The last conquerer of the unknown? Definitely a rare breed http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22597658/?GT1=10755
RIP. I was actually shocked to learn that he was still alive- I honestly thought he died decades ago.
I had the pleasure of meeting Sir Ed at the Outdoor Pursuit Center in 2005 when we were on school camp. Such a lovley man...RIP
A shiver went down my spine as I heard about this. A true national hero of ours.. One of the most famous New Zealanders. Although it is sad he has passed, he lived a life full of adventure to the age of 88. For those not in the know, he is the face of our 5$ note also. RIP
I immediately noticed that I misspelled his last name--bad. But I was surprised to read about 10 years ago or so that had an office in Chicago a block from where I worked. I always wanted to try and meet him.
It's nice to see that his family have accepted a state funeral. I see One News is running half hour updates on him.
Not trying to take anything away from him, but has anyone wondered if he really was the first man in HISTORY to climb Mt Everest? Sherpa's are comfortable at high altitudes, and perhaps some mild weather hundreds of years earlier allowed some ambitious Sherpa to reach the top? After watching Climbing Everest on TV, it seems like a lot of climbers would never have reached the top without help from the Sherpa's. Fixing ropes, erecting ladders, caching oxygen bottles, carrying down a disabled man with artificial leg problems....... RIP. I like his attitude about being scattered at sea. My mom has mentioned this a few times also.
RIP. it's very possible that he wasn't the first to conquer everest, but he was at least the first to do it in modern times, or at least told someone he did it, anyways, it sounds like the guy lived an incredible life, and definitely someone that will be missed.
People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things. RIP Sir Edmund Hillary
I believe he said in an interview a few years ago that he summited in front of Tenzing Norgay. He refused to say before if he was the first or second man. He didn't want any attention taken away from his good friend Norgay. He was a very humble hero. Also, in regards to the Sherpas summiting before Hillary, it needs to be remembered that they were not technically very good mountaineers until after they learned the techniques from the foreigners that came to climb their mountains. While they have always been better at high altitude due to their physiology, they were not equipped or prepared for such huge undertakings. It has been their superb technical skills and training gained from foreign climbers that makes them the backbone of the new "Everest Summit Business". It is only the experience and skill of these Sherpas that allows these "tourists" to climb in the Himalayas. If these amatuers had to climb Everest without the Sherpas doing all the work of preparing the mountain, very, very few of the people you saw on TV would reach the summit. Even with everything laid out, many fail and many die every season. Hillary and Norgay did it without roped paths, ladders at the Hillary Step, and no idea what they were going to find on the way. It is truly amazing what they accomplished. I really admired that English climber in the last "Everest, Beyond the Limit", that abandoned his attempt for a double traverse of Everest, after completing the first leg. He realized that he could not have done it without his Sherpa, and that his Sherpa should have received ALL of the attention and the record. IIRC, he stated that if he had gotten hurt or ill, that his Sherpa could have saved his life, but if his Sherpa had gotten hurt or ill, they would have both died. That took real class. There are not many Hillary's and Norgay's in the world, and we lost the greatest ever.
From National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/photogalleries/hillary-pictures/
