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SIR EDMUND HILLARY
Sir Edmund Hillary, shown above with fellow Everest conquerer Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, has died at 88. Weird political footnote: Hillary Clinton claimed to have been named after the famous mountaineer, which was odd, since he was an unknown New Zealand beekeeper at the time of Hillary’s birth.
UPDATE. From Time:
The descent was as arduous as the climb. Their path had been erased by strong winds, so they repacked every step. Finally, after more than four exhausting hours, they saw fellow team member George Lowe who had climbed up to meet them. Lowe asked Hillary how the attempt had gone.
“Well,” replied the unassuming conquerer. “We knocked the bastard off.”
I went trekking in Nepal back in the ‘70s. I asked our Sherpa guide who had made it to the top first. He said Tensing was first, and he had half-carried Edmund on the final pitch to the top. Sir Edmond was well-liked by the Sherpas. He did a lot for their communities, building schools and medical centers. From what I know, Sir Hillary was a good guy, respected by his peers. We should all be so lucky.
Posted by Mystery Meat on 2008 01 10 at 09:32 PM • permalinkHe took The Sound Of Music very seriously.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 01 10 at 09:45 PM • permalinkRIP, Sir Hillary. Another good man has passed on.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 10 at 10:06 PM • permalinkIt’s less well-known that Hillary was the first after Amundsen and Scott to reach the South Pole overland. It’s a great story, since he was not supposed to go all the way to the Pole; his job was to set up fuel depots for the “proper” Trans-Antarctic expedition led by Fuchs.
However, Hillary’s team made much better headway than Fuchs’, even though Hillary’s had poorer equipment and was only driving converted farm tractors. Fuchs was livid when Hillary, contrary to instructions, carried on to the Pole after completing the fuel drop-off.
What a shame, another legend leaves us….
Godspeed Sir Edmund
Posted by Old Tanker on 2008 01 10 at 10:25 PM • permalinkFunny, that’s nearly the same claim made by my neighbor, old Norgay Harris…
But seriously, folks…
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are -
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
- Alfred, Lord TennysonWho knew that Sir Edmund’s real name was Ice Queen?
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 01 10 at 10:34 PM • permalinkIt’s an odd but telling commentary about the changing relationship between the Antipodes and the ‘mother country’, when the news of Hillary’s ascent of Everest became known it coincided with the Queen’s coronation. The picture of him on top of the summit shows, I think, him holding a Union flag. It was celebrated along with the coronation as a great “British” event. I didn’t even know he was a Kiwi until I was in my twenties.
That would never happen today, anyway RIP Sir Edmund, one of the old breed.
Posted by Harry Flashman on 2008 01 10 at 10:40 PM • permalinkMore on the great man’s bee-keeping:
New Zealand apiarists also mourned the loss of Sir Edmund, who they said was the country’s most famous beekeeper.
“Beekeepers have always been proud to count Sir Edmund Hillary as one of their own,” said the chair of New Zealand’s Federated Farmers Bees, John Hartnell.
“Sir Edmund Hillary began life following in his father’s footsteps as a beekeeper and funded his early climbing expeditions from his living collecting honey.”
No 2 I’ve heard that story before but I thought it had been dismissed as a bit of mischievous story making by the sherpas who understandably wanted to take maximmum pride in Tenzing’s achievement.
I understood that Tenzing had admitted later in public that Hillary was first to the top but like Hillary he didn’t think the issue was important.
Incidentally, the picture on the summit is of Tenzing. Hillary was carrying the only camera, and Tenzing did not know how to operate it, so there are no photographs of Hillary on the summit. A bit like Neil Armstrong on the moon - all the photographs are of Aldrin, because Armstrong had the only film camera, bolted to his chest.
Tenzing did write in his autobiography that Hillary happened to be taking the lead when they reached the summit. This was of no great import to either climber, but assumed overblown political importance in India and Nepal later on.
Tenzing, however, did take offence when, in his account of the climb, Hillary implied that Tenzing couldn’t have climbed the last Step (now known as the Hillary step) on the ridge without assistance. Tenzing always disputed that.
