Editing Edmund Hillary (section)

==Expeditions==
In January 1948, Hillary and others ascended the south ridge of [[Aoraki / Mount Cook]], New Zealand's highest peak.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=5A28|title=Ayres, Horace Henry 1912–1987|last=Langton|first=Graham|date=22 June 2007|work=Dictionary of New Zealand Biography|publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage|access-date=2 December 2009}}</ref> He took part in an arduous rescue on [[La Perouse (New Zealand)#1948 rescue|La Perouse]] in 1948, befriending fellow climber [[Norman Hardie]].

In 1951 he was part of a [[1951 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition|British reconnaissance expedition]] to Everest led by [[Eric Shipton]],<ref name="FallenGiants">{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|last2=Weaver|first2=Stewart|title=Fallen Giants : A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|page=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286/page/n290 278]|isbn=9780300115017}}</ref>{{efn|Shipton had met [[Dan Bryant (mountaineer)|Dan Bryant]] on the [[1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition]] and had formed a positive view of New Zealand climbers}} before joining the successful British attempt of 1953. In 1952, Hillary and [[George Lowe (mountaineer)|George Lowe]] were part of the British team led by Shipton, that attempted [[1952 British Cho Oyu expedition|Cho Oyu]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6h1/3/3|title=Cho Oyu expedition team, 1952|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |first=Shaun|last=Barnett|date=7 December 2010}}</ref> After that attempt failed due to the lack of a route from the Nepal side, Hillary and Lowe crossed the Nup La pass into Tibet and reached the old Camp II, on the northern side, where all the previous expeditions had camped.<ref>Gordon, Harry (12 January 2008). [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/hillary-deity-of-the-high-country/story-e6frg6sx-1111115299686 "Hillary, deity of the high country"], ''[[The Australian]]''. Retrieved 19 June 2010.</ref>

===1953 Everest expedition===
{{main|1953 British Mount Everest expedition}}
[[File:Edmund Hilary SLNSW FL18955534.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Hillary, Australia, July 1953]]

In 1949, the long-standing climbing route to the summit of Everest was closed by Chinese-controlled [[Tibet]]. For the next several years, [[Nepal]] allowed only one or two expeditions per year.<ref name="FallenGiants2">{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|last2=Weaver|first2=Stewart|title=Fallen Giants : A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|page=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286/page/n449 437]|isbn=9780300115017}}</ref> A Swiss expedition (in which Tenzing took part) attempted to reach the summit in 1952, but was forced back by bad weather and problems with oxygen sets {{convert|800|ft|m|-1}} below the summit.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|pp=48,235}}

{{External media | float = right | audio1 = [http://www.wnyc.org/story/sir-edmund-hillary-scales-heights-literary-society/ Sir Edmund Hillary Scales the Heights of Literary Society], 1954, Hillary speaks 5:00–18:57, [[WNYC]]<ref name="wnyc">{{cite web | title =Sir Edmund Hillary scales the heights of literary society | publisher =[[WNYC]] | url =http://www.wnyc.org/story/sir-edmund-hillary-scales-heights-literary-society/ | access-date =31 October 2016}}</ref> }}
In 1952, Hillary learned that he and Lowe had been invited by the [[Joint Himalayan Committee]] for the 1953 British attempt and immediately accepted.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=117}} Shipton had been named as leader but was replaced by Hunt. Hillary objected but was immediately impressed by Hunt's energy and determination.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=119}} Hunt asked [[Charles Evans (mountaineer)|Charles Evans]] and Hillary to form with him a small three-man planning group on the expedition.{{sfn|Gill|2017|p=185}}{{sfn|Hunt|1953|pp=107,121,134,138}} Hunt wrote that:{{sfn|Hunt|1953|p=28}}
{{blockquote|Hillary's testing in the Himalayas had shown that he would be a very strong contender, not only for Everest, but for an eventual summit party. When I met Shipton last autumn I well remember his prophesying this&nbsp;– and how right he was. Quite exceptionally strong and abounding in a restless energy, possessed of a thrusting mind which swept away all unproven obstacles, Ed Hillary's personality had made an imprint on my mind, through his Cho Oyu and Reconnaissance friends and through his letters to me.}}

Hillary had hoped to climb with Lowe, but Hunt named two teams for the ascent: [[Tom Bourdillon]] and [[Charles Evans (mountaineer)|Charles Evans]]; and Hillary and Tenzing.<ref name="FallenGiants3">{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|last2=Weaver|first2=Stewart|title=Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286/page/n296 284]–286|isbn=9780300115017}}</ref> Hillary, therefore, made a concerted effort to forge a working friendship with Tenzing.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=119}}{{sfn|Hunt|1953|pp=138,139}} Hillary wrote, "Tenzing had substantially greater personal ambition than any Sherpa I had met."{{sfn|Gill|2017|p=188}}

[[File:Tenzing and Hillary.jpg|thumb|right|Tenzing and Hillary]]

The Hunt expedition totalled over 400 people, including 362 [[porter (carrier)|porters]], 20 [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]] guides, and {{convert|10000|lbs|kg}} of baggage.<ref name=guard1>[https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/story/0,,966102,00.html "Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing reach the top"], Reuter (in ''[[The Guardian]]'', 2 June 1953)</ref><ref name=rgs/> Lowe supervised the preparation of the [[Lhotse|Lhotse Face]], a huge and steep ice face, for climbing. Hillary forged a route through the treacherous [[Khumbu Icefall]].{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=151}}{{sfn|Elish|2007|p=30}}

Cameraman [[Tom Stobart]] was Hillary's room-mate in Kathmandu. He described Hillary as:{{sfn|Gill|2017|pp=188,189}}
{{blockquote|a skeleton as tall as I was&nbsp;... a hatchet-thin face, and seemed tied together with steel&nbsp;... I had just got a rubber torch to pieces and couldn't get it together again. This human machine took charge. 'Let's give it a go' he said, using an expression we came to know so well in the following months. It may have meant that he would try to fix it, but did not. Actually it meant he would fix it, a subtle but important difference so far as Ed and his fellow countryman George Lowe, were concerned.}}

The expedition set up [[base camp]] in March 1953 and, working slowly, set up its final camp at the [[South Col]] at {{convert|25900|ft|m|-1}}. On 26 May, Bourdillon and Evans attempted the climb but turned back when Evans's [[oxygen system]] failed. The pair had reached the South Summit, coming within 300 vertical feet (91 m) of the summit.<ref name=rgs>[http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/documents/Reaching%20the%20Top3.pdf ''Reaching The Top''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216030022/http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/documents/Reaching%20the%20Top3.pdf |date=16 February 2008 }} Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved 13 January 2008.</ref><ref name="nzedge" /> Hunt then directed Hillary and Tenzing to attempt the summit.<ref name="nzedge" />

Snow and wind delayed them at the South Col for two days. They set out on 28 May with the support of Lowe, [[Alfred Gregory]], and Ang Nyima.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=197}} The two pitched a tent at {{convert|27900|ft|m|-1}} on 28 May, while their support group returned down the mountain.<ref name="FallenGiants4">{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|last2=Weaver|first2=Stewart|title=Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|page=[https://archive.org/details/fallengiantshist00isse_286/page/n300 288]|isbn=9780300115017}}</ref> On the following morning Hillary discovered that his boots had frozen solid outside the tent. He spent two hours warming them over a stove before he and Tenzing, wearing {{convert|30|lb|kg|0|adj=on}} packs, attempted the final ascent.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=213}} The final obstacle was the {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=on}} rock face later called "[[Hillary Step]]"; Hillary later wrote:
{{blockquote|I noticed a crack between the rock and the snow sticking to the East Face. I crawled inside and wriggled and jammed my way to the top{{nbsp}}... Tenzing slowly joined me and we moved on. I chopped steps over bump after bump, wondering a little desperately where the top could be. Then I saw the ridge ahead dropped away to the north and above me on the right was a rounded snow dome. A few more whacks with my ice-axe and Tenzing and I stood on top of Everest.<ref>{{cite book|title=Two Generations|pages=27–28}}</ref>}}

[[File:Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.jpg|thumb|Hillary and Tenzing on return from the summit of Everest]]

Tenzing wrote in his 1955 autobiography that Hillary took the first step onto the summit and he followed. They reached Everest's {{convert|29,028|ft|m|abbr=on}} summit{{snd}}the highest point on earth{{snd}}at 11:30&nbsp;am.<ref name="Christchurch" /><ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1478658.htm "Everest not as tall as thought"]. Agence France-Presse (on abc.net.au), 10 October 2005</ref>

