Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, has died. Ad Astra, Sir Ed.
Less well known is that Hillary had ventured to Antarctica, too, the first time just a few years after his trek to the mountaintop. In fact, he died days after the fiftieth anniversary of his arrival at the South Pole. Decades later, he and Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, flew over the Arctic and landed (back when that was still possible). So Sir Ed was the first to set foot on both poles and the Everest summit.
What I like about Hillary is that he remained humble. Moreover, he helped the people of Nepal. Unlike the way these things usually happen, Tenzing Norgay, his partner on the Everest climb, became nearly as famous as Hillary; it's all too common that the white man is credited with the accomplishment (read also Matthew Henson, who was first to reach the North Pole). Only after Norgay wrote that Hillary was actually first atop Everest -- by about six feet -- did Hillary take the credit. They shared their fame. It's an example I hope other adventurers follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment