Sir Edmund Hillary

a picture of Mr Hillary

Sir Edmund Hillary is considered a hero because of his achievement of climbing Mount Everest. He was the first person to reach the top of Everest and make it back with his mountaineering friend, Tenzing Norgay, who was a native Nepalese climber who had gone up Everest 5 other times but never made it to the top.

Sir Edmund Hillary was born in the city of Auckland in the year 1919. At the age of sixteen on a school trip to mount Ruapehu he discovered his passion for climbing mountains. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a bee keeper. During World War 2, he served as a navigator for 2 years but then he was discharged after an accident. After the war Sir Edmund Hillary spent all his spare time training up for Everest. So he he moved onto the Alps and then he climbed 11 different peaks in the Himalayas then Mr Hillary thought it was time to take on the world’s biggest mountain.

Sir Edmund Hillary went from bee keeper to world famous mountaineer, conquering the world's biggest mountain, Mount Everest, and for his great achievement he was knighted.

Sir Edmund Hillary is currently 80 and he has given up mountaineering. He is so famous that he is the only New Zealander to ever get their head on a note.