They spent about 15 minutes at the summit. Hillary took a photo of Tenzing posing with his ice-axe, but there is no photo of Hillary; Tenzing's autobiography says that Hillary simply declined to have his picture taken. They also took photos looking down the mountain.<ref name="photos">Joanna Wright (2003). "[http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/concepts/Virtual_Everest/-285.html The Photographs]", in ''Everest, Summit of Achievement'', by the [[Royal Geographical Society]]. Simon & Schuster, New York. {{ISBN|0-7432-4386-2}}. Retrieved 11 January 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905191639/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/concepts/Virtual_Everest/-285.html |date=5 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Sir Edmund Hillary |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3740536.stm |access-date=1 June 2021 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=11 January 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir Willoughby Norrie, and George Lowe at Government House, Wellington, 1953.jpg|thumb|Hillary (left) and [[George Lowe (mountaineer)|George Lowe]] (right) with Governor-General [[Sir Willoughby Norrie]] at [[Government House, Wellington]], 20 August 1953]]

Tenzing left chocolates at the summit as an offering, and Hillary left a cross given to him by John Hunt.{{sfn|Hillary|2003|p=229}} Their descent was complicated by drifting snow that had covered their tracks. The first person they met was Lowe; Hillary said, "Well, George, we knocked the bastard off."<ref name="'We knocked the bastard off'"/>

They returned to [[Kathmandu]] a few days later and learned that Hillary had already been appointed a [[Order of British Empire|Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] and Hunt a [[Knight Bachelor]].<ref name="Gazette2">{{cite news|last1=Editorial Staff|title=(announcements)|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39886/page/3273|access-date=12 March 2018|work=The [[London Gazette]]|page=3273|date=12 June 1953}}</ref> News reached Britain on the day of [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II's coronation]], and the press called it a coronation gift.<ref>{{Citation| agency=[[Reuters]]| title=2 of British Team Conquer Everest| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| page=1| date=2 June 1953| url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0529.html| access-date=18 December 2009}}</ref> 
The 37 members of the party later received the [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal]] with {{small caps|mount everest expedition}} engraved along the rim.{{sfn|Johnston|Larsen|2005|p=76}}
In addition to the [[knight]]ing of Hillary and Hunt, Tenzing{{snd}}ineligible for knighthood as a Nepalese citizen{{snd}}received the [[George Medal]].<ref>"George Medal for Tensing – Award Approved by the Queen" in ''[[The Times]]'' (London), issue 52663 dated Thursday 2 July 1953, p. 6</ref><ref name=NorgayODNB>{{cite ODNB|first=Peter H.|last=Hansen|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50064|title=Tenzing Norgay [Sherpa Tenzing] (1914–1986)|format=(subscription required)|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/50064 |access-date=18 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Man of the mountains Tenzing dies|first=Paul|last=Vallely|work=The Times|location=UK|date=10 May 1986}}</ref> Tenzing also received the [[Order of the Star of Nepal|Star of Nepal]] from [[King Tribhuvan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/world/asia/11cnd-hillary.html|title=Edmund Hillary, First on Everest, Dies at 88|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=10 January 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 October 2017|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===After Everest===
[[File:Sir Edmund Hillary in the cockpit of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition's aeroplane, Rongotai, Wellington, 1956.jpg|thumb|upright|left|In the cockpit of the [[Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition]]'s [[de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver|DHC-2]], 1956]]

Hillary climbed ten other peaks in the [[Himalayas]] on further visits in 1956, 1960–1961, and 1963–1965. He also reached the [[South Pole]] as part of the [[Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition]], for which he led the New Zealand section, on 4 January 1958. His party was the first to reach the Pole overland since [[Roald Amundsen|Amundsen]] in 1911 and [[Robert Falcon Scott|Scott]] in 1912, and the first ever to do so using motor vehicles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/edmund-hillary-antarctica |title=Edmund Hillary in Antarctica|website=<!--http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/-->New Zealand History online – Nga korero aipurangi o Aotearoa|author= Ministry for Culture and Heritage|location= Wellington, New Zealand|date=22 July 2014|access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref>

In 1960, Hillary organised the [[1960–61 Silver Hut expedition]],{{sfn|Gill|2017|pp=328–369}} with [[Griffith Pugh]]; and Pugh showed that Mount Everest could be climbed without oxygen, with a long period of acclimatisation by living at {{convert|20000|ft}} for six months. 
An assault on [[Makalu]], the world's fifth-highest mountain, was unsuccessful. Hillary was with the expedition for five months, although it lasted for ten.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sir Edmund Hillary, a Life in Pictures|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/photogalleries/hillary-pictures/photo5.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115223919/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/photogalleries/hillary%2Dpictures/photo5.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 January 2008|website=news.nationalgeographic.com|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>

