World Famous New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, Sir Edmund Percival Hillary has died at the age of 88. Sir Edmund was internationally renowned as the first man ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.
Sir Edmund had been experiencing a decline in his health since he suffered a fall in Kathmandu and was subsequently hospitalised upon his return to New Zealand.
Sir Edmund conquered Everest with sherpa Tenzing Norgay in the expedition of 1953. According to wikipedia, his first words to his friend and fellow mountaineer on his descent were:
“Well George, we finally knocked the ******* off.”
In the following years, Hillary climbed no less than ten other Himalayan peaks and even visited the South Pole.
He will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest explorers to have lived. I hope that the human spirit of exploration does not die with him.
Image Credit: Graeme Mulholland
Tags: death, edmund hillary, everest, exploration
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