Jump to content

Sir Edmund Hillary


zepyep

Recommended Posts

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.

KB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.

KB

Thanks for posting. I love the fact that, after conquering Everest, he remained a modest man and devoted much of his time and money to charitable causes that benefited the Sherpa people.

I loved his quote about why he chose to climb Mt. Everest.

"Because it was there."

I think Mallory was the first man to say that. He is the climber who tried to conquer Everest in the 1920s but died only a few thousand feet from the summit. About ten years ago his body, along with his Kodak camera, was finally recovered.

Back to Sir Edmund Hillary. I love what he said in a speech he gave near the end of his life:

After the expedition, Tenzing and I spent quite a lot of time together, but we never, ever, talked about the climb up Everest. I don’t know why. We talked about our families; talked about the world and its problems; talked about just about everything. But we never ever once talked about Everest.

How many of us have been through something remarkable with someone else and, like Hillary and Tenzing, "never, ever, talked about" it and we "don't know why"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The obituary. A life well-lived.

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008

Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)

By Simon Robinson

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stood on top of the world. Around them spread the snow-covered ridges and peaks of the Himalayas: frozen crests of huge, earth-driven waves. Far below chasms and streams wound like muddy veins, cut occasionally by ice blue glaciers. In the east hulked Lhotse, Makalu and the formidable Kangchenjunga. To the west was Cho Oyu and a rumpled horizon of unexplored ranges.

Atop Everest, the highest of them all, a crisp wind blew. Hillary pulled out his camera and snapped Tenzing holding aloft his ice ax strung with the flags of Britain, India, Nepal and the United Nations. Tenzing dug a hollow in the snow and filled it with Buddhist offerings: a few lollies, a chocolate bar and some biscuits. Hillary dug a second hole and buried a crucifix. The two nibbled on some mint cake and, aware that their oxygen supplies were limited, began their descent 15 minutes after reaching their goal.

The descent was as arduous as the climb. Their path had been erased by strong winds, so they repacked every step. Finally, after more than four exhausting hours, they saw fellow team member George Lowe who had climbed up to meet them. Lowe asked Hillary how the attempt had gone. "Well," replied the unassuming conquerer. "We knocked the bastard off."

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary died today at the age of 88, almost 55 years after the ascent that made him and Tenzing one of the great heroes of the 20th century. For one who had reached such lofty heights he was a strange mix of confidence and modesty; bravado and reticence. A beekeeper and amatuer mountaineer from New Zealand, he figured in one of this century's defining moments: the conquest of Everest on May 29, 1953. His adventures in the Himalayas and Antarctica and his work for the sherpas of Nepal continued for more than four decades but he will be remembered always for his victory that Spring morning.

His beginnings were more humble. Hillary grew up in Tuakau, a small town 50 km (about 30 miles) south of Auckland. His father, Percival, a strict man, edited the local newspaper. His mother, Gertrude, was a school teacher. Hillary excelled at the local primary school and finished two years early. But at his next school, Auckland Grammar, he was surrounded by boys two years his senior and, overwhelmed, managed only average marks.

There was another frustration. The long daily train trips to Auckland ruled out sports and outdoor activities, at least during the week. Then, at 16, a love affair with mountains began. On a final-year excursion to the North Island's Tongariro National Park, Hillary sighted Mount Ruapehu, a 2,797m (about 9,000 ft tall) active volcano. "There was snow everywhere," he recalled over 50 years later. "It was a bright moonlit night, a brilliant, marvellous sight to me."

After school Hillary studied law for two years but dropped out to begin working fulltime with his father as a bee keeper. Except for the last two years of World War II, when he served as a navigator in Catalina Flying Boats over the Pacific, Hillary was to remain an apiarist, in name at least, until 1970. He skiied whenever he could and began hiking in the hills outside Auckland on weekends. As his climbing skills improved he visited the New Zealand Alps in the South Island, an impressive mountain range which reaches 3755m (more than 12,300 ft) on the summit of Mt Cook. "I didn't visualise myself becoming a renowned mountaineer," he explained later. "It happened gradually. Very few [people] suddenly decide they're going to be a world champion at something."

After the war the lure of the mountains grew stronger. In 1950 Hillary climbed in the Swiss and Austrian Alps and a year later joined a New Zealand expedition to the Himalayas. "I was very impressed," he recalled of his first view of the towering mountain range. "But the peaks didn't look all that different from what I'd been climbing in the Southern Alps [in New Zealand]." Though the expedition lacked funds, its climbers did well, conquering previously unclimbed 20,000-footers (6,000m plus). Hillary was quickly becoming known as a talented and agressive climber. "I don't believe I was unpleasantly agressive," he said later. "But I think I rather enjoyed grinding my companions into the ground on a big hill."

At the end of 1951 Hillary joined a British Everest Reconnaissance expedition and a year later was invited on another British expedition, this time to Cho Oyu, also in Nepal. The tall, gangling New Zealander, now 32, was reaching his peak as a mountaineer. "When you're younger you're probably faster, but when you're older you have incredible endurance," Hillary told Sports Illustrated 40 years later. "You also have a good deal more experience — especially of being uncomfortable and miserable, whereas the younger person who is all go, go, really hasn't been all that miserable in his life. When you're climbing at high altitudes, life can get pretty miserable. An older person is able to put up with this more easily."

Still, no team had managed to fuse the stamina and pace needed to conquer Everest. Many had tried. Between 1921 and 1953 eight major expeditions had attempted the climb, mostly from the north through Tibet. All had failed, with some 16 deaths. After World War II, several factors combined to make the climber's job slightly easier. With Tibet now locked behind Communist China, approaches from the north were impossible. To the south Nepal opened its doors to fee-paying western expeditions who discovered new, more accessible routes. Improvements in clothing and equipment, especially oxygen apparatus, helped dull the freezing temperatures and assisted breathing at altitude. And by the early 1950s Nepalese Sherpas — now experienced high-altitude climbers — had become essential to any successful Himalayan expedition.

Step by step, the summit grew closer. In 1952 Swiss climber Raymond Lambert and Nepalese sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached around 8,550m (about 27,100 ft) on Everest, the highest anyone had ever climbed. The following year a British expedition led by Col. John Hunt planned another assault on the mountain the Nepalese know as Sagarmatha — "head touching the sky" — and the Tibetans call Qomolangma — "the mother goddess of the earth". Hillary signed on. The 15 man team was one of the most professional assembled and, besides Hunt and Hillary, included Kiwi climber and Hillary's close friend, George Lowe, Tenzing Norgay, known in Nepal as the "Tiger of the Snows," eight other British climbers, a cameraman, doctor and James Morris, a reporter from the London Times now better known as travel writer Jan Morris.

After preparations in England and Wales in late 1952 the expedition travelled to India and then onto Nepal. By early April 1953 they had begun establishing a succession of camps up Everest. In May they were ready for an attempt. Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans made the first assault on May 26, and got within 100m (about 300 ft) of their goal before being forced back after Evans' oxygen failed. Three days later Hillary and Tenzing set out in fine weather from their ridge camp at 8,500m (about 27,900 ft). At 11.30am after a five hour climb they reached the summit: 8,848 metres (29,028 ft) above sea level. "My initial feelings were of relief," wrote Hillary in Hunt's 1953 book The Ascent of Everest. "Relief that there were no more steps to cut — no more ridges to traverse and no more humps to tantalize us with hopes of success."

Success was theirs. Even before the expedition had reached basecamp news of their feat had made London — in time for Elizabeth II's coronation. Hillary, who had never approved of titles, learned to his horror that he had been knighted and could not demur as the title had been accepted on his behalf by the New Zealand Prime Minister. The euphoria of coronation and conquest combined as a symbol of a new Elizabethan era. In reality it was more an ending. Hillary and Tenzing's accomplishment was the last major earthly adventure and also the last great symbol of Empire. The next great exploratory leap came with a push into space by the new super powers: the Soviet Union and the United States.

For New Zealand, with a population of less than two million, the achievement confirmed its proud place in the British Empire and marked an important step in its own course. 'Everest A Crown Jewel' read the headline in Auckland's New Zealand Herald, 'New Zealander Reaches Peak.'

Hillary's passion for adventure remained undiminished. In 1958, as the leader of a support team to Vivian Fuch's planned crossing of Antarctica, he made a controversial dash by Massey Ferguson tractor to the south pole, becoming the first person ever to reach it in a motorized vehicle. Hillary denied that he had raced Fuchs, arguing that once he was so close he felt he had to make an attempt. In 1968 he took a jetboat through the wild rivers of Nepal and in 1977 travelled up the Ganges, again in a jetboat.

Beginning in 1962 he began working with the Nepalese sherpas who had so often helped him. Raising funds through his Himalayan Trust, he helped install bridges and pipes, built nearly 30 schools, two hospitals, 12 medical clinics, two mountaineering clinics, restored monasteries and planted more than a million seedlings in and around the towns of the rugged and poor Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal. Much of the last years of his life were dedicated to the work of the Trust, which opened offices in New Zealand, the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Germany. Even into his 70s Hillary spent an average of five months away from New Zealand every year raising money through lectures and visiting the projects in Nepal. He still felt uncomfortable with his knighthood and fame but realised their advantages and the obligations they brought. "I would like to see myself not going [to Nepal] quite so often," he told TIME in 1996. "But at the moment... the responsibility is there. It has to be done." Determined to create a financial reserve for the Trust's future he was realistic about his role. "The worry is, What happens after Ed?" he said.

Involved in many of these projects were his family. He married New Zealander Louise Rose — a classical musician and the daughter of a past president of the New Zealand Alpine Club — in Auckland three months after returning from his Everest climb. A keen mountaineer herself she and Hillary regularly took their children Peter, Belinda and Sarah trekking in New Zealand as well as making family trips to Nepal, Australia and North America. Louise was as practical and down-to-earth as her husband. "[she] is an extraordinarily good sort of camping sort of wife," Hillary noted in Louise's 1973 book High Times of a family trek through Nepal.

In 1975, though, tragedy struck. Louise and Belinda were killed in an aircrash outside Kathmandu. "My life disappeared...," Hillary said. "I didn't believe that time would heal the loss." Life would always be different, he remembered later, but very slowly it began to mend. In 1985 Hillary became New Zealand's High Commissioner to India, Bangladesh and Ambassador to Nepal based in Delhi for four years. In 1989 he married June Mulgrew.

A conservationist before it was fashionable, Hillary became increasingly critical of the numbers allowed to attempt his famous climb — and the rubbish they left behind. "Everest, unfortunately, is largely becoming a money making concern," he told a reporter in 1992, a month after 32 people had stood on Everest's summit on the same day. "If you are reasonably fit and have $35,000, you can be conducted to the top of the world." From the mid-1990s expeditions and the Nepalese government heeded these criticisms and improved their efforts to clean up the mountains.

The famed Hillary stamina for high altitudes faded over the last few years. In Nepal he began catching helicopters to visit the higher projects, staying a few hours and then returning to base camp. Still, his sense of humour remained as dry and quick as ever. When asked, in 1996, if catching helicopters was frustrating after all his adventures the answer came quickly and with a laugh. "No, no," he replied. "It's extremely comfortable." Not an overly religious man — the crucifix atop Everest was a favour for team leader John Hunt — Hillary struggled with various philosophies as a teenager before deciding that most religion was an escape from life.

He knew that Everest was the pivotal point in his life but was philosophical about its personal importance. "For me the most rewarding moments have not always been the great moments," he wrote in his 1975 autobiography Nothing Venture, Nothing Win, "for what can surpass a tear on your departure, joy on your return, or a trusting hand in yours?" Other things, he often said, had given him just as much pleasure.

