57 Fun Facts About Edmund Hillary

News of Hillary and Tenzing's Everest ascent broke in Britain on the morning of which royal occasion?

Elizabeth II's coronation fell four days after the climb; a coded dispatch went by runner, radio and telegram to London, and the Queen was told the night before.

What was Hillary's trade before he became famous, working with his father and brother?

Beekeeper: the hives kept him busy with his father and brother Rex all summer and left his winters free, which is how he managed whole seasons in the mountains.

A 1935 school trip to which volcano, the North Island's highest peak, first hooked the 16-year-old Hillary on mountains?

Mount Ruapehu left its mark: after the trip he cared more for tramping than for study, and within three years he had given up university altogether.

Hillary's first major summit, Mount Ollivier in 1939, stands in which New Zealand mountain range?

The Southern Alps gave him a gentle start: Mount Ollivier is now a scramble above a tramping hut, and a proposal to rename it Mount Hillary after his death was opposed by the Ollivier family.

What role did Hillary serve in with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II?

Navigator was the role he qualified for once he finally joined up: he had first applied in 1939, then withdrawn over his conscience. Posted to the Solomon Islands in 1945, he was badly burnt in a boating accident.

Which outdoor pursuit did Hillary enjoy with the Radiant Living movement's club in the Waitākere Ranges?

Hiking, or tramping as New Zealanders call it, with the Radiant Living Tramping Club deepened Hillary's love of the outdoors.

Who led the 1951 British reconnaissance expedition to Everest that Hillary joined?

Eric Shipton led the 1951 reconnaissance; with him Hillary climbed a spur of Pumori to get the first clear view up the Western Cwm, proving the southern route to Everest was feasible.

Which country's climbers held the 1952 Everest permit, leaving Hillary and the British to try Cho Oyu instead?

Switzerland's 1952 team, with Tenzing Norgay among its climbers, got within about 250 metres of the summit, and with France booked for 1954 the British feared 1953 was their last chance to be first.

Who led the 1953 expedition on which Hillary reached the summit?

John Hunt, an army colonel, replaced the expected leader and ran the climb with military-style planning, stocking a chain of ever-higher camps.

Three days before Hillary's climb, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans became the first to reach which point on Everest?

The South Summit, about 300 feet below the top, was as far as they got: their oxygen sets gave trouble and time ran out, which left the way open for Hillary and Tenzing.

What unwelcome discovery did Hillary make on the morning of the summit climb?

His boots had frozen solid overnight at the 27,900-foot high camp, and he had to thaw them over the stove flame before he and Tenzing could set off at 6:30 am.

What was the 40-foot rock face just below Everest's summit, the 1953 climb's final obstacle, later named?

The Hillary Step got its name after he wedged himself into a crack between the rock and the snow clinging to it and wriggled his way to the top of it.

What did Hillary and Tenzing do first on Everest's summit?

Shook hands: Hillary held out a hand in the formal way, but Tenzing threw his arms around him and the two thumped each other on the back.

Hillary searched Everest's summit in vain for traces of which climber, who vanished near the top in 1924?

George Mallory and his partner Andrew Irvine were last seen climbing towards the top; Hillary found no sign of them, so whether they got there 29 years earlier stayed an open question.

What did Hillary leave on the summit of Everest?

A small cross, a crucifix the expedition leader had asked him to place there, was Hillary's offering; Tenzing buried sweets in the snow for the mountain's gods.

With which line did Hillary greet George Lowe after the summit?

Hillary said 'Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.' to George Lowe, the fellow New Zealander who had forced the route up the Lhotse Face and was the first to meet the pair coming down.

How did Hillary and Tenzing initially answer when asked who got to Everest's summit first?

That they reached it together was how the pair first told it, as a team effort, though each later wrote that Hillary had stepped up first.

Which phrase in Jan Morris's coded Everest dispatch meant 'summit reached'?

'Snow conditions bad' was code for success: fearing rival papers would steal the scoop, Times reporter Jan Morris cabled what looked like bad news, with the climbers' names hidden in the rest.

Where was Hillary when he learned that the Queen had knighted him for climbing Everest?

