Biography

Edmund Percival Hillary was born on July 20, 1919, in a small country town of Takau, 40 miles south of Auckland, New Zealand. His father Percival was an editor of a local daily, The Takau District News. As a hobby, Percival took up bee keeping. When a strong disagreement developed between him and the board of directors, he retired as editor and took up bee keeping as a full-time profession. At an early age, Ed and his brother got involved in bee keeping. His mother was a school teacher. She was also an encouraging factor in Ed’s development.
The Dreamer
As a child, Edmund was shy and lonely. His father was a man of rigid principles, and any misbehavior on Ed’s part invited punishment. Ed was not irresponsible, but had a stubborn temperament and would refuse to admit errors at times, because he did not think he was to blame for them.
He was very selective about choosing friends and had very few of them. He loved to go on long walks. His mind drifted away from the facts, fantasizing himself as the adventurous hero. He never felt this would become a reality, yet he enjoyed it. His dreams motivated him.
Young Ed went to Auckland Grammar School, in a city, far away from where he lived. So he had to travel a lot. He made books his best friends while traveling. Full of adventure, they stimulated his thoughts that contributed to his success.
Auckland Grammar School was one of the highly regarded schools in New Zealand. He felt completely lost there. Caned many a time for not doing his homework, he had reasons to be dissatisfied.

The First Footsteps
The dreamer had his first date with a mountain when he was 16. In the winter of 1935, with some money he had saved he joined the school skiing party to Ruapehu – one of the largest New Zealand volcanoes. He saw snow for the first time then at midnight. It elated him. Fascinated by it, he played with friends, throwing snowballs at each other. And when at two in the morning, he went to sleep, he felt a strange exhilaration. For 10 days they skied and played on the lower slopes of the mountain. He returned home bubbling with enthusiasm for mountains and snow. It was his first real adventure. The strong desire for mountaineering was building up.
Edmund started off in high school, a couple of years younger to his classmates, he had no friends there. For a year or two life was difficult. But as he grew robust and physically competent, he gained confidence. Academically, Edmund was an average student, with no fixed objective or goal. All he wanted was to be involved in some adventurous activity. It took two years of his university life to convince his parents that he was not suited for an academic career. He was not dull, but academic books were not his cup of tea. Ultimately he joined his family business and became a bee keeper.
After a couple of years, he joined the Air Force. He was trained as a navigator and posted in the Pacific on search and rescue operation. This gave him an opportunity to see new places and do new things. He even found time to climb mountains and developed some skills, which proved useful in the later years.
After the war, he returned to the bees, but devoted every spare minute for the mountains. In the years that followed, he climbed many of the highest peaks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.
In 1950, when his father retired, the brothers took over the bee business. It was then that he made his first trip to Europe, and with two fellow New Zealanders climbed the Austrian and Swiss Alps. The year 1951 was a turning point in his life. He, along with three other New Zealanders, visited the Himalayas for the first time.
When 20 years old, he undertook his first long trip. With a friend, he visited the South Island of New Zealand. They had decided to stay at The Hermitage, a famous tourist resort, in the center of the giant peaks of the Southern Alps. It was a perfect day and the giant peaks seemed to tower over them. As he looked at them, a surge of excitement grew in him and he became restless for action. He started climbing the rocks and went on climbing till he reached the top. And with a sense of achievement he returned down. After two days, he returned home and along with him came a strange pull from the mountains. That was the beginning of his unending saga of adventure.
The Approach
By 1946, he had gained a lot of experience by climbing a lot of low and a few high peaks. But still he was ignorant about the technical skills of mountaineering. And then he met a guide in Harry Ayres, an outstanding climber. He took Ed under his wing and for three seasons they climbed the peaks together. He learnt a lot from Harry.
