Edmund hillary death
Edmund hillary mount everest
Who was the first person to climb mount everest and survived.
Sir Edmund Hillary
Best-known internationally as the first man to climb Mt. Everest in May 1953 with Tenzing Norgay, for the last 50 years he has devoted himself to environmental and humanitarian efforts that have made a profound difference to communities in Nepal where his famous summiting was achieved.
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 20 1919, his father a bee-keeper and mother a teacher, Hillary was educated at Auckland Grammar School and spent two years at Auckland University before joining his father in the honey production business.
During World War II he served as a navigator in the Pacific Theatre on RNZAF Catalina flying boats. His first contact with mountains came through a skiing trip at High School but his interests soon changed with ten years of weekends and holidays spent making a number of difficult first ascents in New Zealand's mountainous regions.
1951 was the beginning of Hillary's association with the Himalayas with four New Zealand climbers organising a