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First man to scale Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, dies
Sat, Jan 12, 2008 The Straits Times
WELLINGTON - SIR Edmund Hillary, the modest New Zealand beekeeper who won international fame as one of the world's great adventurers after becoming the first person to climb Mount Everest, died yesterday at age 88. Sir Edmund had a heart attack after a spell of bad health, Auckland Hospital said. The lanky, plain-speaking Kiwi made history on May 29, 1953, when he and Nepalese guide Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made it to the top of the world's tallest mountain, a feat that had defied mountaineers for decades. On the way back down, Sir Edmund lifted his mask and uttered what would become one of the most famous phrases in the annals of climbing: 'Well, we knocked the b****** off.'

'He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility and generosity,' she said.

A hero to millions for his derring-do, dry wit and dedication to others - he spent much of his life working to help the people of Nepal. He was the only living New Zealander ever to appear on his country's currency and was always modest about his achievement.

It was many years before Tenzing Norgay revealed that Sir Edmund had actually been first to reach the peak. They said at the time that they had reached the top together.

By the time Sir Edmund attempted his ascent of Everest, as part of an expedition led by British climber Sir John Hunt, seven previous expeditions to the top of the mountain had failed.

News of Sir Edmund and Tenzing Norgay's successful trek to the top of the 8,848m peak was announced on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on June 2, 1953.

She awarded the New Zealander a knighthood, which he greeted with characteristic self-effacement. 'I could see myself...in my tattered overalls and the seat out of my pants,' he said. 'And I thought, 'That's gone forever. I'll have to buy a new pair of overalls now'.'

His death has prompted an outpouring of sympathy from around the world as friends and colleagues remembered him as a dogged adventurer with a generous spirit.

Australia's acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Sir Edmund's name would forever 'be synonymous with adventure, with achievement, with dreaming and then making those dreams come true'.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose nation sponsored the 1953 expedition, said he 'was a truly great hero who captured the imagination of the world'.

Mr Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who last year became the world's oldest person to climb Mount Everest at 71 years old, said: 'The word 'respect' is not enough to express the feeling I have for him.'

In Nepal, where Sir Edmund had been granted honorary citizenship, the people mourned him and held prayer ceremonies.

He had been unwell for sometime but friends in New Zealand said his death still came as a shock.

In New Zealand, a state funeral is being planned, while flags were lowered to half mast nationwide.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS