I met Sir Edmund Hillary at a Texas Chapter of The Explorers Club dinner in Dallas about 20 years ago. I have a photo of me standing with him. What really made my day when I met him was that he said that he had heard of our Huautla caving project, and was following our explorations with interest through the articles we published in the journal of The Explorers Club.
Hillary spoke that night about his famed summiting of Mt. Everest in 1953. He said that he was happy to have the climb behind him because he figured he was in trouble with his family back in New Zealand. He'd been on the expedition longer than he said he would be, it was honey harvesting time, and here he was again climbing instead of working in the family business. When he and Tenzing Norgay got down to base camp Hillary reported on their success with the famous words, "Well, we bagged the bugger." By the time he got to Katmandu he'd been knighted by the new queen, young Queen Elizabeth, who was about his same age. He smiled and said that his life went a direction then that he never could have forseen. Bill ---- David Locklear <[email protected]> wrote: > I would like to propose a toast to Sir Edmund Hillary. > > My generation grew up thinking he was one of the most > well known mountain climbers, and I am sure there were > many people worldwide that thought highly of him. > > He loved the Himalayas, and it cost him the most important > things in life - his family. > > Sir Hillary was sort of lucky to be the 1st on Everest. The > guys that climbed the day before, had to give up just below > the now famous Hillary Step. It is likely, that had he had > a less experienced Sherpa, that he would not have made > it that day, and somebody else would have made it to the > top in the following days. > > From what little I know, Sir Hillary used his fame to better > the life of the Sherpas and the Himalayan children. > > Here is to you, Sir Hillary. > > David Locklear > > > P.S. Did he ever do any caving in New Zealand when he > was growing up? > > Here is some Hillary trivia? > > How long did it take him to get from England to Katmandu? > And what method of transportation did he use? > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
