57 Fun Facts About Edmund Hillary

On what date did Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Everest?

They reached the summit on 29 May 1953; the news reached London on 2 June, the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and the press hailed it as a coronation gift.

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

Beekeeper: Hillary worked the family's commercial hives with his father Percival and brother Rex, keeping bees through the summer and climbing in winter, and took dozens of stings a day.

A 1935 school trip to which NZ volcano sparked Hillary's interest in climbing at 16?

Mount Ruapehu, the North Island's highest peak, was where the 16-year-old first met snow and mountains on a 1935 school trip; he found his endurance outstripped his schoolmates' and was hooked.

Hillary's first major climb, in 1939, took him to the summit of which peak in the Southern Alps?

Mount Ollivier, a modest 1,933 m peak on the Sealy Range above Mueller Hut, was his first major summit, reached in 1939, four years after the school trip that turned him to the mountains.

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

Navigator: he joined the RNZAF in 1944 and flew as a navigator in Catalina flying boats in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, where a boat accident in 1945 left him badly burnt.

Which self-improvement movement did Hillary spend five years with in the late 1930s?

Radiant Living, a health-and-self-help movement founded by Herbert Sutcliffe, occupied Hillary for five years from the late 1930s; he later said it taught him to speak confidently in public.

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 8,000-metre peak did Hillary attempt unsuccessfully in 1952, the year before Everest?

Cho Oyu, the world's sixth-highest peak, defeated the 1952 British party; afterwards Hillary and George Lowe slipped over the Nup La into Tibet to view Everest's north side and the pre-war base camps.

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

John Hunt, a British Army colonel, replaced the expected leader at the last minute; Hillary was put out at first, then won over by Hunt's energy and planning.

Which pair made the first summit attempt on 26 May 1953, turning back just below the top?

Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans reached the South Summit that day using closed-circuit oxygen, but Evans's set was faulty and the hour was late, so they turned back about 300 feet below the top.

What did Hillary discover on the morning of the summit climb, costing him two hours?

His boots had frozen solid overnight at the 27,900-foot high camp, and he spent two hours thawing them over the stove before the pair set off with 30-pound packs.

What is the 40-foot rock face just below Everest's summit, the climb's final obstacle, called?

The Hillary Step is the 40-foot rock face he wriggled up via a crack between the rock and a snow cornice, then chopped steps over 'bump after bump' to the top.

When did the pair reach the summit?

They left the high camp at 6:30 am, reached the South Summit at 9:00 and stood on the top at 11:30 am after five hours of climbing.

Roughly how long did Hillary and Tenzing spend on the summit?

About 15 minutes: Hillary photographed Tenzing holding his ice-axe aloft, but there is no summit photo of Hillary, since Tenzing had never used a camera and the summit was no place to learn.

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.

Descending from the summit, Hillary greeted the first teammate he met with which famous line?

'Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.' were his first words to George Lowe, his old friend who had prepared the Lhotse Face route and climbed up to meet the pair with hot soup.

What finally settled the argument over which of the two men set foot on the summit ahead of the other?

Tenzing's 1955 autobiography: Hillary led — in Tiger of the Snows Tenzing wrote that Hillary stepped on top first, ending speculation fuelled by a Kathmandu banner showing him hauling a 'semi-conscious' Hillary up.

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

'Snow conditions bad' meant the summit had been reached; the rest of Morris's cable, 'advanced base abandoned yesterday, awaiting improvement', identified Hillary and Tenzing as the climbers.

What honour did Hillary learn he had received when he got back to Kathmandu?

A KBE knighthood, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was announced on 6 June 1953 and Hillary learned of it on reaching Kathmandu; the expedition leader was made a Knight Bachelor.

Why could Tenzing Norgay not be knighted for the ascent?

He was not a British subject, so a substantive knighthood was not open to him; instead he received the George Medal, and King Tribhuvan of Nepal gave him the Star of Nepal.

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 of 1955-58 put Hillary in charge of its New Zealand support party, which reached the Pole on 4 January 1958, the first to arrive by motor vehicle.

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

Ferguson farm tractors, standard TE20 models modified with cabs and tracks, carried the party; sent only to lay depots, Hillary pressed on and reached the Pole ahead of the British crossing team.

Who led the British half of the trans-Antarctic crossing that Hillary supported, then beat to the Pole?

Vivian Fuchs led the crossing party from the Weddell Sea; he reached the Pole on 19 January 1958 and completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica in 99 days, earning a knighthood.

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

Amundsen and Scott led the only earlier overland parties, arriving in December 1911 and January 1912; Hillary's came 46 years later.

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

Scott Base, on Ross Island's Pram Point, was built by Hillary's team in January 1957 as New Zealand's Antarctic base; its flags flew at half-mast on his death in 2008.

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

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, joined Hillary in a small ski-plane to the North Pole in 1985, a landing that made Hillary the first person to stand at both poles and atop Everest.

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

The team ran from the river's mouth to its source in the Himalayas.

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

The abominable snowman, or yeti, was a stated goal of the 1960-61 expedition, which was bankrolled by World Book Encyclopedia; the team wintered in the Silver Hut at 5,800 m studying acclimatisation.

Which US television game show did Hillary stump as a mystery guest in 1962?

What's My Line? was the CBS panel show on which Hillary appeared as a mystery guest in 1962; Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf and guest panellist Merv Griffin failed to identify him.

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 was booked to guide which fatal 1979 journey, but cancelled due to other commitments?

