Sir Edmond Hillary
Turanagawaewae
Sir Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmond Hillary's background
Early life
Edmund Hillary was born on the 20th of July 1919 in Auckland. His parents were Gertrude and Percival Augustus Hillary. He grew up with an older sister June and a younger brother Rex. His father worked as a managing editor for the Tuakau District News Paper before becoming a bee keeper.
Edmund discovers mountain climbing
On a school skiing trip to Mount Ruapehu Edmund Hillary became very fond of mountains and snow. He had a sudden interest to exploring and mountain climbing because of the snow. Since he had grown up in Auckland he had never seen it before. He also had physical features and could endure the physical demands of mountain climbing.
1953 Expedition
In 1953 he was invited to join a British expedition led by John Hunt. There were nine climbers in the expedition including fellow new Zealander George Lowe. The expedition also included a doctor, a cameraman, 34 Sherpas and 350 porters.
Because of Edmund becoming the first person to climb Mt Everest he was able to do the following….
Significance of Sir Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mount Everest was significant because everyone thought it was impossible. In 1921 the first expedition attempted to summit Mount Everest and failed. It took 32 years for someone (Sir Edmund Hillary) to successfully summit Mount Everest. “for many it represented one of the earths greatest challenges”[1] I thought it proved that anyone from a small country like New Zealand is capable of doing anything any big country like America can.
Himalayan Trust
This had such a big impact on Nepal. The Himalayan Trust managed to build 2 airstrips, 2 hospitals, 12 medical centres and over 30 schools in 40 years. These caused positive and negative effects on Nepal. For example the airstrips can bring in needed supplies to medical centres. The negative side is there are more tourists and that puts pressure infrastructure and is cause pollution on Mount Everest
The Kiwi attitude
Sir Edmond Hillary was a positive role model for everyday New Zealanders. He showed the real spirit and meaning of a New Zealander. He is what every New Zealander should be. New Zealanders looked up to him so they could be the best people they could truly be.
“in some ways I believe I epitomise the average New Zealander I have modest abilities, I combine these with a good deal of determination, and I’d rather like to sucseed”
-Sir Edmond Hillary
Expedition to the South Pole on a tractor
This in my opinion was very Kiwiana. What other country would drive a tractor across the South Pole? This put us on the map even more and showed the rest of the world what being kiwi is all about. I think it’s cool how he did such an amazing thing but added a kiwi twist.
route to mount everest