The expedition also searched for the fabled [[Yeti|abominable snowman]].<ref name="Columbia" /> No evidence of Yetis was found, instead footprints and tracks were proven to be from other causes. During the expedition, Hillary travelled to remote temples which contained "Yeti scalps"; however after bringing back three relics, two were shown to be from bears and one from a goat antelope.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Yeti: Asia's Abominable Snowman|url=https://www.livescience.com/25072-yeti-abominable-snowman.html|website=Live Science|date=28 November 2017|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Objects of Intrigue: Yeti Scalp|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/objects-of-intrigue-yeti-scalp|website=Atlas Obscura|access-date=14 March 2018|language=en|date=30 May 2013}}</ref> Hillary said after the expedition: "The yeti is not a strange, superhuman creature as has been imagined. We have found rational explanations for most yeti phenomena".<ref>{{cite web|title='Yeti scalp' fails to convince Hillary|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/yeti-scalp-fails-to-convince-hillary-1.83312|website=Stars and Stripes|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Edmund-Hillary.web.jpg|thumb|upright|Hillary in 1957 after {{shy|ac|com|pa|nying}} the first plane to land at the [[Marble Point]] ground air strip, Antarctica]]

In 1962, he was a guest on the television game show ''[[What's My Line?]]''; he stumped the panel, comprising [[Dorothy Kilgallen]], [[Arlene Francis]], [[Bennett Cerf]], and [[Merv Griffin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLteuggtA0o| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/BLteuggtA0o| archive-date=30 October 2021|title=What's My Line? – Sir Edmund Hillary; Diahann Carroll; Merv Griffin [panel] (May 20, 1962)| website=[[YouTube]]| date=26 May 2014|access-date=11 March 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>
In 1977, he led a [[jetboat]] expedition, titled "Ocean to Sky", from the mouth of the [[Ganges River]] to its source.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/edmund-hillary/end-of-big-mountain-days |title=The end of the 'big mountain days' – Ed Hillary". |website=<!--http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/-->New Zealand History online – Nga korero aipurangi o Aotearoa|author= Ministry for Culture and Heritage|location= Wellington, New Zealand|date=13 January 2016|access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref> From 1977 to 1979 he commentated aboard Antarctic sightseeing flights operated by [[Air New Zealand]], and was scheduled to act as the guide for the fatal [[Air New Zealand Flight 901|Flight 901]], but had to cancel owing to other commitments.<ref>[http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/erebus-disaster/visiting-antarctica "The Antarctic experience – Erebus disaster"] New Zealand History online; retrieved 13 January 2008.</ref>
In 1985, he accompanied [[Neil Armstrong]] in a small twin-engined ski plane over the Arctic Ocean and landed at the [[North Pole]]. Hillary thus became the first man to stand at both poles and on the summit of Everest.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Attwooll|first1=Jolyon|title=Sixty fascinating Everest facts|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/nepal/articles/Everest-Sixty-fascinating-facts/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/nepal/articles/Everest-Sixty-fascinating-facts/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 February 2016|access-date=22 July 2016|ref=Sir Edmund Hillary was also a highly successful explorer of the Poles, leading expeditions there in the late 1950s. He went to the North Pole in 1985, making him the first person to have reached both poles and climbed Everest.}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Sullivan">{{cite magazine |first=Robert |last=Sullivan |url=http://www.time.com/time/2003/adventures/interview.html |title=The Greatest Adventures of All Time: Sir Edmund Hillary: A visit with the world's greatest living adventurer |magazine=Time |date=12 September 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030921174835/http://www.time.com/time/2003/adventures/interview.html |archive-date=21 September 2003}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/everest/story/0,,955942,00.html March 2003 interview with Hillary in] ''The Guardian''</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7180000/newsid_7184400/7184434.stm |title=Video: Interview on HardTalk |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=13 March 2010 | date=11 January 2008}}</ref> This accomplishment inspired generations of explorers to compete over what later was defined as [[Three Poles Challenge]].
In January 2007, Hillary travelled to Antarctica as part of a delegation commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of [[Scott Base]].<ref>NDTV, [http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Sir+Edmund+Hillary+revisits+Antarctica&id=99755 "Sir Edmund Hillary revisits Antarctica"], 20 January 2007. {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="NZ_Herald_10419569">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10419569 |title=Claire Harvey on Ice: Mt Erebus sends chills of horror |author=Harvey, Claire |date=21 January 2007 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=29 September 2011 |archive-date=29 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122658/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10419569 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Radio Network, [http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=110625 "PM and Sir Edmund Hillary off to Scott Base"], 15 January 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126040918/http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=110625 |date=26 January 2009 }}</ref>