Air New Zealand Flight 901, the Antarctic sightseeing flight that struck Mount Erebus on 28 November 1979, killed all 257 aboard; a close friend who took Hillary's place as commentator was among them.

Whom did Hillary marry in 1989?

June Mulgrew, a friend's widow, married Hillary in 1989; her husband Peter, a climbing and Antarctic companion of Hillary's, had died ten years earlier, and she had long been close to the family.

In what year did Hillary's son Peter first summit Everest?

In 1990 Peter Hillary reached the summit, making the Hillarys the first father and son both to have climbed Everest; he repeated the ascent in 2002.

What organisation did Hillary found in 1960 to help the Sherpa people of Nepal?

The Himalayan Trust, which Hillary founded in 1960, built schools, hospitals, clinics, bridges and airstrips in the Khumbu region; he led it until his death in 2008.

Where was the first school built by Hillary's trust, opened in June 1961?

Khumjung, the village of sirdar Urkien Sherpa who had asked for a school, got a prefabricated aluminium schoolhouse in June 1961, put up in days and opened by Hillary himself.

Beside which village did Hillary's trust build a 1964 airstrip, renamed for him and Tenzing in 2008?

Lukla's airstrip, built by Hillary's team in 1964 so building materials could be flown in rather than carried for weeks, was renamed Tenzing-Hillary Airport in January 2008, the month he died.

From 1985 to 1988 Hillary served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to which country?

India: Hillary was High Commissioner in New Delhi from 1985 to 1988, serving concurrently as high commissioner to Bangladesh and ambassador to Nepal.

Which chivalric honour did Hillary receive in 1995?

Knight of the Garter, the oldest and most senior British order of chivalry, was conferred on Hillary in 1995; the order is limited to the sovereign and 24 companion knights and ladies.

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

The $5 note gained Hillary's portrait in the 1992 series, making him the only living person other than the reigning monarch to appear on New Zealand currency; later series kept him.

What condition did Hillary attach to appearing on the banknote?

A New Zealand peak, not Everest, behind him was his one stipulation, so the portrait is backed by the country's highest mountain; the note's reverse shows a yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho).

What honour did Nepal give Hillary in 2003, the 50th anniversary of the ascent?

Honorary citizenship of Nepal was conferred on Hillary in 2003 during the golden-jubilee celebrations of the ascent, the first occasion on which the country had granted it to a foreign national.

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

The range is on Pluto: Hillary Montes, beside Tenzing Montes near the Sputnik Planitia ice plain, were imaged by New Horizons in July 2015 and formally named by the International Astronomical Union in 2017.

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

The Hillary Shield has been contested by England and the All Blacks since their November 2008 Twickenham test, instituted in his memory the year he died; New Zealand won the first contest 32-6.

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

Auckland's Hauraki Gulf received most of his ashes, scattered from a boat some weeks after his state funeral; a portion went to Tengboche monastery in Nepal, and a 2010 plan to scatter them on the summit was dropped.

How old was Hillary when he died of heart failure in January 2008?

He was 88: born on 20 July 1919, he died on 11 January 2008 at Auckland City Hospital; New Zealand gave him a state funeral, and flags flew at half-mast in Antarctica.

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

Time put Hillary on its 1999 list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, among the 'heroes and icons'; Reader's Digest polls from 2005 to 2007 separately named him New Zealand's most trusted person.

Hillary's role in which 1975 campaign is thought to have cost him the governor-generalship?

'Citizens for Rowling' for the Labour Party was the 1975 election campaign Hillary fronted, backing Bill Rowling against Robert Muldoon; Muldoon's government then passed him over for governor-general in 1977.

What was Tenzing Norgay's original birth name?

Namgyal Wangdi was his name at birth; the head lama of Rongbuk monastery had it changed to Tenzing Norgay, which translates roughly as 'wealthy fortunate follower of religion'.

Which honour did the Indian government give Hillary posthumously in 2008?

The Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian award, was conferred on Hillary in 2008, weeks after his death, in recognition of his Everest ascent and his diplomatic years there.

Hillary's family moved in 1920 to which town south of Auckland, where his father founded a newspaper?

Percy Hillary had been allocated eight acres there as a returned Gallipoli soldier and edited the Tuakau District News.

Roughly how many hives did the Hillary family bee business run?

The business ran about 1,600 hives; Hillary worked them with his father and brother through the summer, climbed in winter, and reckoned he took scores of stings a day.

In 1948 Hillary was in the first party to climb the south ridge of which peak, renamed Hillary Ridge in 2011?

Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain at 3,724 m, was climbed by its south ridge in January 1948 by Hillary with guide Harry Ayres, Mick Sullivan and Ruth Adams.

Which 8,000-metre peak did Hillary's 1954 New Zealand expedition fail to climb?

Makalu, the 8,485 m peak south-east of Everest, defeated Hillary's 1954 New Zealand Alpine Club expedition after he broke ribs rescuing a teammate from a crevasse and then fell seriously ill at altitude.

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.

Who was offered the New Zealand governor-generalship in 1977 after Hillary's political activity ruled him out?

Keith Holyoake, a former National prime minister, was appointed governor-general in 1977 by Muldoon's government, which had passed over Hillary because of his public backing of Labour two years earlier.

To which honour was Hillary appointed in February 1987?

The Order of New Zealand, the country's highest honour, was instituted on 6 February 1987 and Hillary was among its first appointees; he had received the Polar Medal in 1958.