Sir Edmund Hillary Dies at 88

Posted January 10, 2008, 10:33 pm in Extreme by Growing Bolder


Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealand adventurer who was the first person to summit Mount Everest, had died at the age of 88.

After reaching the top of the world in 1953, he devoted much of his life helping the mountain people of Nepal.

He reached the top of Mount Everest with his climbing companion Tenzing Norgay. When the two reached base camp, Hillary famously said, "We knocked the bastard off."

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark said when announcing his death.

"Awe, wonder, humility, pride, exaltation -- these surely ought to be the confused emotions of the first men to stand on the highest peak on Earth, after so many others had failed," Hillary wrote after reaching Everest's lofty top. "But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper … first to the top of Everest. I just didn't believe it."

According to the Associated Press, Hillary held a special place in his heart for Nepal, the small mountainous country that propelled him to worldwide fame. After his historic 1953 climb, he visited the country more than 120 times.

In 1962, Hillary founded the Himalayan Trust to help raise money to build hospitals, clinics and schools in the small country. He also made it his mission to raise funds for higher education for Sherpa families and to set up conservation projects, such as reforesting Nepal and demanding international climbers clean debris off Mount Everest.

Like many great achievers, Hillary didn't consider himself the best just because he was the first.

"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," he once said. "I really am an ordinary person with a few abilities which I've tried to use in the best way I can," he said.

That ordinary person has inspired others like him to take on the world's toughest and harshest mountain. Growing Bolder has talked to several Everest pioneers:

• Sean Swarner is a two-time cancer survivor with only one functioning lung. Fifteen years after doctors gave him two weeks to live, he reached the top of Mount Everest. He talked to Growing Bolder about how he helps other cancer survivors fulfill their dreams through his group, the Cancer Climber Association. Click here to listen to our conversation.
  
• Stacy Allison lived to tell the tale of becoming the first American woman to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain but it took her a couple tries to achieve her goal. In 1988, after 29 days on the mountain, she finally reached that lofty milestone. She told Growing Bolder that her first attempt left her trapped in a snow cave at 29,500 feet for five days following a record-setting storm. Click here to listen to our conversation.
• Ken Mitchell was a linebacker with Atlanta Falcons, a catcher in the California Angels organization, played basketball in college and raced motorcycles. After his pro career ended, he got involved in competitive triathlons and mountain climbing. But after a lifetime of athletics, he had both knees replaced. He thought his climbing days were over but his nine kids convinced him otherwise. Click here to listen to his description of his amazing journey to the top of Mount Everest.
  

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