Edmund Hillary

My hero is Edmund Hillary. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand. His parents were Percival Hillary and Gertrude Clark and he had a brother named Rex. He attended Auckland Grammar School. When he was sixteen, his interest was sparked when he went on a school trip to Ruapehu. In 1939, he finished his first major climb, reaching the summit of Mount Olivier in the Southern Alps.

Tenzing Norgay on the summit - photo taken by Hillary

Edmund and Rex pursued a career in beekeeping. This allowed Edmund to climb in the winter and do beekeeping in the off-season. He was part of a British reconnaissance expedition to Mt Everest in 1951. He reached the summit on his second attempt on May 28, 1953 and was knighted for this expedition. Hillary and his partner only spent 15 minutes at the summit.

Hillary climbed ten other peaks in the Himalayas between 1956 and 1965. In 1958, he reached the South Pole. In 1985, he accompanied Neil Armstrong in a small plane over the Arctic Ocean and landed at the North Pole. He became the first man ever to stand at both poles as well as the summit of Mt Everest.

His son, Peter, also reached the summit of Mt Everest in 1990. In 2003 Hillary was granted an honorary citizen of Nepal to mark the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest.

Sir Edmond Hillary is an inspiration to me because he was an explorer who had many dreams and was able to accomplish them during his lifetime. He overcame many hardships such as extremely cold temperatures and altitude sickness in the outdoors to pursue his dreams.