“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.”
Sir Edmund Hillary

Mountaineering legend & humanitarian Edmund Hillary has passed on at the age of 88. Hillary, who alongside sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was first to climb Mount Everest, the world highest mountain in 1953.

Not content to rest on such auspicious laurels, he continued to lead a life of further adventure and advocacy for the environment and his fellow man. Of his many accomplishments, one of which he seemed most proud was the establishment of the Himalayan Trust, created in 1960 to help provide education, infrastructure and health care to the Sherpa people of Nepal. Since it’s inception the trust has built over 30 schools, 2 hospitals, 13 health clinics as well as helping rebuild monasteries, provide forestry management and help remote communities build bridges, roads and safe drinking water systems.

His name will live on as he who stood upon the highest heights, but his spirit will perpetuate in those who’s lives were bettered by a humble, practical man who used his fame to help those around him.

Donations may be made to The Himalayan Trust online or by mail at their site here:

The Himalayan Trust UK

Books by Edmund Hillary (courtesy of Wikipedia):

• High Adventure (1955), Oxford University Press (Paperback) ISBN 1932302026
• High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest (1955), Oxford University Press (Paperback) ISBN 0195167341
• East of Everest - An Account of the New Zealand Alpine Club Himalayan Expedition to the Barun Valley in 1954, with George Lowe (1956), E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc. ASIN B000EW84UM
• No Latitude for Error (1961), Hodder & Stoughton. ASIN B000H6UVP6.
• The New Zealand Antarctic Expedition (1959), R.W. Stiles, printers. ASIN B0007K6D72.
• The crossing of Antarctica; the Commonwealth Transantarctic Expedition, 1955-1958 with Sir Vivian Fuchs (1958). Cassell ASIN B000HJGZ08
• High in the thin cold air; the story of the Himalayan Expedition, led by Sir Edmund Hillary, sponsored by World Book Encyclopedia, with Desmond Doig (1963) ASIN B00005W121
• Schoolhouse in the Clouds (1965) ASIN B00005WRBB
• Nothing Venture, Nothing Win (1975) Hodder & Stoughton General Division ISBN 0340212969
• From the Ocean to the Sky: Jet Boating Up the Ganges Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd (November 1980) ISBN 0-7089-0587-0
• Two Generations with Peter Hillary (1984) Hodder & Stoughton Ltd ISBN 0340354208
• Ascent: Two Lives Explored: The Autobiographies of Sir Edmund and Peter Hillary (1992) Paragon House Publishers ISBN 1557784086
• View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest (2000) Pocket ISBN 0743400674

Search Amazon for Edmund Hillary. (All affiliate profits will be matched and donated to The Himalayan Trust.)

Sir Edmund Hillary: A life in pictures at National Geographic

Update Jan 21:
There is complete coverage of Sir Edmund Hillary’s Funeral at the New Zealand Herald , including photographs, audio & video of the eulogies of family and friends. Thanks to Kraig at The Adventure Blog for the heads up on this.

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