Hillary, Sir Edmund

Hillary, Sir Edmund (1919-2008), New Zealand mountain climber.

On 29 May, 1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkey became the first men to stand on the summit of the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest.

Hillary was knighted.

In 1957-58 he took part in the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. He travelled by tractor from Scott Base on the Ross Sea to the South Pole setting up depots for Vivian Fuchs's party.

See Edmund Hillary High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest