Sir Edmund Hillary

On top of the world (Wikipedia.org)

To me, a hero is anyone who has ever inspired you to do great, fiction or non. A hero could be a family member, a friend, or even someone made up. I believe that a hero does not have to fight crime or save someone from a burning building in order to be a actual hero. A hero could be someone you try and model yourself after, or someone you look up to. My someone is Sir Edmund Hillary. Ironically, we both have the same birthday, July 20th.

Sir Edmund Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On 29, May 1953, at the age of 33, he and another mountaineer became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. They were members of the ninth British expedition to Everest, which was led by John Hunt. The expedition took a very long time, but it set the standard for modern mountaineers. At the same time, Sir Edmund Hillary was leaving his legacy on the world. To climb to the top of Mt. Everest is an amazing feat, but to be the first person To climb to the top is even more amazing. He had no idea what was awaiting him though every nook and cranny, over every glacier, and across every crevasse. He winged it and he did something that no matter what, no one can ever accomplish ever again.

Sir Edmund Hillary’s first major climb was in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. And before he actually climbed to the top, he served in the RNZAF (Royal New Zealand Air Force) as a navigator during World War II. Before the successful expedition in 1953 to Everest, he had been part of a reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951 and an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958. Through his efforts many schools and hospitals were built in this remote region of Nepal.

Sir Edmund Hillary is my hero because he accomplished what no one thought possible; he climbed to the highest possible point in the entire world. Hillary is a great person with discipline, courage, and a great work ethic. He is a great model for everyone, but especially me because I enjoy climbing and high adventure. Sir Edmund Hillary must have been very brave to even attempt to climb to the top of Mt. Everest. He also must have had a lot of devotion toward this dream. He spent well over 12 years preparing for this journey. He spent a lot of money buying equipment and the cost for training. I think that if you’re willing to sink 12 years and thousands of dollars into your dream, you truly are a hero to many people. It really shows how devoted to that dream you are and that you will stop at nothing to accomplish that dream. This can prove to others that they also can do whatever they want to, you just have to want it bad enough and you have to take initiative to reach your goal.

Thank you for taking the time to read my essay on perhaps one of the greatest persons to walk on the earth, or at least climb it, Sir Edmund Hillary. July 20, 1919 – January 11, 2008