South Summit

It was first climbed by Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition on 26 May 1953.

Three days later, on 29 May, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay passed over the South Summit en route to achieving the main peak.

On reaching the South Col in 1953, expedition leader John Hunt was struck by the sight, writing "Above us rose the South Summit of Everest ... an elegant snow spire, breathtakingly close yet nearly 3000 feet above our heads ... none of us had been prepared for any spectacle quite so sharp, quite so beautiful as this.

[5] Recounting his first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen in 1978, Reinhold Messner described the South Summit as "quite a milestone for me".

[7][8] The South Summit is a popular place for Everest climbers to pause, change oxygen bottles, and turn around if necessary.

The South summit is visible on the ridge to the right of the highest point. The saddle-shaped South Col is the lowest point of that ridge.
From this perspective on the South Col the south summit is the high point