Saturday, January 12, 2008 Libre: The mountains we conquer By Mel Libre Seriously Now
MOUNT Everest will forever stand tall among mountains and peaks in the world, and so will the person who first conquered it forever stand tall among men.
At 88, Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander who conquered Mt. Everest in 1953, died of heart attack on Jan. 11, 2008 in Auckland.
Those mourning for his demise are not only his countrymen but also leaders and ordinary persons aware of his accomplishments.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said: "Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was a heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity.”
Those three qualities–determination, humility and generosity–are repeatedly mentioned in many of the tributes given to the man referred to by the Nepalese people as “burra sahib” or “big man” for his 6 feet 2 inches frame.
While it was his feat in Mt Everest that brought him fame and recognition, Hillary, in his lifetime, pursued challenges from the Arctic to Antarctica and mountains in between.
Last year, though old and fragile, he took a plane to Antarctica to join others in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Scott Base, which started New Zealand’s exploration on the ice.
Hillary was the epitome of humility despite being a celebrity. He wrote about his feat:
"But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper, once the star pupil of the Tuakau District School, but no great shakes at Auckland Grammar (high school) and a no-hoper at university, first to the top of Everest. I just didn't believe it.”
He once was quoted as saying, "You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things---to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.”
On the 50th anniversary of his conquering Mt Everest, he admitted: “I like to think that I am a very ordinary New Zealander, not terribly bright perhaps but determined and practical in what I do.”
Not until 1986, when his companion Sherpa Tenzing Norgay died, did he officially state that he (Sir Ed) was the first one to reach the summit ending the long speculation on who made the historic step.
Among the first to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during her reign, Hillary described himself in his passport as “author-lecturer” obtaining invitations to speak before audiences in many parts of the world.
He used his celebrity status to touch the lives of the Nepalese people from whom he owed much of his iconic stature. He became a fixture in Nepal, returning more than 120 times to set up schools, hospitals, health clinics and airfields as well as pursue reforestation programs.
The Himalayan Trust he founded in 1962 raises about $250,000 a year to fund all the projects.
One of the most difficult things for an individual who has reached the top is keeping one's feet on the ground. That is what Sir Edmund Hillary achieved in his lifetime-–and that is what made him a truly extraordinary man.
For wasn’t it Sir Ed who declared: "It is not the mountains that we conquer, but ourselves."
