Sir Edmund Hillary Sets Sail

The photographs say it all, at least all that most of us can ever know. Out of all the people who have ever lived on this earth, Sir Edmund Hillary, who died this week, holds a unique spot at the top of the earth's highest mountain. He and Tenzing Norgay, Sherpa guide, conquered Mount Everest in 1953. Imagine climbing the world's highest peak without modern technology! Cotton and wool to warm you, one other human being to talk to, no outside connections - just your stamina, courage, and determination to push you onward against all odds. Most of us couldn't even walk uptown with those resources.

After the high point, Sir Edmund devoted his life to continued exploration, development,and charitable work, doing his New Zealand homeland proud. Before becoming one of the world's greatest adventurers, he had lived the contemplative life of a beekeeper. Humble and self-effacing, he parlayed his fame into far-reaching contributions to the Nepalese by establishing the Himalayan Trust foundation, protections for the sherpas and their families, making provisions for schools, hospitals and orphanages. My daughter visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, India, last year, and could feel the impact of Norgay and Hillary's work there. Additionally, Hillary is responsible for influencing tremendous environmental improvements. He helped commandeer the clean-up of Everest after it became littered with the refuse of careless modern adventurers.

Sir Edmund Hillary's first wife and a daughter died in a plane crash in Nepal in 1975. He leaves a wife June, and two children and six grandchildren who are involved in continuing his legacy. His son Peter and the son of Tenzing Norgay, Jamling, climbed Everest together in 2003 to honor their fathers.

Just last year, at the age of 87, Sir Edmund journeyed to Antarctica to revisit the continent he traversed in 1958. A photo of Sir Edmund sitting in the preserved hut of the explorer Robert Scott shows him, a massive man, 6'5", astoundingly strong in old age.

At various times over the years, I have imposed my Mt. Everest obsession on my family. It started in childhood when I would spend hours with my grandparents' copies of National Geographic. I felt drawn to the topography and the people from that part of the world, and in particular to the faces of men who had conquered or attempted to conquer one of the globe's most dangerous challenges. When the search for George Mallory's camera was going on in 1999, we followed the daily broadcasts from the mountain by Eric Simonson and his crew at www.mountainzone.com. I bought the expedition t-shirts and imagined awakening in others a beneficient consciousness of the mountain.

Now with Sir Edmund gone, a rare species of man may be gone forever. It can't happen again, that a man will stare at earth's highest mountain, where noone known has gone before, and tackle it victoriously. The mystery of why he did it can't be discerned for sure, but it's a kind of complexity, strength and greatness that show in a man's face and demeanor. I can see it in the photos. Can you?