Edmund Hillary

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary KG ONZ KBE (born July 20, 1919) is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. He and Tenzing Norgay were the first men proven to reach the 8,848 metre (29,028-foot) summit of Mount Everest. They achieved this on May 29 1953 at 11:30 a.m. local time.

The feat was accomplished as part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by Sir John Hunt. After descending, Hillary stated that he and Tenzing had "knocked the bastard off", a phrase which has found its way into colloquial New Zealand English.

Youth

Born in Tuakau (south of Auckland), he attended Auckland Grammar School. The trip to school was over two hours each way, time which he spent reading. As he grew up he was smaller than his peers and very shy so he took refuge in his books and daydreams of a life filled with adventure. At age 16, his interest in climbing was sparked during a school trip to Ruapehu. He found that his gangly and uncoordinated frame was physically strong and had greater endurance than many of his tramping companions.

Expeditions

During World War II he was a RNZAF navigator. He was part of an unsuccessful British expedition to Everest in 1951 led by Eric Shipton before joining the successful British attempt of 1953. He climbed ten other peaks in the Himalayas on further visits in 1956, 1960-61 and 1963-65. He also reached the South Pole, as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition for which he led the New Zealand section, on January 4, 1958. He also led a jetboat expedition from the mouth of the Ganges River to its source in 1977.

In 1979, he had been scheduled to act as a commentator on the ill-fated Air New Zealand Flight 901, but had to pull out due to work commitments elsewhere. He was replaced by his close friend Peter Mulgrew, who perished on the flight.

Recognition

Hillary was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on July 16, 1953; a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 1987; and a Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) on April 23, 1995. He is the only living New Zealander to appear on a banknote. Various streets, schools, and organisations around New Zealand and abroad are named after him. A few examples are Hillary College (Otara), Edmund Hillary Primary School (Papakura), and the Hillary Commission (now SPARC).

To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest, the Nepalese Government conferred honorary citizenship upon Sir Edmund at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in the capital, Kathmandu. He is the first foreign national to receive such an honour from the Nepalese.

Home Life

Hillary's occupation was beekeeping. In 1975, he lost his wife Louise and daughter Belinda in an air crash in Nepal. He married June Mulgrew in 1990. Hillary's son Peter Hillary is an adventurer and has climbed Everest twice.

As of 2006 Hillary lives in quiet retirement at his home in Auckland, New Zealand, although he does appear for official engagements from time to time.

Philanthropy

He has devoted much of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust which he founded and to which he has given much of his time and energy. Through his efforts he has succeeded in building many schools and hospitals in this remote region of the Himalayas. He has stated that he regards this as his most important achievement. He is also the Honorary President of the American Himalayan Foundation, a United States non-profit body that also helps improve the ecology and living conditions in the Himalayas. During the mid-1980s, he was New Zealand's High Commissioner to India (the equivalent of an Ambassador between Commonwealth countries), where he was in frequent demand as a guest of honour.

Hillary has recently spoken of his disdain for the attitudes displayed by many modern mountaineers. In particular he publically criticised New Zealander Mark Inglis and 40 other climbers who, in various groups, left British climber David Sharp to die in May 2006. He said "I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top, it was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say good morning and pass on by." He also told the New Zealand Herald that he was horrified by the callous attitude of today’s climbers. "They don’t give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn’t impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die.".