Youth and personal struggles
Sir Edmund Hillary was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 20th July 1919. Being naturally curious and intelligent he finished primary school two years early. Although his parents were proud of him, to Edmund his scholarly achievements turned into one of his biggest problems. In high school he was smaller than his peers and very shy, which often made him the object of his classmate’s pranks. His grades went down. He did not have many friends to hang out with and, therefore, took refuge in his books and daydreams about life full of adventures.
Edmund slowly regained his confidence as he learned boxing. At the age of 16 during a school trip to Mount Ruapehu, he got interested in mountain climbing. And even though he was gangly and uncoordinated, he had something many of his contemporaries lacked – physical strength, unbendable will and surprising mental endurance.
From beekeeper to professional mountain climber
In 1939, at the age of 20, Hillary 1939 completed his first major climb, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier, in the Southern Alps. After graduating from The University of Auckland, where he studied mathematics and science he became a beekeeper with his brother Rex. This was not his dream job, but it allowed him to climb mountains in winter, while working during the summer time.
World War II
This existence did not last long as the World War II started. At first Hillary applied to join the air force, but some days later withdrew the application, because as he said later “I was harassed by religious conscience”. Although, in 1943, following conscription on the outbreak of war in the Pacific, Hillary joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and trained to be a navigator. He spent his free time climbing whenever he had the opportunity.
In 1945 he was sent to Fiji and to the Solomon Islands where he was badly burnt in a boat accident, after which he was repatriated to New Zealand.
He spent the next few years climbing in the Southern Alps and in 1949 traveled to Europe to conquer the Austrian and Swiss Alps.
“Knocking off” Mount Everest
In 1951 Hillary joined a New Zealand expedition heading for the Himalayas, where he got the reputation as a skilled climber. Over time he climbed 11 different peaks of over 20,000 feet in the Himalayas – each bringing him a little closer to the dream of his life – Mount Everest – the highest mountain in the world.
The opportunity presented itself in 1953 when Hillary was invited to join an expedition to the top of Mount Everest and he accepted right away. In May, the expedition reached the South Peak. Here most of the climbers were forced to turn back by exhaustion due to the high altitude. The only two people who were able to make the final assault on the summit were Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a native Nepalese climber.
At 11:30 a.m. of May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit, 29,028 feet above sea level, and the highest spot on earth!
From mountain climber to a knight
“We’ve knocked the bastard off!” were the first words Sir Edmund Hillary said to a fellow climber in announcing his achievement at being the first man to successfully climb Mt Everest. By coincidence, the conquest of Everest was announced to the British public on the eve of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Edmund Hillary returned to Britain with the other climbers and on 6th June 1953 was knighted by the Queen!Hillary spent very little time enjoying his popularity and new title and two years later led the New Zealand section of the Trans-Antarctic expedition.
In 1958 he participated in the first mechanized expedition to the South Pole.
Humanitarian work and personal example of humility
After his famous achievements, Sir Edmund, spent decades pouring energy and resources from his own fundraising efforts into Nepal through the Himalayan Trust he founded in 1962, building hospitals, health clinics, airfields and 17 schools.
During his life time Sir Edmund Hillary published several books: “The Ascent of Everest” in 1953, “Nothing Venture, Nothing Win” in 1975 and “From the Ocean to the Sky” in 1979 (an account of his 1977 expedition on the Ganges river from its mouth to its source in the Himalayas).
Sir Edmund’s life was darkened by the loss of his wife and daughter in a plane crash in 1975. He continued to occupy himself with environmental causes and humanitarian work on the behalf of the Nepalese people for the rest of his life.
From 1985 to 1988 he served as New Zealand’s high commissioner to India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Over the years numerous other honours were bestowed on him, including member of the Order of New Zealand in 1987 and the Order of the Garter in 1995.
Sir Edward Hillary died of heart failure, on 11 January 2008, at the age of 88.
In spite of world fame and numerous rewards he always described himself as “an average New Zealander with modest abilities”.
Later in life when asked by a reporters “What was the most difficult part of your adventure?”, Hillary replied “Strong motivation is the most important factor in getting you to the top.” I wonder if he was referring solely to the Mt. Everest…
Sir Edward Hillary Quotes:
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.”
“People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.”
No comments:
Post a Comment