Much of that came from his children. In May 1990 Sir Edmund — sitting in his study in the Auckland suburb of Remuera surrounded by shelves heaving with books and Indian and Nepalese statues and wall hangings — answered the phone to find his son Peter, on an expedition in the Himalayas, calling on a mobile phone. "Where are you?," the old man had asked. "Everest," came the reply. "The top of Everest." It was the sort of private moment Hillary enjoyed. He maintained that his image was largely a media creation. "I never deny the fact that I think I did pretty well on Everest," he told a reporter in 1992. "But I was not the heroic figure the media and the public made me out to be."

Once, while resting on a rock during a short trek in Nepal with friend and film director Michael Dillon, an American walker stopped and showed Hillary how to hold an ice-axe. "Hillary listened and thanked him, but said nothing else," remembers Dillon. "The American went away without any idea whom he had spoken to." The first man to stand on top of the world didn't see himself as a hero. Others always will.

* Find this article at:

* http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8...1702543,00.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WTF

Well that sucks.

I like how theres no photos of him at the summit because he hadn't taught his sherpa climbing partner how to use it. But at least theres photo proof of the sherpa!

I think Mallory was the first man to say that. He is the climber who tried to conquer Everest in the 1920s but died only a few thousand feet from the summit. About ten years ago his body, along with his Kodak camera, was finally recovered.

Yeah, it was George Mallory in 1924.

I've been reading up on the guy this week, so this news is weird timing. The camera wasn't recovered, which is why they've still been looking for his partner's (A.Irvines) body. No one can be sure if they absolutely reached the summit without the photos. He had his altimeter and watch but both were still working after he died so theres no evidence there.

george-mallory.jpg

mallory2.jpg

Just shows how fortunate and skilled Edmund Hillary was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WTF

Well that sucks.

I like how theres no photos of him at the summit because he hadn't taught his sherpa climbing partner how to use it. But at least theres photo proof of the sherpa!

Yeah, it was George Mallory in 1924.

I've been reading up on the guy this week, so this news is weird timing. The camera wasn't recovered, which is why they've still been looking for his partner's (A.Irvines) body. No one can be sure if they absolutely reached the summit. He has his altimeter and watch but both were still working after he died so theres no evidence there.

george-mallory.jpg

mallory2.jpg

Just shows how fortunate and skilled Edmund Hillary was.

Thanks for the update and the correct info about Mallory's camera. I thought the camera had been recovered and there were plans to send it to Kodak to see if any images could be retrieved. The fact that it was never recovered probably explains why I never heard anything more about it. Hillary was absolutely fortunate and skilled! I think that he and Tenzig made a great team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Through the lives of men such as Hillary we learn what our species is capable of. I am deeply moved by his passing.

I think Mallory was the first man to say that. He is the climber who tried to conquer Everest in the 1920s but died only a few thousand feet from the summit. About ten years ago his body, along with his Kodak camera, was finally recovered.

There is now a new theory, based on new evidence (a 1924 oxygen bottle at I believe the Second Step), that Mallory summited in 1924 and died on the way down. The staff of everestnews.com has for the past several years been exploring Everest on special expeditions to try to determine definitively whether Mallory, or Irvine, or both, summited. It is fascinating reading, but not very well laid out and difficult to navigate. Below is what I think is a link to the first article. Everest News: Mallory and Irvine: The Final Chapter

The basic theory is that both Mallory and Irvine almost summited, but decided very high up that there was only enough oxygen left for one to go on. Mallory took all the oxygen they had and went for the summit, leaving Irvine behind. Mallory summited, but for unknown reasons took another route down. Irvine died waiting for Mallory, and Mallory died after a fall on the way down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Through the lives of men such as Hillary we learn what our species is capable of. I am deeply moved by his passing.

There is now a new theory, based on new evidence (a 1924 oxygen bottle at I believe the Second Step), that Mallory summited in 1924 and died on the way down. The staff of everestnews.com has for the past several years been exploring Everest on special expeditions to try to determine definitively whether Mallory, or Irvine, or both, summited. It is fascinating reading, but not very well laid out and difficult to navigate. Below is what I think is a link to the first article. Everest News: Mallory and Irvine: The Final Chapter

The basic theory is that both Mallory and Irvine almost summited, but decided very high up that there was only enough oxygen left for one to go on. Mallory took all the oxygen they had and went for the summit, leaving Irvine behind. Mallory summited, but for unknown reasons took another route down. Irvine died waiting for Mallory, and Mallory died after a fall on the way down.

I am moved and sad too, tonight. I grew up reading National Geo. and dreaming of becoming an adventurer. Sir Edmund Hillary was part of all that. Thanks for the updated information on Mallory. I think I'll go read "The Final Chapter" now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary died today at the age of 88, almost 55 years after the ascent that made him and Tenzing one of the great heroes of the 20th century. For one who had reached such lofty heights he was a strange mix of confidence and modesty; bravado and reticence. A beekeeper and amatuer mountaineer from New Zealand, he figured in one of this century's defining moments: the conquest of Everest on May 29, 1953. His adventures in the Himalayas and Antarctica and his work for the sherpas of Nepal continued for more than four decades but he will be remembered always for his victory that Spring morning

A class act. RIP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The basic theory is that both Mallory and Irvine almost summited, but decided very high up that there was only enough oxygen left for one to go on. Mallory took all the oxygen they had and went for the summit, leaving Irvine behind. Mallory summited, but for unknown reasons took another route down. Irvine died waiting for Mallory, and Mallory died after a fall on the way down.

I thought they had assumed both Irvine and Mallory were tied together when Mallory died. Mallory had his torso semi-crushed by the rope when it became taut [then broke]. Irvine thew away his icepick to hold the rope/Mallory from falling. For a long time after it was recovered [in the 30's?], the ice pick was the only proof of how high they went.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay here is the story on Irvine from Everest News

What we think happened on that fateful day in 1924.

We will never know what was in Sandy's mind during the final moments of his life. We do know that George and Sandy were going for the top. George was hell bent on summiting, whatever the cost.

Mallory and Irvine had several options that day. Either they climbed what is now called the Second Step, or they took on the real Second Step "head on". The Norton couloir route would have been easier for George. But if Mallory took Norton's route, how did Sandy end up on the ridge? A similar problem exists with the modern route up the Second Step. Today's climbers traverse across the North face, and then take the modern route up the 2nd Step. If George and Sandy went that way, how did Sandy get back to the ridge alone? Strange things do happen on everest...

But the most logical conclusion is that George and Sandy took the northeast ridge of Everest all the way to the "real Second Step" on the ridge. From this point the summit of Everest does not appear to be an hour or two away; it appears to be "right there". You think you can reach out and touch it. Mallory and Irvine must have felt they were only minutes from the top. George then did what many do today. He went for it.

Hell bent to get to the top, George probably was given Sandy's oxygen, or part of it. He took the rope and he climbed the bastard to fulfill his destiny.

Note that many climbers today run out of oxygen on Everest. For those without support one of two things happens: they die, or they can function and keep going. We know several climbers who have summited and then made their way down after running out of oxygen.

As with many who go for the top today, George soon found the journey harder than expected. He would run out of oxygen but as many do today he was still be able to function as many have since his time (Since we know George's body is not above the Second Step; he had to get down without oxygen.) We believe George Mallory then continued on to the Summit of Mt Everest. Once reaching the Summit, he must have figured Sandy had either headed back to camp or died waiting.

George, knowing that getting down the Second Step alone was next to impossible alone, headed down the couloir, down the mountain and across the Snow Terrace. He was almost back to camp. Like many climbers today, he is wasted, his mind is playing tricks on him and he falls and dies quickly due to the head injury that either caused or was caused by the short fall.

We believe Sandy waited for George at the Second Step. He soon is dieing. Sandy, like some of the others who run out of oxygen today, struggles without the oxygen. He knows he has to head back, but he is dieing.

At some point, he fell to the ground on a snow slab. It is not known if that snow slab was on the Kangshung face of the ridge or the North face. However, most snow slabs are on the Kangshung face. He leaned into the mountain, trying to use the snow to shield him. He died.

Sandy Irvine was the good soldier. He gave his life for the job, for the dream, for George's destiny. Like most good soldiers, he became a footnote in history.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought they had assumed both Irvine and Mallory were tied together when Mallory died. Mallory had his torso semi-crushed by the rope when it became taut [then broke]. Irvine thew away his icepick to hold the rope/Mallory from falling. For a long time after it was recovered [in the 30's?], the ice pick was the only proof of how high they went.

Right. I believe that was the received view for quite some time. But now there are competing theories, and I think the Everest News team's theory is that Mallory's rope injuries were not caused at the moment of death - they were caused before, when he and Irvine were pulling each other up the mountain. I'm not sure on this though, just remembering from earlier reading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right. I believe that was the received view for quite some time. But now there are competing theories, and I think the Everest News team's theory is that Mallory's rope injuries were not caused at the moment of death - they were caused before, when he and Irvine were pulling each other up the mountain. I'm not sure on this though, just remembering from earlier reading.

Seems hard to believe he was climbing with crushed ribs.

But Mallory leaving Irvine is also pretty hard to believe. The chivalry vibe among the explorers of that day would never have allowed Mallory to

1) leave a rookie behind

2) forgetting he's a rook, but break up the 2 man team

and finally

3) leave him behind to die.

Robert Falcon Scott is infamous for basically dooming his expedition by not leaving behind the injured. It basically forced one enlightened injured guy to commit suicide by telling the guys he was leaving the tent to take a leak, then walking away until he dropped dead.

Shackleton's case was weird in how they finally got rescued, but in the end no one was left behind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RIP, Hillary.

If you ever want to read a fanastic book, or listen to a great audiobook, check out "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer, about the 1996 Everest disaster. Incredible story.

I've read Into The Wild by Krakauer, and I LOVED it. I'm sure Into Think Air's good, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A truely great man

The relationship between Hillary and Tenzing was facinating.

By the way they didnt find the camera on Mallory's body thats why there is still no proof that they summited in 1924. However the search for Andrw Irvine's body still continues.

Edit: Sorry Klu see you have already posted this, which one of the books have you been reading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've read Into The Wild by Krakauer, and I LOVED it. I'm sure Into Think Air's good, too.

yeah, the difference between Into The Wild and Into Thin Air is that Into Thin Air is about his OWN experiences, which makes it very interesting. He was on the fateful Everest expedition in 1996 where 8 climbers died in a storm, including the highly experienced expedition leaders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all,

yeah, the difference between Into The Wild and Into Thin Air is that Into Thin Air is about his OWN experiences, which makes it very interesting. He was on the fateful Everest expedition in 1996 where 8 climbers died in a storm, including the highly experienced expedition leaders.

"Into Thin Air" is a great book,I agree.

To me what set Sir Hillary apart is what he did with his life after he came down off the mountain.

KB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah, the difference between Into The Wild and Into Thin Air is that Into Thin Air is about his OWN experiences, which makes it very interesting. He was on the fateful Everest expedition in 1996 where 8 climbers died in a storm, including the highly experienced expedition leaders.

My husband loves Krakauer's books and, while he liked "Into the Wild", his favorite is still "Into Thin Air." He recently read "Under the Banner of Heaven" and is waiting for Krakauer's next book.

Hi all,

"Into Thin Air" is a great book,I agree.

To me what set Sir Hillary apart is what he did with his life after he came down off the mountain.

KB

Absolutely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...