On the trek out: the knighthood was announced within days of the climb, and word reached the astonished Hillary before the expedition was out of the mountains.

Which British medal did Tenzing Norgay receive for the Everest ascent?

The George Medal went to Tenzing while Hillary was knighted, a gap usually put down to Tenzing's not being a British subject.

What was cameraman Tom Stobart's Oscar-nominated film about the climb called?

The Conquest of Everest, shot by Tom Stobart with a commentary written by the poet Louis MacNeice, was released in 1953 and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Hillary reached the South Pole overland in January 1958 as part of which venture?

The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition was Vivian Fuchs's bid to make the first land crossing of the continent, and Hillary's dash to the Pole was criticised by some as going beyond his orders.

What vehicles did Hillary's party drive to the South Pole?

Ferguson farm tractors, modified for the ice, carried Hillary's party to the Pole in January 1958, about two weeks ahead of the British crossing team.

What was Hillary's party sent to do for Vivian Fuchs's crossing team?

Lay supply depots was the whole brief, but with the last one stocked Hillary radioed that he was 'hell-bent for the Pole' and got there before Fuchs did.

Which two parties reached the South Pole overland before Hillary's in 1958?

Amundsen and Scott had sledged there in 1911 and 1912 and no one had arrived overland since; when Hillary drove in, Americans who had flown in were already living at a base on the Pole.

Which station did Hillary's team set up on the Ross Sea side of Antarctica in 1957?

Scott Base went up on Ross Island in early 1957 as the New Zealanders' headquarters, and Hillary's party wintered there before heading south across the ice.

Which world-famous astronaut flew with Hillary to the North Pole in 1985?

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, flew with him in a small ski-plane that landed at the North Pole, so Hillary, who had driven to the South Pole and climbed Everest, had now stood at all three.

Hillary's 1977 'Ocean to Sky' expedition travelled by jetboat up which river?

The Ganges carried Hillary's jet boats from the sea up into the Himalayas, but on the climb that ended the trip he collapsed with altitude sickness and had to be evacuated.

What did Hillary's 1960–61 Silver Hut expedition seek besides physiological data?

The abominable snowman was hunted with money from an American encyclopedia publisher, but the months of searching turned up no convincing evidence that any such creature existed.

What did Hillary persuade New Zealand's government to help Nepal create around Everest?

A national park came after his airstrips, built to bring in aid, had also opened the Everest region to many more tourists and climbers.

How did Hillary's first wife Louise and daughter Belinda die in 1975?

In a plane crash near Kathmandu: on 31 March 1975 their small aircraft came down shortly after take-off from the city's airport as they flew to join him at Phaphlu, where he was building a hospital.

Hillary cancelled as guide on the 1979 Air New Zealand sightseeing flight that crashed into which mountain?

Mount Erebus, in Antarctica, was struck by Flight 901 with the loss of all 257 aboard; his friend Peter Mulgrew had taken his place as guide, and ten years later Hillary married Mulgrew's widow, June.

What did Hillary publicly condemn Everest expeditions for doing in 2006?

Walking past a dying climber, the Briton David Sharp, appalled Hillary, who said reaching the top had come to matter more to people than the life of a man in distress.

Which member of Hillary's family reached Everest's summit in 1990?

His son Peter became a mountaineer in his own right and has stood on top of Everest twice, once more than his famous father.

What organisation did Hillary found to help the Sherpa people of Nepal?

The Himalayan Trust built only what Sherpa villagers themselves asked for, and Hillary spent decades raising the money for it.

What did Sherpas first ask Hillary for, starting his aid work in Nepal?

A school came first: Hillary raised the money himself and in 1961 oversaw the building of the schoolhouse at Khumjung, the start of decades of projects for the Sherpas.

Beside which Nepali village did Hillary's team build an airstrip in 1964 to serve the Everest region?

Lukla's airstrip went in to make it easier to bring building materials to Hillary's aid projects; it was renamed Tenzing-Hillary Airport in 2008, soon after his death.

In 1985 Hillary became New Zealand's High Commissioner, based in which country?

India was his base in New Delhi, and the post also made him New Zealand's envoy to Nepal, the country where his aid work was centred.