27, zscore: Tenzing didn’t know how to operate the camera? This sounds utterly impossible.
I mean, Hillary could’ve set the camera and Tenzing could’ve just pushed the button.
Also, if he could learn operating everything else, why not the camera?
My suspicion is that Hillary never got to the top; maybe he got distracted halfway up by some woolly Sherpa sheep.Posted by Honkie Hammer on 2008 01 11 at 12:17 AM • permalink“We knocked the bastard off.”
The ICC will be none too pleased when they hear that language.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 01 11 at 12:18 AM • permalink#30 Tenzing didn’t know how to operate the camera? This sounds utterly impossible.
Another interesting aside of this ascent was that all the photos that existed of the mountaineers on the top showed only Tenzing. When asked why there were no photos featuring Hillary, Sir Edmund replied, “Tenzing did not know how to operate the camera and the top of Everest was no place to start teaching him how to use it”. Hillary and Tenzing remained on friendly terms throughout their lives.
OT:
Hillary isn’t the only adventurous hero in arctic attire to make the news today. This one is enthusiastically backing 20 Gaia-raping Airbus A319 flights to the melting slosh that is an enwarmened Antarctica.
“Sir Edmund, though, was actually worthy of this old honour (and honorific) and was surely history’s greatest New Zealander.”
As #18 points out, Sir Ernest Rutherford probably deserves those laurels, for his discovery of the structure of the atom.
The Kiwi I admire most, though, would be Frank Worsley, the captain of Shackleton’s Endurance. His navigating of the 14-foot whaleboat James Caird from Elephant Island to South Georgia, across the Drake Passage, is perhaps the greatest feat of seamanship I’ve ever read about. That was matched only by the crossing he, Shackleton, and Tom Crean made through the then-unexplored mountains of South Georgia - equipped with nothing more than a few feet of rope and a carpenter’s adze. They did it because they had to: Shackleton’s marooned men were counting on them. Beyond amazing. They were men: we shall not look upon their like again.
Posted by Urbs in Horto on 2008 01 11 at 01:01 AM • permalinkBTW, Sir Ed got all hot and bothered before he turned cold.
#9 - Sir Vivian Fuchs was not only livid with Hilary, he wasn’t overly impressed with some of the headlines in the NZ Press at the time - the first one was “Scientist Fuchs off to the Antarctic”, and on a following expedition it was “Scientist Fuchs off to the Antarctic again.”
Urban legend has it that a naughty sub-editor replaced the “h” with a “k” and some editions were printed before the presses were huriedly stopped. Unfortunately none of these copies appear to exist.
Posted by Whale Spinor on 2008 01 11 at 01:28 AM • permalinkSays it all, really.
Alas, C.L., too true. Too true!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 11 at 01:31 AM • permalinkIt was said on ABC radio this afternoon that Hillary was the most famous New Zealander (hard to dispute that one) and was more famous than any Australian.
More I think about that one it’s a valid claim. Bradman? Only known in the cricket world. Kingsford Smith? Everest still presents a challenge, flying the Pacific doesn’t. Florey? Should be lauded as one of the greatest men in history but like Rutherford (#38), not an adverturer. Peter Garrett? Oops, here comes lunch.
#44 - He’s not a patch on that Russell Crowe.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 01 11 at 01:39 AM • permalinkI note the ABC has made no mention of carbon offsets for this intrepid flight- the news item last night blithely gasped that all flights will be purely to transport scientists and support personnel, then in the same sentence announced that the alopecic epileptic was to be on the flight along with some enivoroment reporter for the ABC. Odd that such a potentially damaging expedition is just peachy when it suits their agenda.
BTW, rather than whining about global warming, why wasn’t Sir Ed campaigning against contiental drift- after all, this phenomena had made Everest rise from when he climbed it, making his effort futile.
Actually seeing the photo in the post and recalling a remarkably similar image makes be a bit suss that the crafty old Kiwi actually climbed to the top at all- he’s been dining out on this for near on fifty years, the cunning sod.
#50 - Fair go. They all hopped out, planted a tree each to do their carbon off-setting and returned to Hobart.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 01 11 at 02:12 AM • permalinkWhatever country you’re in, is there any living person you’d put on your country’s currency?
Nominations, please…
Posted by David Morgan on 2008 01 11 at 03:02 AM • permalinkRIP Sir Hillary God Speed.
As far as this knob head environment minister is concerned - how can anyone take Global Warming seriously when he F**ks off to the friggin Antarctic for the hell of it in a carbon emitting metal cylinder.
Maybe he should take his plastic bags and fake furs and shove them up his arse.
This man really pisses me off.
O/T or On Topic—not sure which - More Global Warming!
1.618’s photo of Hillary’s statue in NZ
Posted by Col. Milquetoast on 2008 01 11 at 05:15 AM • permalinkA great, great man. RIP Sir Edmund.
I met his son, Peter. I was working as a contract IT Consultant for one of the backer’s of an overland trek to the S. Pole.
In 1998-99 Eric Philips,(a really, really top bloke and great company even at 04:00 AM after the last bottle of port’s been drunk) skied to the South Pole with Jon Muir (no relation) and Peter Hillary.
The expedition of 1425 km and 84 days started from Ross Island and pioneered a new route up the Shackleton Glacier.
However the expedition, plagued by team difficulties, did not realise it’s major objective - to ski/kite to the pole and back - and the team was airlifted from the South Pole.
Apparently, the son was not as much a team player as the father.
Here’s a link to the Iridium Ice Trek expedition.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 11 at 06:08 AM • permalink#73 Supplemental: I know this because I was privy to a lot of video that never made the doco—Hillary fils really was nothing like Hillery pere.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 11 at 06:15 AM • permalink#71
As a matter of fact I have. In 1975. I was sweet 16 (well, maybe not so sweet). Pics.
TL: Black Rocks, Bay of Islands
TR: Sheep at Queenstown, very attractive coloured sheep, unusual when you’ve grown up familiar with only merinos
ML: Mountains at Queenstown
MR: Preparing to ride up the Shotover River Valley, Queenstown
BL: Looking down on the Shotover River
BR: Franz Joseph (or was it Fox?) GlacierQueensland National Party are conducting a survey to find out whether people want them to merge with the Liberal Party or start up a whole new party.
One suggestion: get rid of 95% of the current Liberal members, they’re absolutely useless, they can’t even win an election against the most useless mob in Australia (QLD ALP).
Unfortunately, with mountaineering or media-neering, there’s always another mountain or pile of shit to overcome.
#42 - That sounds a lot like the headline after the atomic spy Klaus Fuchs was released from prison in 1959 and went to East Germany - FREED FUCHS DUCKS BEHIND IRON CURTAIN.
Groucho Marx saw this and wrote to one of his brothers, ‘Is this the Arthur Freed we used to know at MGM?’
Posted by David Morgan on 2008 01 11 at 09:44 AM • permalink#75 - I’ve been to New Zealand 4 times, kae. Second time was a year before you, last time was November 2006.
Loved every minute of it, but it was the fourth time I’d seen Milford Sound NOT sunny, despite all the clear-blue-sky photos you see of it. But, hey, I like going out in 90 knot gales.
I remember a film on the ferry going across Lake Te Anau to the glowworm caves that said, with seisimic forces pushing up the Southern Alps, if it wasn’t for the constant erosion by wind and rain coming in from the Tasman Sea they’d by 60,000 feet high.
Posted by David Morgan on 2008 01 11 at 09:58 AM • permalink#85
I thought NZ was just beautiful, so green. The water came in two colours, emerald green or deep blue. Except, of course, for the 18 days out of the 21 we were there that the Long White Cloud dropped.
It was great, sitting in the back of the hire car with my brother, bickering all the way around NZ. Certainly went down well with the parents.#15 Harry, your point is a fair enough one and it does reflect mainstream opinion of the times.
However, it is also fair to point out that it was a British expedition. The fact that a New Zealander and a Sherpa were the successful summit pair (but only afer an earlier pair of British boys had failed) says something of the fair-minded attitude of the expedition leader, Col Hunt. That, and his rational calculation that they really were the pair with the greatest chance of success, of course!
As other readers have pointed out, the picture was of Tenzing Norgay (this and the famous image of Buzz Aldrin on the moon are the two great iconic images of human achievement of the 20th Century, IMO). He had four flags on his ice axe and, according to his autobiography, the UN flag was on top. This was not planned but was just the way that they happened to be attached - and in retrospect he was happy that it was, being a bit of a univeralist. The UN had a bit more credibility and a lot more hope still invested in it in those days!
TFK
PS: I am a great admirer of Sir Edmund Hillary, so was pretty disappointed to hear about the silly shit that Habib drew to our attention.
He was an old man by that stage, however, and probably easily mainpulated into supporting what could be painted as a vital and worthy cause. Given his character and the true greatness of the man, I’m going to cut him a bit of slack on that one.
TFK
#86
You should have seen my sister (then aged 6) in 1974. Those strawberries from a roadside fruit stand were a mistake. Four stops to wash the sick out of her clothes in icy cold mountain streams.Posted by David Morgan on 2008 01 11 at 10:27 AM • permalinkRe the still alive Hillary
“It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add,” said Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for the campaign.
AH…. Not actually true then…..
But it’s indicative of a wider truth.
Posted by ThinAndBritish on 2008 01 11 at 01:00 PM • permalink#92 Did the girl sheep have little dresses?
I imagine there was a fair bit of competition over who could attract the local lads.
Posted by ThinAndBritish on 2008 01 11 at 01:10 PM • permalink#55: Whatever country you’re in, is there any living person you’d put on your country’s currency?
I’ll have to think about that. Meanwhile, for those who haven’t see it, check out Lileks’ gallery of foreign currency. The captions range from amusing to hilarious.
#22, paco, reminds me of the Steven Wright line:
“Some people are afraid of heights. I have a problem with widths.”
Posted by Steve Skubinna on 2008 01 11 at 03:23 PM • permalinkMrs. Clinton’s story is true. She was named Bob for a long time, until the operation.
I thought the most famous Kiwi was Burt Munro.Why is that weird? With all the obscure beekeepers in the world, lots of us could claim to be named after one or another of them.
Posted by Rittenhouse on 2008 01 11 at 04:37 PM • permalinkThe thing to remember here is, an ordinary human being climbed to the top of the tallest mountain on earth, one that very nearly sticks up out of the atmosphere. His politics don’t matter, neither does his ethnicity, or nationality, or motivation. A human being was the first to make it to the top, just because he tried. It’s a lesson for all of us.
Rare snowfall in Baghdad blamed on . . . guess what?.
O/T
ok, paco asked for a cheap place to eat in chicago.. i need a classy place.. not over the top expensive. hopefully with a bit of entertainment (think jazz combo or such) with good steaks. i need to make both americans and internationals happy and need to be able to handle 25-30 people (they do not want a private dining area)
any ideas chicagoans?And the biggest challenge today is getting all the decades of garbage down from the base camps…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 01 11 at 09:00 PM • permalinkOr you might try the Prairie And Canyon Ordinary, where you get to pick your own meat on the hoof. Step out the back to the corral, choose a steer, and zap him yourself. Ideal for large parties. Enjoy the Mile-Long Bar, where drinks are half-off during Stampede Hour, and nude square dancing in the Bella Union Ballroom every Wednesday night. Unforgettable.
paco >ahem< the nude thingy wont do for them.. that is too much excitement. there is a reason we dont hold our annual scientific sessions in las vegas
after all they are there to “learn” )did i mention they are cardiologists?
now about that earlier link. i couldn’t find a website for that restaurant, but i will try and find out more although it may also be a bit too far out for them. they are just working stiffs who want a good meal and have fun at the same time
thanks, you are a dollvale sir edmund - brave, modest, cheerful, useful. he & tenzing norgay were a great pair.
#114 what a wanker that cantu is - i want to get a plane over there & slap him very hard indeed
ot - the freedom-loving czechs are at it again, helping to make life bearable for neighbours living under nanny fascism
The Czech border areas have become a haven for Bavarian smokers. A complete ban on smoking in Bavarian pubs and restaurants is sending many Germans across the border for a meal and a smoke in Czech eateries. Bavarian restaurant owners are grumbling that the toughest anti-smoking law in Germany is robbing them of clients while Czech pub and restaurant owners say their clientele has suddenly doubled. “Our prices are cheaper but they clearly come here to smoke,” one waitress told the daily Lidové noviny, “many of them ask at the door if they will be able to smoke here and they ask for an ashtray the minute they sit down.”#112 Scuzzi (Italian Mob atmosphere, beware of cigar bar if you are non smoker) (try the Lobster Risotto)
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 11 at 10:45 PM • permalink#98 Lileks is—along with your good self, Paco—one of the most side-splittingly hilarious (in a mordant, sardonic style) writers I have ever had to blame an actual side-split on.
I had to stop, take medication and lie down for nearly two hours before the pain stopped.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 11 at 10:59 PM • permalinkFrom the sublime of the mountains to the ridiculous of the pitch. At The other home of TB we can read TB quoting a reference to Peter Roebuck as a snob. I would call Peter Roebuck a knob, with knobs on.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 01 11 at 11:38 PM • permalink#123: Lileks has an amazing range of interests, and his web site is a genuine laugh factory. If you’ve only got time for one of his galleries, may I suggest this one?
I must admit that my favourite Lileks section was this one.
Posted by Toiling Mass on 2008 01 12 at 12:27 AM • permalinkRe #103 and #120, yojimbo and KC weren’t the only ones to spot the uncanny resemblance.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 12 at 12:30 AM • permalink#127 Brilliant. So much so that it prompted me to upload images to Photobucket of the “King of Cuts” as well as “The King of Cuts—Cut!”.
I can’t remember which thread it was (I recall something about “BBQ—What is BBQ and who does it Best”—just like Tim to provoke an arguement), sometime in July 2006, after I got back from California, I wanted to upload these to show what I firmly believe is the best cut of beef in the Known Worlds.
(Yeah, off-topic, I know—but I’m hungry)
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 12 at 12:31 AM • permalinkHas anybody listened to BBC NEWS 24 ?
The idiot (Chris) the news guy is talking about Sir Edmund Hilary and every person he has talked to who knew the great man. Be it fellow team members in Australia from the climb . A lady in Wales who knew him, Is asked the question if Hillary really did get to the top of Everest as there are no pictures of him there and it has caused great controversy ever since.
Yup nothing like the BBC to kick the image of a great hero down when he has died specially if he’s a white anglo saxon.#132 enter Germaine Greer in 5, 4, 3, 2….
Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 01 12 at 01:14 AM • permalinkThe standard of mountaineering these days is so disappointing. It’s all Win, Win, Win At Any Cost, and there’s no gentlemanly spirit of the game. Chivalry fell down a crevasse, the fair go ran out of oxygen in the death zone, and self-sacrifice was told to bugger off and jump over a cliff. It’s just not cricket.
(/sarc off)#114 Paco; Video of the place in action?
Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 12 at 05:34 AM • permalinkSince everyone’s asleep, here’s something to wake up by.
Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 12 at 06:50 AM • permalinkNot up yet? Just trying to keep the 24 hour TimBlair machine running.
Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 12 at 07:01 AM • permalink#145; Just in time. I was starting to reach for the Viking Death Metal.
Posted by dean martin on 2008 01 12 at 08:06 AM • permalink#105, Rittenhouse, I can go one better than that. Fully 25% of the world’s obscure beekeepers were named for me.
True fact. If I’m lyin’, I’m dyin’.
Posted by Steve Skubinna on 2008 01 12 at 12:44 PM • permalinkyojimbo, ain’t it amazing how many sick little brains there are? ;-P
Minor point: that other sick little brain is Ken Summers. But Mr. Bingley is jealous that Ken posted that first, so he may be counted as well!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 01 13 at 01:24 AM • permalink
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One of the things I admired about Sir Edmund was his disgust over the issue of whether he or Tenzing stepped onto the peak first. He saw it as a trivial detail compared to the team effort. Similar to the attitude of Neil Armstrong.