Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (July 20, 1919 - January 11, 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On May 29, 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt.

Before that expedition, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, both from the UK, made an attempt on June 8, 1924, on the summit via the north ridge route from which they never returned.

Hillary was born to Percival Augustus Hillary and Gertrude Hillary, née Clark, in Auckland, on July 20, 1919. He was initially smaller than his peers and very shy so he took refuge in his books and daydreams of a life filled with adventure. At the age of 16, his interest in climbing was sparked during a school trip to Mount Ruapehu. Though gangly at 6 ft 5 in (195cm) and uncoordinated, he found that he was physically strong and had greater endurance than many of his tramping companions. In 1939, he completed his first major climb, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier, near Mt. Cook in the Southern Alps.

Hillary was part of a British reconnaissance expedition to Everest in 1951 led by Eric Shipton before joining the successful British attempt of 1953.

1953 Everest Expedition
During a 1952 trip in the Alps, Hillary discovered that he and his friend George Lowe had been invited for the approved British 1953 attempt and immediately accepted. Hillary was intending to climb with Lowe but Hunt named two teams for the assault Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans; and Hillary and Tenzing. The Hunt expedition totalled over 400 people, including 362 porters, 20 Sherpa guides and 10,000 lbs of baggage, and like many such expeditions, was a team effort. Lowe supervised the preparation of the Lhotse Face, a huge and steep ice face, for climbing. Hillary forged a route through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.

Snow and wind held the pair of Hillary and Tenzing up at the South Col for two days. They set out on May 28 with a support trio of Lowe, Alfred Gregory and Ang Nyima. The two pitched a tent at 8,500 metres on May 28 while their support group returned down the mountain. The crucial move of the last part of the ascent was the 40-feet rock face later named the “Hillary Step”. Hillary saw a means to wedge his way up a crack in the face between the rock wall and the ice and Tenzing followed. From there the following effort was relatively simple. They reached Everest's 29,028 ft summit, the highest point on earth, at 1130 am.

News of the successful expedition reached Britain on the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Hillary and Hunt were knighted by the young queen.

Other achievements
Hillary climbed ten other peaks in the Himalayas on further visits in 1956, 1960-61 and 1963-65. He also reached the South Pole as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, for which he led the New Zealand section, on January 4, 1958. His party was the first to reach the Pole overland since Amundsen in 1911 and Scott in 1912, and the first ever to do so using motor vehicles. In 1977, he led a jetboat expedition, titled “Ocean to Sky”, from the mouth of the Ganges River to its source. In 1985 he accompanied Neil Armstrong in a small twin-engined ski plane over the Arctic Ocean and landed at the North Pole. He thus became the first man to stand at both poles and on the summit of Everest.

Public recognition
Edmund Hillary was given the honour of appearing on the New Zealand five-dollar note. Hillary was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on June 6, 1953; a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 1987; and a Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) on April 22, 1995. He was also awarded the Polar Medal for his part in the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Various streets, schools and organisations around New Zealand and abroad are named after him. To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest the Nepalese Government conferred honorary citizenship upon Hillary at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in Kathmandu. A 2.3-metre bronze statue of Sir Ed was installed outside The Hermitage hotel at Mt Cook village, New Zealand, in 2003.

Family life
Hillary married Louise Mary Rose on September 3, 1953, soon after the ascent of Everest. They had three children Peter, Sarah and Belinda. In 1975 while en route to join Hillary in the village of Phaphlu, where he was helping to build a hospital, Louise and Belinda were killed in a plane crash near Kathmandu airport shortly after take-off. Hillary later married June Mulgrew, the widow of his close friend Peter Mulgrew, on December 21, 1989. His son Peter Hillary has also become a climber, conquering Everest in 1990. In April 2003 Peter and Jamling Tenzing Norgay (son of Tenzing) climbed Everest as part of a 50th anniversary celebration.

Philanthropy
Following his ascent of Everest he devoted much of his life helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts many schools and hospitals were built in this remote region of the Himalayas. He was the Honorary President of the American Himalayan Foundation, a non-profit body that helps improve the ecology and living conditions in the Himalayas.

Death
Hillary died of heart failure at the Auckland City Hospital at the age of 88. New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, stated that his passing was a “profound loss to New Zealand”. His death was recognised by the lowering of flags to half-mast on all government and public buildings and at Scott Base in Antarctica. The local press emphasised Hillary's humble and congenial personality and his life of hard work. A state funeral was held on January 22, 2008.