C
CelticWarlord
Guest
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (1919 – 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. From 1985 to 1988 he served as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal. Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school. He made his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II and was wounded in an accident. Prior to the Everest expedition, Hillary had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951 as well as an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958. He subsequently reached the North Pole, making him the first person to reach both poles and summit Everest.
"My most important projects have been the building and maintaining of schools and medical clinics for my dear friends in the Himalayas, and helping restore their beautiful monasteries, too."
"I don’t regard myself as a cracking good climber. I’m just strong in the back. I have a lot of enthusiasm, and I’m good on ice."
"Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb towards it."
"Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb just for the hell of it."
"When you’re climbing at high altitudes, life can get pretty miserable."
"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."
"A sense of humor is one of the most important things on a big expedition. When you’re in a difficult or dangerous situation, or when you’re depressed about the chances of success, someone who can make you laugh eases the tension."
Code:
- - - - - - -"I don’t regard myself as a cracking good climber. I’m just strong in the back. I have a lot of enthusiasm, and I’m good on ice."
"Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb towards it."
"Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb just for the hell of it."
"When you’re climbing at high altitudes, life can get pretty miserable."
"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."
"A sense of humor is one of the most important things on a big expedition. When you’re in a difficult or dangerous situation, or when you’re depressed about the chances of success, someone who can make you laugh eases the tension."