And then in 1950, with old friend George Lowe, plans to climb the Himalayas were made. For a few months after that, he climbed many peaks. And then he received a letter from George. It had exciting news. Another group in New Zealand had been making plans to climb the Himalayas. And they had invited George to join them and at George’s suggestion, they had even invited Ed. Preparations started, and enough finance was raised. The party then headed for the Himalayas.
After the war, Edmund had spent much time preparing for the Everest. He climbed the Southern Alps in summer and winter, to practise both rock climbing and ice pick work. His role model was Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Ed was impressed by Shackleton’s strength, leadership qualities and his discretion power in times of crisis. He aspired to become like him. He and three other mountaineers left New Zealand for India, and on reaching India, they straightaway went for few expeditions on the relatively smaller Himalayan peaks. They also climbed over some peaks close to Tibetian border. All this time in India, he was sharpening his saw, getting ready for the real show at Mt. Everest
The Adventurer
In 1951, when he was at Ranikhet, India, Hillary received an invitation to join British explorer Eric Shipton’s reconnaissance party to Everest.
They were on their way to Mount Everest – the highest peak in the world. On this trip he climbed 11 different peaks of over 20,000 feet. By this time he was ready to conquer the world’s highest peak.
The Failure
The 1951 expedition, however, failed. They started off well but could not make it to the top. Tired and forlorn they returned with all their dreams and hopes shattered. Meanwhile, the Swiss were granted permission to carry on an expedition to Everest. The news was an unexpected blow to their plans. But they did not lose hope. Irrespective of the Swiss attempt, they decided to go ahead. The Nepalese Government granted permission to the British expedition in 1953. The team spent no time and started preparations. They sent a reconnaissance expedition to the Himalayas in 1952.
The Swiss Expedition of 1952 failed. The Swiss party had been the ones, well equipped and well organized – and yet they had failed.
Man has always tried to be the king. Always wanted to win over nature. But Everest was still the virgin – untouched by any man dead or alive. Seven expeditions to conquer Everest had failed. In 1952, Edmund joined in the British Everest reconnaissance expeditions. These exploits brought him to the notice of Sir John Hunt, leader of an expedition to make the attack on Everest in 1953.
Everest Conquered
Defeat, however, is not failure so long as the will to try persists.
The era from 1920 to 1952 was that of disappointment for the mountaineers all round the globe. Seven expeditions to conquer Everest had failed. In 1953, Hillary, as member of the British Mount Everest Expedition, along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit. The leader of this expedition was a retired army officer John Hunt, who had served in India. An accomplished mountaineer, he had wide experience of the Himalayas.
The British Expedition knew very well that if they were to have any chance of success, their expedition would need a high degree of technical skills, the best modern equipment, greatly improvised oxygen set, and first-class organization. But most of all it would need its share of good luck.
And that they had.
Preparations began in right earnest for the big day. Clothing, boots, oxygen, equipment for climbing, food etc. were checked and rechecked. Even the minutest detail was not overlooked. They even underwent training as a preliminary to scale Everest. Learning from the experience of the previous expeditions, they left no stone unturned.
During the ascent, they faced many obstacles; avalanche, icefall being the foremost with ice tumbling down the slopes with great force. Everywhere danger lurked. After doing a wonderful job of laboring and bridge building for 13 days without a stop, they noticed that the slope was becoming less steep and the glacier more even. They had survived the icefall!
The night before the memorable attack, it appeared bleak. A hurricane was blowing and the temperature was –13° F. All day nature was at its furious best, attacking and trying to break the morale of the climbers.
But the unexpected happened. The force of winds lessened. Hillary and Tenzing cleared the snow, making path for themselves. It was hard work and they had to stop every few minutes to recover their breath. Towards the evening the winds blew in fierce gusts. They stopped for the night. The rest of the night they were awake and suffering from cold. The mercury plummeted to –17° F.
On May 29, Hillary peeped out of his tent at 4 am to find the air calm and the sky wonderfully clear. At 6:30, Hillary and Tenzing started their ascent. Fate favored them. The weather conditions were excellent. Nevertheless, there was a forceful breeze blowing. Both were tired. With time, they progressed.
