Sir Edmund Hillary Dies

[trashtalkr]

First Man To Climb Mount Everest Dies

Edmund Hillary once expressed surprise that it was he -- "an ordinary person with ordinary qualities" -- who became the first man to conquer the world's tallest peak.

He spent the rest of his life telling the story of the climb up Mount Everest that made him one of the 20th century's best-known adventurers. But he maintained his reputation for humbleness, while working to aid the impoverished people of Nepal.

Hillary died at Auckland Hospital about 9 a.m. Friday from a heart attack, said a statement from the Auckland District Health Board. Though ailing in his later years, he remained active.

"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 of the conquest achieved by him and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953.

As he reached base camp after the climb, he took an irreverent view of their monumental achievement: "We knocked the bastard off."

The accomplishment as part of a British climbing expedition even added luster to the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II four days later, and she knighted Hillary as one of her first acts.Unlike many climbers, Hillary said when he died he had no desire to have his remains left on a mountain. He wanted his ashes scattered on Waitemata Harbor in the northern city of Auckland where he lived his life.

Source: ESPN

[AYHJA]

Wow, that great accomplishment is certainly put into perspective to have lived such a long life...Rarely you hear of someone doing something so groundbreaking for the hell of it, and not to get a reality TV show...

[Highlander65]

^^CDR

BBC Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7183037.stm

R.I.P Sir Ed!

[Buffelskiet]

Sad to see such an adventurous person die