High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition was the ninth British mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first to succeed. Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organized and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee. News of the expedition`s success on 29 May 1953 reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II`s coronation, 2 June.