Meet Sir Edmund Hilary, first man to reach the top of Mt. Everest
Sir Edmund
Hillary (1919-2008), mountain climber and Antarctic explorer. He was the first
to reach the summit of Mount Everest (8,850 m/29,035 ft), the world's highest
peak, with Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
Born in
Auckland, New Zealand, Edmund Percival Hillary served in the Royal New Zealand
Air Force during World War II (1939-1945). He obtained his early mountaineering
experience in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.
In 1951
Hillary joined the British Mount Everest Expedition. Over the next two years he
participated in several expeditions to the Himalayas for reconnaissance and
practice climbs.
By the time
the British Mount Everest Expedition was ready to attack Everest in the spring
of 1953, Hillary had become one of its strongest climbers. In April and May the
climbing party ascended the mountain by way of the South Col, the pass between
Everest and neighboring peak Lhotse. After the first team of climbers was
forced to turn back just about 100 vertical m (about 300 vertical ft) from the
summit, Hillary and veteran Sherpa climber Tenzing Norgay were called on to
make an attempt. Just 30 vertical m (100 vertical ft) from the summit they
faced an exhausting and technically challenging climb up a 12-m- (40-ft-) tall
exposed rock cliff. This rock climb, Everest’s final test, would later become
known as the Hillary Step. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered the step and
reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. Newly crowned British
monarch Elizabeth II knighted Hillary for the achievement later that year.
In 1955
Hillary was appointed leader of the New Zealand party of the British
Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which was headed by British geologist
Vivian E. Fuchs. Hillary led his party across Antarctica by snow tractor,
pioneering a new route to the South Pole. The expedition was the first to reach
the South Pole by overland journey since Robert F. Scott did it in 1912.
Hillary subsequently led several expeditions to the Himalayas.
In the early
1960s, Hillary began raising money to build a school for the children of
Khumjung, the home village for many of the Sherpas who had accompanied him on
the Everest ascent. He later established the Himalayan Trust, which, since its
inception, has funded more than 30 schools in Nepal, as well as hospitals,
medical clinics, and airstrips. Hillary was granted honorary citizenship of
Nepal during celebrations held in 2003 to mark the 50th anniversary of the
ascent. Hillary died in January 2008. Among his writings are the
autobiographies Nothing Venture, Nothing Win (1975) and View from the Summit
(1999).
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