Godspeed, Sir Edmund

The world mourns the passing of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man, along with his Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to summit Everest on May 29, 1953.

Hillary was a small and shy child growing up, and only first recognized his climbing ability at age 16 on a school trip to Mount Ruapehu. Edmund saw that while his backpacking mates were winded and exhausted, his pipes could handle the climb.

In that original expedition team to Everest, Hillary and Norgay almost weren't the team to make the summit. The first pair to try was Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans on May 26th, but had to turn back 330 feet from the top after Evans' oxygen system failed. Hillary and Norgay were then allowed to make the attempt, and reached the summit at 11:30 am on May 29th.

The pair stood on the summit for about 15 minutes. Ironically, there are no pictures of Hillary on the summit, because Tenzing did not know how to operate the camera. Edmund was kind enough to take Tenzing's picture:

To date, more than 3000 people have summited Everest, but the badassness of Hillary and Norgay's original summit cannot be ignored. No fixed rope setups at the Hillary Step. No aluminum ladders for the Khumbu Icefall. No fleeces, nor GPS. Just two dudes and a couple of ice axes.

In addition to his climbing career, Hillary became a tremendous philanthropist and devoted his life to helping the Nepalese Sherpa people. In 1960, he founded the Himalayan Trust, dedicated to building schools and hospitals in the remote regions of the Himalayans.

So long Sir Ed. You can ditch that safety rope now.