Conquering Mount Everest is the Holy Grail of almost every mountaineer. In the 50s, the road to Everest was controlled by Tibet. Only one expedition to ascend Mount Everest was allowed each year. On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made the dream a reality and ever since has become the most recognised New Zealander across the world. When the expedition set out, it included approximately 400 people, but by the time the group neared the summit, only four remained, two of whom turned back from 300 feet away from the peak, leaving Hillary and Norgay to establish themselves as the first to reach the top of the world.
On his 99th birth anniversary, this exceptional picture book, written by internationally acclaimed children’s author David Hill and illustrated by Phoebe Morris, tells his story and talks about his climb to the top of Mount Everest. It’s a story of courage, skill and determination, and talks of how did Ed, a small, shy boy from New Zealand grows up to become the world’s most famous mountaineer and adventurer.
A student of mathematics and science at the Auckland University College, Hillary loved tramping more than studying. In 1939, at the age of 20, he climbed his first peak, Mt Ollivier, near Mt Cook. On January 4, 1958, this adventurer’s party became the first to reach the South Pole overland since Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated journey in 1912. In 1960-61, he led the Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition with an aim to study the effects of high altitude on the human body. An attempt to climb the 8,340-metre-high Makalu without oxygen almost ended in disaster. The expedition also searched in vain for the abominable snowman—the fabled Yeti.
But it was his work in establishing the Himalayan Trust in 1964 that was his lasting legacy. This school at Khumjung became Hillary’s greatest contribution to the region he loved.