Sir Edmund Hillary
11 01 2008I thought long and hard, wrote a few draft posts and then decided there was just one thing to say following the death of Sir Edmund Hillary.
But first, as a boy I read John Hunt’s book The Ascent of Everest, and still remember the little sketch above the first page.
The page was headed, “Background” and showed two small figures, a tent and the waiting mountain.
Two or three pages further on, the tale started along the lines of:
“This is the story of how, on 29 May 1953, two men endowed with skill and stamina, inspired by unflinching resolve, reached the top of Everest and came back unscathed.”
It was an eye-opener for me, what I will say is that Sir Edmund Hillary was a heroic, iconic and gentlemanly role-model of a kind that modern children sorely lack.
.
The ascent was in the year I was born (giveaway!) and I grew up with the same book, (think I probably still have it somewhere)…they just don’t make that many self-effacing heroes like Hilary and Tensing any more…but perhaps, after all, they never did, and that’s what made them SO special…
I am so pleased you mentioned TWO men Stoney, everwhere else I have read about the Everest conquest in the past couple of days there has been virtually no mention of his climbing companion, Tensing Norgay GM.
Yes, what a pair of outstanding men they were folks!
However, isn’t it sad, but normal in the British way of doing things that while Hillary was knighted, all they could come up with for Norgay was the George Medal, a second level bravery award (With respect to all recipients of the GM). No knighthood, oh no, “that is not possible”.
But then both of these hero’s were of a different mould to those who make such decisions. Rest easy, Sir Edmund and Tensing, you certainly made the world sit up in awe when you “stood on top of it”.
I should have mentioned that I was 9 years old when they topped that mighty mountain. What a ripple went around the world at their success! I have always remembered that moment when the news was received. No TV then, it was by radio we heard the news; then on the Newsreel at the local picture theatre not long after the event.
The fact that actually, Hillary did make it to the top first, but never said until later, that he went back and loved the Sherpas with all his soul, that he survived such losses in his life and carried on, that he lived to the outsides of his existance, that he climbed a mountain and didn’t give up when it was hard, that’s what children need to learn.
On the other hand, I’m sure there’ll be an Everest climbing game for the idiot box in the corner at some point, that is just like the real thing……..
And….Hillary kept bees, which is always a mark of a good person, to me.
It’s not an easy task, and takes a lot of commitment.
Probably good prep for Everest.
(admittedly, I’m a bit biased about the bee thing….)
We kept bees, too, but the weather caught them out. We had a very mild winter two years back, so the bees started to fly in late February/early March. Then temperatures plummeted to below -10C and we had heavy snow. The bees froze as they were no longer in their winter ball. Sadly, we haven’t been able to replace them yet as they really bring a croft or smallholding to life with all their activity.
I might have known Stoney!
We too used to keep a couple of colonies, but sadly (a) one of our neighbours grew unsympathetic and (b) my other half developed an increasingly life-threatening sensitivity to stings…
I do miss them…amazing how one does…
I’m very allergic to bee stings, but I still kept them. They’re just too wonderful and too useful not to have on a croft or smallholding. I keep hoping for a wild swarm or enough money to buy a couple of nucleuses.
Like Ausie J, I remember hearing the news on the old steam radio, then going with my Mum & Aunty to see it on the newsreel. I was about 13.
There was always a lot of emphasis on the role of the Sherpas, especially Sherpa Tensing, and on the rest of the supportive group too.
Years later I was fortunate enough to meet, and ski with, the leader of that successful expedition, Sir John Hunt (later, Lord Hunt). We were leading a school ski expedition to Champery in Switzerland. He asked if he and his family might join our group for the week…. WOW !
He too was a very modest and extremely enthusiastic man. He added a touch of magic to an already ‘In my wildest dreams’ kind of a holiday for inner city schoolchildren on the sixties.
Happy memories!