Sixty years ago today, two men reached the summit of Mt Everest, the highest mountain in the world. They were the first people to do this and return alive. The men were New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay from Nepal. They were part of a British expedition to climb Mt Everest but only these two men climbed to the top.
The news reached England on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation June 2nd 1953. This was a double reason for excitement for British people that day. Britain was excited because the successful expedition was British. New Zealand was excited because Hillary was a New Zealander.
Hillary returned to New Zealand and became a hero to most New Zealanders. He was admired for his character and for the work he did with the people in Nepal. He raised a lot of money to build schools and hospitals for the people of Nepal.
Today, Hillary’s son Peter, and Norgay’s son Jamling, will attend a celebration in London. There will also be celebrations in Nepal.
A new book of George Lowe’s letters has just been published. He was a member of that expedition and a good friend of Hillary. He wrote very detailed letters describing their climbs. He died 2 months ago.
Note: Mt Everest is on the border between Nepal and Tibet. It is 8850m high.
To hear more about Sir Edmund Hillary and Mt Everest, listen to March 22nd 2013, August 13th 2011, and April 3rd 2008
Vocabulary
• reach – get to a place e.g. reach the summit; news reached England
• summit – top of a mountain, peak
• expedition – an organised group of people wanting to explore a new place
• admired – people had a high opinion of him and respected him
• detailed – including all the small things that happened
Note: When we use the name of the mountain, we shorten the word to “Mount” e.g. Mount Everest (not Mountain Everest).