Which rare British honour did the Queen give Hillary in 1995?

Knight of the Garter made Hillary one of only 24 companions in Britain's oldest order of chivalry, where appointments are the sovereign's alone, so the choice was the Queen's own.

Hillary's portrait was placed on which New Zealand banknote in 1992?

The $5 note gained his portrait when the 1992 redesign put notable New Zealanders on every note except the $20, which kept the Queen; he was the only one of them still alive.

What stands behind Hillary's portrait on the banknote that honours him?

A New Zealand mountain, the country's highest, fills the background rather than the Himalayan giant that made him famous.

What did Nepal grant Hillary in 2003, on the 50th anniversary of the Everest ascent?

Honorary citizenship was Nepal's thanks for his decades of work for the Sherpas, conferred at a jubilee ceremony in Kathmandu.

Where in the solar system is a mountain range named Hillary Montes?

Pluto's Hillary Montes stand beside Tenzing Montes, and such peaks are thought to be built of water ice, which at Pluto's temperatures behaves more like rock.

Rugby test matches between England and New Zealand have been played for which trophy since 2008?

The Hillary Shield was created in the year he died to honour a New Zealander whose most famous climb was made with a British expedition, a link between the two rugby nations.

Where were most of Hillary's ashes scattered after his death in 2008?

Auckland's Hauraki Gulf received most of his ashes, scattered by his widow and children; a plan to scatter the rest on Everest's summit was dropped in 2010 after lamas warned it would bring bad luck.

What honour did New Zealand give Hillary in 2008?

A state funeral, a rare honour for a private citizen, was offered by the government on the day he died and accepted by his family, who said it recognised his impact on all New Zealanders.

Which US magazine named Hillary one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century?

Time gave Hillary and Tenzing a single shared entry among the 'Heroes & Icons' on its 1999 list, alongside Charles Lindbergh, Helen Keller and Mother Teresa.

Which party did Hillary publicly back in New Zealand's 1975 election, as one of the 'Citizens for Rowling'?

Labour was led by Prime Minister Bill Rowling, and Hillary joined other prominent New Zealanders in endorsing him, though Robert Muldoon's National Party won the election.

What was the title of Hillary's own 1955 book about his Everest climb?

High Adventure was the first of several best-selling accounts of his expeditions, and from then on he made his living largely from writing, lecturing and new ventures.

Where did Queen Elizabeth II attend a thanksgiving service for Hillary in April 2008?

Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel held the service, where Gurkha soldiers from Nepal stood guard outside and Tenzing's son joined Hillary's family in the congregation.

Which sport gave the shy teenage Hillary some physical confidence?

Boxing gave some physical confidence to a boy who had arrived at Auckland Grammar small, shy and friendless, with what he later called a deep sense of inferiority.

Which prime minister announced Hillary's death in 2008, calling him 'the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived'?

Helen Clark called him a heroic figure and a quintessential Kiwi, and three months later joined the Queen at a memorial service for him in England.

Which New Zealand peak's south ridge, first climbed by Hillary's party in 1948, is now called Hillary Ridge?

Aoraki / Mount Cook's south ridge fell to Hillary, guide Harry Ayres, Mick Sullivan and Ruth Adams; days later Adams was badly hurt in a fall nearby and the party joined a long rescue to carry her out.

Which peak, the world's fifth highest, did Hillary's 1954 New Zealand expedition abandon?

Makalu was abandoned after Hillary broke ribs helping to rescue a teammate from a crevasse, then collapsed and had to be carried out; seven years later it defeated his expedition again.

How did Hillary handle proposing to Louise Rose in 1953?

Her mother proposed on his behalf: too shy to ask Louise Rose himself, Hillary had her mother Phyllis put the question; they married on 3 September 1953, soon after Everest.

Which New Zealand prime minister persuaded Hillary to become a diplomat in 1985?

David Lange, newly elected, talked Hillary into the posting, and June Mulgrew, the widow of his old expedition companion, went abroad with him.

To which honour was Hillary appointed in February 1987?

The Order of New Zealand, created that year as the country's highest honour, is capped at 20 living members, so a place normally opens only when one dies; Hillary was among the first chosen.