**apologies for putting this in the NASCAR section but since that's where most of my posts go, I figured it might be easier to find...hope no one minds**

Well, this could be interesting...an Australian writing about a New Zealander. I'm sure some people both sides of the Tasman would consider that to be bordering on sacrilege but since I am elligible for NZ citizenship (lived there long enough under the regulations) I suppose I am a reasonable candidate to write about this.

As people may know, Sir Edmund Hillary was most well known for being part of the first group to reach the top of Mount Everest. His climbing partner was Tenzing Nor####, or Sherpa Tenzing as he was referred to.

But that was 1953, so here's a bit of background on the Kiwi before then since that's who I'm writing about *laugh*

Born in Auckland (but most NZers don't hold that against him) in 1913, his love for mountaineering began with a field trip when he was in high school. By the time he was 20, he had completed his first 'major climb', getting to the top of Mount Oliver in the Southern Alps. In 1943 he joined the RNZAF as a navigator and was sent to Fiji and the Solomon Islands in 1945 but was sent back to New Zealand having been badly burned in a boating accident.

1951 saw his first try at conquering Everest when he was part of the British reconnaissance expedition that was led by Eric Shipton. Now, back then, Nepal only allowed one expedition to climb the mountain per year...and 1952 saw the closest anyone had come yet as the Swiss campaign came within 800 feet of reaching the summit. So the Brits tried again in 1953, this time going with a two-pronged effort (Bourdillon/Evans and Hillary/Tenzing). May 26 saw the Bourdillon/Evans pairing try to make the summit, only to have to turn back when the oxygen system on Evans failed.

This left Hillary and Tenzing as the remaining hope and the duo completed the accent on May 29 (some two months after they set up base camp). I guess you could say that both Edmund and Tenzing really were the first to be on top of the world. His first words to his friend, George Lowe, after returning from Everest were "Well George, we finally knocked the #### off."

May 29, 1953. Hillary took a photo of Tenzing placing the flag on the summit of Everest.

Since then, Hillary climbed several more peaks in the Himilayas, went to the South Pole, accompanied some bloke by the name of Neil Armstrong on a ski plane over the Arctic becoming the first person the reach both poles and the highest peak...not a bad effort considering that happened in 1985 making him over 60 years old at the time. January 2007 saw him head back to Antarctica, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Scott Base. He also was the number one in the book that listed New Zealands top 50 sportspeople of all time (which I think was released in 2006). Hillary also devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan trust which he founded.

That's pretty much all I will put in here...don't really think there's much else I can add if I'm honest (thank you, wikipedia). Tenzing passed away in 1986 by the way so the two people who reached the top of Everest first have now both gone someplace even higher.