Edmund Hillary: The First Man at the Top of the World
After serving in World War Two as a navigator for the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Edmund Hillary dedicated himself to his love of mountaineering, including the yet unachieved crown jewel of mountain climbing—a successful ascent of Mt. Everest.
In 1949, a long-standing route to the summit of Everest was closed by Chinese-controlled Tibet, while the Nepalese side of the mountain only allowed one or two expeditions a year. Selected by the Ninth British expedition to Everest, team leader John Hunt tapped out Hillary to join the attempt.
The expedition totaled over 400 people, including 362 porters, 20 Sherpa guides and over 10,000 pounds of gear. The expedition set up base camp in March of 1953, working up the mountain to establish their final camp at South Col at 25,900 feet.
The First Ascent of Mount Everest
On May 26th, two climbers attempted the final ascent, until their oxygen systems failed less than 300 vertical feet from the summit. Hunt then directed Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay to follow where the last two had failed.
The two pitched a tent at 27,900 feet on May 28th, while their three-man support team returned down the mountain. The following morning, wearing 30-pound packs, the two climbers attempted the final ascent, until a 40-foot ice face approaching the summit nearly turned them back.
Known today as the Hillary Step, Hillary later wrote that he noticed a crack between the rock and the snow sticking to the east face. He crawled inside it and wiggled and jammed his way to the top. Tenzing followed behind him as Hillary chopped footholds for the two men to ascend the forbidden face.
Then he saw that the ridge ahead dropped away to the north, while above him stood a snow dome. A few more whacks with his ice axe, and quite suddenly, Hillary and Tenzing stood on the top of the world.
Tenzing left chocolates at the summit as an offering to Hindu gods, while Hillary left a crucifix given to him by John Hunt. Their descent down the mountain was a treacherous one, since drifting snow had covered their tracks. When they finally made their way down to South Col, the first person they met was George Lowe. “Well George,” said Hillary,
“We knocked the bastard off.”
Hillary would later go on to reach the South Pole in 1958, followed by the North Pole in 1985 with Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. Hillary would be the first person to reach both poles, as well as a successful ascent of Mount Everest.