Sir Edmund Hillary who had conquered Mount Everest for the first time along with Tenzing Norgay in 1953, has passed away at the age of 88.
According to reports by the Associated Press, Hillary died at Auckland Hospital at 9 am Friday, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark's office said. “Though ailing in his later years, he remained active, but no cause of death was immediately given,” the report adds.
“Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement — yet he was humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of climbing companion Tenzing Norgay.”
“But he was more proud of his decades-long campaign to set up schools and health clinics in Nepal, the homeland of Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953.”
Hillary's pace slowed in his final years. He made his last visit to the Himalayas in April 2007 when he and Elizabeth Hawley — unofficial chronicler of expeditions in the Himalayas for 40 years — met the 2007 SuperSherpas Expedition in Kathmandu.
"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," Prime Minister Clark said in announcing his death.
"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.
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