Ed Hillary on Everest

The Christchurch Press printed this photo of Ed Hillary on its front page on 12 Jan. It was taken by Alfred Greg high on Everest, when Ed and Tenzing were going for the summit. I like it because it features Ed in dynamic mode. (click it to see a larger version) I hadn't come across this image before. I hope it gets made available in a better medium than newsprint sometime.

I was thinking today when it was that I first learned about Ed Hillary and Everest. For my tweIth birthday, a few months after my father died, I was given The Ascent of Everest. This was the book written by expedition leader Colonel John Hunt. I read it through and I can remember studying the photos intently trying to understand what it was like being there. I can't remember the text giving what I needed.

Here's another link to a particularly good obituary article from Time:  http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1702543,00.html  

Ed's funeral was today. The country will be back to its routine again tomorrow.

Comments

[pohanginapete]

I hadn't seen that photo either, Frank. Thanks for showing it to me. I have to say he's totally unrecognisable, of course — which is presumably why it's seldom been used. But it's a good photo nevertheless. Unless I'm mistaken, that's Makalu in the background — the fourth highest in the world, and something of a nemesis for Ed; worse for Pete Mulgrew, whose book "No Place For Men" documents his ordeal on that peak.

The Time obituary described him very well: "a strange mix of confidence and modesty; bravado and reticence". From my limited perspective, this seems a far more accurate assessment than the excesses we've been hearing from some quarters, as understandable as they might be.