LETTER: First to the peak

From Mr Tony Bremner

Sir: Dr A. Chatterjee (Letters, 25 August) says that Hillary and Tenzing chose never to reveal which of them arrived first at the summit of Everest. I remember reading, some 20 years ago, an interview with Tenzing Norgay in which he said (I paraphrase, of course) "some people have tried to establish a rivalry of achievement between our two countries. In fact, Hillary set foot on the top a few seconds before me, but neither of us considers this of any importance."

Yours faithfully,

Tony Bremner

London, N3