Nawang Gombu, the first man to scale Mt. Everest twice, died at his home in Darjeeling early on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 79.
Awarded the Padma Bhusan in 1966, the Padma Shree in 1964, the Arjuna Award the following year and the Tenzing Norgay Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, Nawang Gombu had also received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.
Altitude porter
Following in the footsteps of his uncle Tenzing Norgay, he was first an altitude porter before becoming a climbing member in many subsequent expeditions, according to his family.
Nawang Gombu was also a member of the team which saw Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1953, making him the youngest climbing Sherpa, at the age of 16.
After a gap of 10 years, he climbed Mt. Everest with the American mountaineer Jim Whittaker in 1963, and then again two years later with Captain A.S. Cheema.
The other mountains that Nawang Gombu climbed include Sakang Peak, Saser Kangri, Nanda Devi, Cho Oyu, Koktgang and Ratong.
Not only did he climb these mountains, he played a great role in teaching mountaineering to many and in the setting up of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, his brother-in-law Dorjee Lhatoo said.
Funeral
The funeral will be held in Darjeeling on Thursday, his family said.
Mount Everest 
 mountaineer , 79, the first person to reach the summit of  twice, died Sunday morning at his home in , India, located at the base of the , his family reported.

Gombu was born in Tibet but later moved with his family to a small village in Nepal near Mount Everest.  

When he was about 21, Gombu reached the  as the youngest member of 's team in 1953. On that expedition, Hilary and , Gombu's uncle, were the first to successfully scale . 


Gombu set another record as the first person to reach the mountain's summit twice, first in 1963 with  on an American expedition and again in 1965 with Captain  on an Indian expedition.

He scaled many other Himalayan peaks including ,  and , and is credited with discovering several new mountain routes.

Gombu was one of the "Tigers of the Snow", Sherpa mountain climbers who brought recognition to their their ethnic community in the mountains of Tibet and Nepal.

He was important in the formation of the  (HMI), along with other Sherpas. The creation of the Institute was supported by . Gombu served as Director of Field Training there after Norgay retired from the role, eventually retiring from HMI himself after more than forty years of work for the Institute.

"He was not only an outstanding climber, Gombu was a fine person who guided Indian mountaineering to a greater height," said , a retired Navy captain and leader of the 1965 Indian  expedition. "Gombu’s death left a big void in the adventure field of the country."

For his work, Gombu received many awards, including medals from  Queen Elizabeth II and the , and was invited to the  by .