Page 46 - English Class 04

Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first men to successfully
climb Mt Everest .

Sir Edmund Hillary was born in 1919 and grew up in Auckland, New Zealand.

It was in New Zealand that he became interested in mountain climbing.
Although, he made his living as a beekeeper, he climbed mountains in New

Zealand, then in the Alps and finally in the Himalayas where he climbed 11

different peaks of over 20,000 feet. By this time, Hillary was ready to confront
the world’s highest mountain.

Sir Edmund’s life was darkened by the loss of his wife and daughter in a plane

crash in 1975. He continued to occupy himself with environmental causes and
humanitarian work on behalf of the Nepalese people for the rest of his life. He

died at his home in New Zealand at the age of 88, mourned by his countrymen

and by legions of admirers around the world.

In 1951, Hillary was invited to join a New Zealand climbing team that trekked

in the Himalayan mountains. Later, he was chosen for an Everest exploration
team led by his old hero, Eric Shipton.

Hillary’s great energy and mountaineering
skills won him a spot on the 1953 British

Everest expedition team . The British had

been trying for nearly 40 years to be the first

to scale the world’s highest mountain.

Finally, on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary
and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first

men to stand on top of the world.

To learn more about their adventure,
read the following interaction he had with trek : a long walk on mountain

students in 1996. exploration : the investigation of
unknown regions
Question : How did you have enough
expedition team : mission team
energy to climb the Mount

Everest?

Answer : I was very fit and had much climbing experience.

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