Alhadra Digital

E. HILLARY

A GREAT PIONEER

A STEP INTO HISTORY

A GREAT PERSON

By Juan Avilés. 3ºESO-A

Edmund Hillary has died in Auckland (New Zealand). He was the first person to climb Everest along with his partner Tenzing Norgay from Nepal.

He was born in New Zealand on July 20th 1919 and reached* the top of Everest on May 29th 1953 at the age of 33. In 1951 he was told that two of his climbing team would be invited to Nepal for the Everest expedition. Intelligently, he realized* that the leader of the expedition, Eric Shipton would choose two people from different nationalities and his partner Lowe was also from New Zealand. He discreetly* changed partners and partnered up* with Tenzing. Tenzing was a Nepalese Sherpa. Sherpas live near Everest and they are used to living in the mountainside* so maybe, because of that he was chosen. Nowadays* many people climb Everest without oxygen but back then they wore far more clothing and looking at modern mountaineers’ equipment would have thought it belonged to a museum. Three days prior* to Hillary’s ascension another team tried to climb Everest but only Edmund and Tenzing did it. Why?Well, that’s because they had more reliable oxygen set, they started from a much higher camp and they faced better conditions. However the journey was difficult and they only could climb the mountain thanks to Hillary who had a technical mind and great insight* into the mountain and its terrain.

Sir E. Hillary & Tenzing Norgay

Hillary’s personality may have contributed to his success. He was selfless, paid attention to detail, confident* with a cussed* determination and was highly intelligent. Along with these qualities he may have had a small stroke* of luck. The only one “bad” thing was his distant friendship from Lowe because Lowe wasn’t chosen for the expedition. It is well reported*that he wasn’t a cynical manipulator at all, in fact* he was a very humble* person as he didn’t tell the media* or the villagers in Nepal that he was the first to reach the summit until Tenzing died. Most climbers proudly tell people who of the two within a team gets to the top first. For these great achievements he will be remembered forever as the pioneer of Everest.

THE LITTLE DICTIONARY

Reach: alcanzar

Realize: darse cuenta

Discreetly: inesperadamente

Partner up: emparejar, asociar

Mountainside: falda de una montaña

Nowadays: hoy en día

Prior: antes, previo

Insight: perspicacia, idea, entendimiento

Confident: seguro

Cussed: terco, cabezón

Stroke: racha

Friendship: amistad, relación de amistad

In fact: de hecho

Humble: humilde

Media: medios de comunicación

Summit: cima (de una montaña)

Achievement: proeza

Report: noticia, informar