Nepal Mountain Academy

20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008

Known for:

• Being the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest on 29 May 1953 along with Tenzing Norgay Sherpa
• Serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II
• Serving as New Zealand's High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal from 1985 to 1988.
• Founder of Himalayan Trust, a charity institution responsible for the development of schools, health centres, and airport in Khumbu, Nepal
• Being knighted by Queen of England for valiant works in mountaineering and recipient of several accolades
• Being the first person to reach all three poles of the world, the north, south and Everest
• Organizing an expedition in search of Yeti in 1956 in Everest

Notable climbs:

• Everest, 8848m
• 10 adjacent peaks in the Himalayas

Hillary died of a heart failure in Auckland City Hospital and received a state funeral in New Zealand. In his tribute, the Lukla Airport was renamed as Tenzing-Hillary Airport. A newly discovered mountain range in Pluto was named after him as Hillary Montes.

Picture Source: DW