And then it was all over. They had conquered the virgin peak. On top of the summit, Hillary and Tenzing shook hands and congratulated each other. Being a devout Buddhist, Tenzing dug a hole in the snow and buried chocolates for the Gods. Hillary took photographs.
But the descent was even more difficult for they were very tired, and their legs felt weak. But they did it. When the two reached the rocks, they looked into each other’s eyes. And they could see the agony and the ecstasy the other had felt on this severe journey.
Fate was with them. But it was not mere luck, which made the great mountain bow its head. The team was highly competent and experienced. They had the inner desire to win, the aspiration to be on the top.
News of their victory reached London just around the time of the Queen’s coronation and the whole of Britain was overwhelmed with joy.
When he returned to London with the expedition, the Queen knighted Hillary on July 16 and Tenzing was awarded the George Medal, Great Britain’s highest civilian award.
Who had actually reached the summit first ? This issue stirred a controversy at that time. Although Hillary and Tenzing were roped in together, it dragged for a while. To prevent this controversy going out of hand, expedition leader John Hunt, officially announced that the two men had reached the summit ‘almost together’.
Hillary and Tenzing later signed a statement that neither of them had reached the summit ahead of the other. Both were parts of a single body. Both had the same goal when they had started. Both followed the same path, faced the same trauma, and had put in equal efforts to succeed. They did succeed, together. And in that moment of glory they took equal pride in the achievement. For without each other they could not have made it to the top.
Hillary and Tenzing had done what was considered to be impossible. They were indeed on top of the world. This expedition tested man’s ability to survive at high altitudes with meager amount of oxygen.
Whirlpool of Adventure
In 1977, he led the first jet-boat expedition to the Ganges river. In the heart of Ganga he found all the action that he desired. But this expedition was not a mere adventurous assault, it was rather a spiritual journey of mind and soul, a cultural pilgrimage as well. He got a chance to go into the depths of Indian culture, see the real India, its people, and got to learn of the history and religion of India. And at the end he met his old desire – The Himalayas. He climbed its airy heights covered with snow, from where Ganga emerges.
The Leader
Some people are born leaders. They possess the natural ability to think and act quickly. While there are others, who work their way to the top, practice and experience makes them leaders. Edmund was one of them. His frequent expeditions made him perfect. He had strong individualistic qualities. As a leader, he did not order other people around because he did not like being ordered. He expected his groups to have good, strong ideas of their own and an inner motivation to succeed. After all, it was his strong motivation that made him reach the highest spot on earth.
His Family
Ed never felt particularly at ease with the opposite sex. But in the years that followed, he developed a strong attraction for a local Auckland girl called Louise Rose. Louise was a musician. Friendly, cheerful, and very energetic, she was younger to Ed. But the two had a lot in common. Also, she was the daughter of the president of The New Zealand Alpine Club. She loved the mountains, though she was not a forceful climber. A few years after they got acquainted, they married. She was a great support and never tried to persuade Ed against any project or expedition.
The first 33 years of his life, until he climbed Everest, were restless and lonely. But his marriage changed everything. His wife Louise was very understanding. She knew what Ed wanted and supported him thoroughly, even at the expense of staying alone with the kids for long periods. A self-sufficient lady, she kept herself busy in music, tennis, and friends. But when Ed was home, they lived a relaxed and pleasant family life.
They had three kids – Peter, Sarah and Belinda. Ed and Louise faced the usual teenage problems with their kids. But Louise was very patient and loving. Also, the kids exhibited a self-centered and disciplined behavior.
Peter was an individualist. He thoroughly disliked team games like cricket and football. He became an excellent skier and learned to fly. Although, Peter did not enjoy high school days like his father, he did well academically.
