The Very Cool Sir Edmund Hillary

The first mountaineer to climb the highest point on Earth died today. It’s well-known that Sir Edmund was the leader of the expedition that first reached the summit of Mount Everest, and that he and his Sherpa guide, and lifelong friend, Tenzing Norgay were the two who reached the top. Very cool. Sir Edmund was that he would never say whether he or Tenzing Norgay was the first to actually stand on Everest’s very summit. He did it because he thought it was offensive that people believed only a white man could achieve such a feat as to climb Mount Everest, so he denied himself the uncertain glory of claiming to have been the first to stand at the very top, and so did Norgay. He took his secret to the grave, so we’ll never actually know. Very cool indeed. Sir Edmund used the fame he gained from leading that famous expedition in 1953 to help Nepalese people and in particular the Sherpas who live high in the mountains, building hospitals, airstrips, and schools in areas that otherwise would have been struck with tremendous poverty. Very, very cool.