New Zealand's Edmund Hillary, who became the first to conquer Mount Qomolangma to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died. He was 88.

 

 

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Qomolangma, makes a speech during the 50th Anniversary celebration at Scott Base in Antarctica in this January 20, 2007 photo. Hillary, who along with Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first to conquer Mount Qomolangma, has died, Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Friday.

 

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived. But most of all he was a quintessential Kiwi," New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Friday in announcing Hillary's death.

 

Hillary took the first step onto the top of the world's highest peak along with Nepal's Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953. After the climb, he told his companions: "We knocked the bastard off."

 

After Qomolangma, Hillary led a number of expeditions to the South Pole and the Himalayas, and devoted his time to helping Nepal's Sherpa people who live in the shadow of Qomolangma.

 

 

Sir Edmund Hillary (R) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay smile during their first interview with Reuters special correspondent Peter Jackson after their legendary ascent of Mount Qomolangma (summit to right of Hillary's head) at camp in Thyangboche, Nepal in this June 6, 1953 file photo.

 

His Himalaya Trust raised about US$250,000 a year and he personally helped build schools, hospitals, bridges, pipelines and even an airfield.

 

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2008)