Edmund hillary and tenzing norgay

Edmund hillary mount everest
How old was edmund hillary when he climbed mount everest
Edmund hillary family

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Edmund Hillary

(1919-2008)

Who Was Edmund Hillary?

In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tibetan climber Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Hillary later participated in expeditions to the South Pole and was among the first to reach the top of Mount Herschel. He also cultivated resources for the people of Nepal.

Early Life

Although he rose to great heights climbing Mount Everest, Hillary described himself as "a small and rather lonely child." He was born Edmund Percival Hillary on July 20, 1919, in Auckland, New Zealand, to Gertrude and Percival Hillary. As a young child, the family lived in a small village called Tuakau, where Hillary attended primary school.

His mother, a schoolteacher, wanted her son to attend a city school, so Hillary commuted to the Auckland Grammar School for his secondary education. He was a shy child and studious, often buried in books, but by his late teens had grown to a gangly, towering 6'5". He discovered his love of snow and climbing at age 16 during a school ski trip to Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro Nati

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Edmund Hillary

New Zealand mountaineer (1919–2008)

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 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.^[2] 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 subsequen

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Sir Edmund Hillary

Best-known internationally as the first man to climb Mt. Everest in May 1953 with Tenzing Norgay, for the last 50 years he has devoted himself to environmental and humanitarian efforts that have made a profound difference to communities in Nepal where his famous summiting was achieved.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 20 1919, his father a bee-keeper and mother a teacher, Hillary was educated at Auckland Grammar School and spent two years at Auckland University before joining his father in the honey production business. During World War II he served as a navigator in the Pacific Theatre on RNZAF Catalina flying boats. His first contact with mountains came through a skiing trip at High School but his interests soon changed with ten years of weekends and holidays spent making a number of difficult first ascents in New Zealand's mountainous regions.

1951 was the beginning of Hillary's association with the Himalayas with four New Zealand climbers organising and financing their own trip to the Gawhal Himalaya and making first ascents of six peaks over 20,000