Sarah had a firm mind and lot many ideas. She was a good student with artistic ability. But at times, she was simply uncontrollable. As years passed, she improved greatly.
Belinda was friendly, cheerful, intelligent, and very co-operative.
The years from the time he climbed Everest till 1975, were very happy years for him. He had many adventures, was deeply involved in welfare programs of the Himalayan people and lived a happy and content family life. Then disaster struck in 1975, when his wife and a daughter died in a plane crash. Two people who meant the most in his life had gone.
It took him a couple of years to get over it. He carried on his work and the welfare activities. With time, his wound healed. Ed and his wife were friends with another couple Peter and Jane. When Peter too died in a plane crash, Jane and Ed, who had been friends for years, got married and now live a happy life.
Climbing Everest could have been the peak of his career, but he was not to stop there. He had a lifetime ahead of him. He continued going on mountaineering expeditions. In 1958, he led an expedition riding tractors across the Antarctica to the South Pole. In 1960, he set out on an expedition to find the Abominable Snowman; and in 1977, he led the first jet boat expedition up the Ganges river.
The Writer
His adventurous exploits were recounted in High Adventure (1955), The Crossing of Antarctica (1958), and No Latitude for Error (1961). His autobiography Nothing Venture, Nothing Win was published in 1975.
The Reformer
His travels in Nepal and friendship with Tenzing had given him a deep appreciation of Nepalese people and culture. But he could not overlook the difficulties, the social problems that the Nepalese faced. And he set on a task to improve the conditions of these people. Edmund deeply involved himself in working for the uplift of the Nepalese people and improve their standards of education and health. He set up the Himalayan Trust and in 1961, raised funds to build a school. Hillary’s fame helped him get funds and he spent a great time travelling the world from his New Zealand home, raising money for the trust and supervising the various projects undertaken by the funds he had raised. Also he helped the Nepalese build clinics, hospitals and more schools. Over the next four decades, he worked to raise funds and help set up over 30 schools, two hospitals and 12 medical clinics. He also raised funds to build two airstrips in Nepal, to make it easier to bring in supplies. And with this Nepal became more accessible to mountaineering parties and tourists. In 1985, Hillary was appointed by David Lange’s Labor government as High Commissioner to India and Nepal and served in that role for the next four years.
The Abominable Snowman
The conquest in a way proved the abominable snowman to be a myth. Yeti is a creature, said to live on Mount Everest, Makalu and other mountains of the Himalayan ranges. According to the local legend, the Yeti is a hairy beast with a large apelike body and a face that resembles a man. Legend says that the Yeti sometimes comes down from the mountains to attack villagers.
There is no direct evidence that the Yeti exists. Several explorers have sighted footprints of a large, unknown creature in the snow. In 1951, British explorer Eric Shipton took pictures of the ‘snowman’ tracks he found near Mt. Everest. Scientists of The World Book expedition say that the tracks may have been made by bears or other such animals. They found that the sun often caused such tracks to melt into large footprints
Epilogue
At 82, Sir Edmund is no longer an active mountaineer, but is still a fundraiser and works for education and health projects in Nepal. He has been honored around the world and is the only living New Zealander to be featured on a bank note. His wife Jane assists him in his efforts. His son Peter has followed in his footsteps, having climbed Everest twice, visited the North Pole with astronaut Neil Armstrong and climbed Mt. Vinson, Antarctica’s highest peak.
Hillary, from an ordinary bee keeper, went on to become one of the first men to reach the highest peak in the world. But he did not stop there. He had a lifetime to go. His feat motivated other climbers and Everest became more vulnerable in front of man.
The welfare activities in Nepal, which he had been carrying out for a number of years, had made him popular not only among the Nepalese but also in the eyes of the world community. His contribution to the uplift of the Nepalese and its culture is remarkable. He is indeed the ‘Living Legend’.
Many have climbed Everest after Hillary, but he will be forever remembered as the one on top of the world – a summit of success.