters and killed seven of them. The British leaders chose the route and the timing; the porters carried the risk.
1924: the first porters above 8,000 m
Two years later, Norbu Yishay, Lhakpa Chedi and Semchumbi carried loads to Camp VI on the North Face, at about 8,170 metres, the highest camp anyone had made. They did it in leather boots, wool and gabardine, without oxygen. Days later George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared high on the Northeast Ridge, and the world's attention went to them. The three men who had made the high camp possible went back into the records.
The Himalayan Club and the Tiger Badge
As expeditions grew, the recruitment of high-altitude porters moved from the bazaar in Darjeeling to an institution. The Himalayan Club, founded in 1928, registered porters and issued them "chit books", records of their employment and of reports written by expedition leaders. A good record meant work. A bad one could end a career.
In 1939 the Club introduced the Tiger Badge for porters who had shown exceptional courage and ability at high altitude. It became the most prized mark of the profession. It also told leaders exactly whom to send into the most dangerous places. Between 1939 and the 1960s, 66 badges were awarded.
1933: Ang Tharkay at 8,350 m
On the 1933 British expedition, Ang Tharkay carried loads to the high camp at about 8,350 metres, without oxygen. Eric Shipton later said he owed much of his Himalayan success to him. Ang Tharkay brought a young Tenzing Norgay into expedition work in 1935, was sirdar (head of the Sherpa team) on Annapurna in 1950, and still led the Sherpas on a French attempt on Dhaulagiri in 1978, at about seventy.
1934: Nanga Parbat, Ang Tsering and Gaylay
The German expedition to Nanga Parbat in 1934 ended in one of the worst disasters of the era. A storm lasting days caught the summit party high on the mountain. Three German climbers, Willy Merkl, Willo Welzenbach and Uli Wieland, died in the storm, and so did six Sherpas: Nima Norbu, Nima Dorje, Dakshi, Pinzo Norbu, Nima Tashi and Gaylay.
Ang Tsering was the last man to come down alive, after days in the storm. He survived severe frostbite, climbed again, and died in 2002, aged about 98.
Gaylay stayed with Merkl near Camp VII when Merkl could no longer move, although he could probably still have tried to descend. Both men died there. When a 1938 expedition found their bodies, the German press called Gaylay the servant who stayed faithful to his master. A fairer reading is that he made his own choice not to leave a man in his care.
1939: Pasang Dawa Lama says no on K2
On 19 July 1939, Fritz Wiessner and Pasang Dawa Lama stood at about 8,380 metres on K2. It was 6:30 in the evening and the summit was a few hours away. Wiessner wanted to keep going through the night. Pasang refused. They turned back, and Pasang lost his crampons on the way down.
The decision probably saved both their lives. The expedition still ended in tragedy: the American Dudley Wolfe was left high on the mountain, and three Sherpas, Pasang Kikuli, Pasang Kitar and Pintso, climbed up to rescue him and never came back. Fifteen years later Pasang Dawa Lama made the first ascent of Cho Oyu.
1938: Tenzing Norgay's first high carry
On the 1938 Everest expedition, led by Bill Tilman, Tenzing Norgay carried loads to about 8,300 metres. He won the Tiger Badge for it. Fifteen years later he stood on the summit with Edmund Hillary. Tenzing didn't come out of nowhere in 1953. He came out of the generation described here. His story is now a 2026 film, Tenzing.
The Sherpas of the interwar years at a glance
| Climber | Expedition | What they did |
|---|---|---|
| Norbu Yishay, Lhakpa Chedi, Semchumbi | Everest 1924 | First porters above 8,000 m (Camp VI, about 8,170 m) |
| Ang Tharkay | Everest 1933, 1938 | Carried to about 8,350 m; sirdar on Annapurna 1950 |
| Ang Tsering | Nanga Parbat 1934 | Last survivor down from the high camps |
| Gaylay | Nanga Parbat 1934 | Stayed with Willy Merkl; both died |
| Tenzing Norgay | Everest 1938 | Carried to about 8,300 m; Everest summit 1953 |
| Pasang Dawa Lama | K2 1939 | About 8,380 m; refused a night summit push |
| Pasang Kikuli, Pasang Kitar, Pintso | K2 1939 | Died trying to rescue Dudley Wolfe |
Why it matters today
Most of the people who reach the highest camps today are still Nepali guides. They fix the ropes and carry the oxygen, and they have the most experience on the mountain. The story of the interwar years is the start of that pattern. We tell it because it explains the industry we work in, and because it should be told by more than the people who were sent the photographs.
We're a group of mountaineers, not historians. Where we couldn't confirm something, such as the exact count of the first 35 above 8,000 metres, we say so. If you have family records or know these stories first-hand, we'd like to hear from you.
Frequently asked questions
Who were the first people to climb above 8,000 metres?
The first were British climbers on Everest in 1922, using oxygen (Finch and Bruce, about 8,320 m). The first porters above 8,000 metres were Norbu Yishay, Lhakpa Chedi and Semchumbi in 1924.
What is the Tiger Badge?
An award the Himalayan Club introduced in 1939 for high-altitude porters with an outstanding record. Ang Tharkay and Tenzing Norgay were among its holders.
Did Tenzing Norgay climb Everest before 1953?
Not to the summit, but he was on several British expeditions in the 1930s. In 1938 he carried loads to about 8,300 metres.
Who was Pasang Dawa Lama?
A Sherpa climber who reached about 8,380 metres on K2 in 1939 with Fritz Wiessner and refused to continue at night. In 1954 he made the first ascent of Cho Oyu.
Get the full white paper: download White Paper No 9 (PDF), or comment or DM TIGER on Instagram @mountaineerbjj and we'll send it to you. The rest of the series is in our white paper library. For how risk is shared between climbers and guides today, see the deadliest mountains to climb and the 14 tiers of mountaineering.
Sources: Isserman and Weaver, Fallen Giants (2008); Neale, Tigers of the Snow (2002); Ortner, Life and Death on Mt. Everest (1999); the Himalayan Journal archive. Fact-checked November 2026.
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