![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
RIP Sir Edmund Hilary
Jan. 11th, 2008 06:29 amOne of my childhood heroes has died.
When I was about ten, my father let me read his copy of (leader of the successful expedition) Sir John Hunt's book "The Ascent Of Everest". It's a fantastic story, and... even though I'm very aware that Hilary's eventual success was as much due to such factors as the order in which Hunt sent his summit parties up, the weather and blind fate, it's still a tale of great courage and perseverance. It's also an echo of a time when Everest was still unclimbed, and wasn't, like it is now, a Last Great Adventure (in some cases literally) for anyone with enough money to persuade a professional team of guides to drag them to the summit.
When I was about ten, my father let me read his copy of (leader of the successful expedition) Sir John Hunt's book "The Ascent Of Everest". It's a fantastic story, and... even though I'm very aware that Hilary's eventual success was as much due to such factors as the order in which Hunt sent his summit parties up, the weather and blind fate, it's still a tale of great courage and perseverance. It's also an echo of a time when Everest was still unclimbed, and wasn't, like it is now, a Last Great Adventure (in some cases literally) for anyone with enough money to persuade a professional team of guides to drag them to the summit.