SIR EDMUND HILLARY

By Devon Cripps

Edmund Hillary was born on 20th July 1919. His family moved to Tuakau (south of Auckland) in 1920, after his father who served in the first world war was allocated land there. His grandparents were early settlers in northern Wairoa in the mid-19th century after emigrating from England.

Edmund Hillary went to Tuakau Primary School and then Auckland Grammar School. He finished primary school two years early, but struggled at high school, getting only average marks.

During high school he was smaller than most kids his age and very shy so he took refuge in his books and daydreamed of a life filled with adventure. His daily train journey to and from high school was over two hours each way, so he used the time to read.

He became more confident after he learned to box at 16.

ABOUT HIS LIFE

His interest in climbing was sparked during a school trip to Mount Ruapehu. Though scrawny and uncoordinated, he found that he was physically strong and had greater endurance than many of his tramping buddies. In 1939 he completed his first major climb, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier, near Mount Cook in the Southern Alps. Hillary and his brother Rex became beekeepers, a summer job that allowed him to continue climbing in the winter.

PREPARATIONFor training Edmund Hillary

climbed various mountains in New Zealand.

On the 30th of January 1948 Hillary climbed Mt Cook, the

tallest mountain in New Zealand with Harry Ayres,

Mick Sullivan and Ruth Adams.

Two years before he successfully climbed Mt

Everest he went to Nepal and looked at the mountain.

THE CLIMBThe team was not able to access the mountain from Tibet, so they had to go through Nepal. But Nepal only allowed one expedition to climb per year so Hillary had to join the British expedition. The expedition used over 400 people which included 20 Sherpa guides and 362 porters carrying over 4.5 tonnes of supplies. It took two months to get from base camp to reach South Col, the place where they set up the final camp.On May 26th two men tried to climb to the summit but turned back after one of their oxygen systems failed. So Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were instructed to try and climb to the summit. But they had to wait for two days because of bad weather. On 28th May Hillary, Tenzing and three others set up another camp before the summit and then the other three went back down. The next morning Hillary woke to find his boots were frozen solid, so he spent the next two hours warming them up. Then he an Tenzing set off for the summit. They came across a forty foot high rock face that was later named the Hillary Step, but Hillary was able to climb up by going between the rock wall and the ice.

Hillary reached the summit (8,848m high) followed by Tenzing at 11.30am on 29th May 1953. They only spent 15 minutes at the top. Hillary took a photo of Tenzing, but Tenzing couldn’t take a photo of Hillary because he didn’t know how to use a camera.Tenzing left some chocolates there and Hillary left a cross.It was difficult to get back down as their tracks were covered by snow. The first person they met came up to greet them with hot soup.

THE CLIMB

AFTER the CLIMB

Hillary was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. Tenzing received the British Empire Medal and all 37 members of the team received a Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.Hiilary also was made a member of the Order of New Zealand in 1987 and Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1995.

Hillary climbed 10 other mountains in the Himalayas. He also reached the South and North Poles.He worked as a commentator on Air NZ sightseeing flights that went to Antartica. He was supposed to be on a flight on 28th November 1979, but was busy with work in America. That plane crashed into Mt Erebus, killing everyone on board.

AFTER the CLIMB

Hillary often returned to Nepal to help out the local people with their basic needs: Food, water, shelter, education.In 1985 he became New Zealand High Commissioner to India, High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador to Nepal.He was head of the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand, they helped kids experience outdoor education.Lots of streets, schools and organisations in New Zealand are named after him.He is the only New Zealander to have his picture on a banknote while he was still alive.In 2003 he was made an honorary citizen of Nepal.He died in 2008.

Conclusion

I think Sir Edmund Hillary lived an adventurous life and is well known throughout the world for his greatest achievement -climbing Mt Everest.

Bibliography

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/hil0bio-1

Academy of Achievement 14 Nov 2011

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hillary/

Scholastic 23 Nov 2011

http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/concepts/imaging_everest/-75.html

The Royal Geographical Society 13 Nov 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Hillary

Wikipedia 9 Nov 2011