Thursday, January 11, 2024

Edmund Hillary Death Anniversary


 


Edmund Hillary, who passed away on 11 January 2008, was a New Zealand mountain climber and Antarctic explorer, who with the Tibetan mountaineer Tenzing Norgay was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest (29,035 feet [8,850 metres]; the highest mountain in the world.

Hillary’s father was a beekeeper, an occupation he also pursued. He began climbing in New Zealand’s Southern Alps while in high school. After military service in World War II, he resumed climbing and became determined to scale Everest. In 1951 he joined a New Zealand party to the central Himalayas and later that year participated in a British reconnaissance expedition of the southern flank of Everest. He was subsequently invited to join the team of mountaineers planning to climb the peak.

The well-organized expedition was launched in the spring of 1953, and a high camp from which to mount attempts at the summit was established by mid-May. After a pair of climbers failed to reach the top on May 27, Hillary and Tenzing set out for it early on May 29; by late morning they were standing on the summit. The two shook hands, then Tenzing embraced his partner. Hillary took photographs, and both searched for signs that George Mallory, a British climber lost on Everest in 1924, had been on the summit. Hillary left behind a crucifix, and Tenzing, a Buddhist, made a food offering. After spending about 15 minutes on the peak, they began their descent.  They were met back at camp by their colleague W.G. Lowe, to whom Hillary reputedly said, “Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.” Hillary described his exploits in High Adventure (1955). He made other expeditions to the Everest region during the early 1960s but never again tried to climb to the top.


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