LearnNBlog #16: A Lesson from Sir Edmund Hillary

29th May 2019 marked 66 years since the first successful summit of Mt. Everest. Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay's successful ascent (and return) was a trimuph of human spirit and collaboration. A Kiwi and an Indian of Nepalese origin had climbed the world's highest peak as part of a British expedition - making it a truly global venture. 

Mt. Everest has had a special fascination for me. This could be attributed to having read and re-read the autobiographies of Tenzing and Bachendri Pal multiple times. Tenzing's autobiography throws a fascinating insight in Hillary's character. When asked which of them reached the summit first, tenzing clearly says it was Hillary. Meanwhile Hillary always maintained that both of them climbed it together and there was no first. [Aside - In mountaineering, if you are tied to the same rope, you are together, neither is ahead or behind, so technically Hillary was correct]. 

Also, Hillary had brought a camera with him to record the summit. At the top, he took pictures of the world below and Tenzing's pictures but refused Tenzing's offer to have his own taken. Tenzing's pictures made it to the world press celebrating the first human ascent to Everest. There were other pictures taken on their return to base camp.

Tenzing on the summit of Mt. Everest

What a contrast to the modern selfie-addicted us (yous truly is also guilty of the same), for whom taking candid selfie at a location to be shared on social media is more important than taking in the actual sight of the location itself. Definitely, a lesson for the tourist us!

Also, there was a recent news item about deaths on Everest due to excessive climbers going at the same time. There was also a picture of the traffic jam on (ironically) Hillary's Step! We certainly need to take a step back and think if our insatiable appetite for adventure and thrill-seeking is taking a toll on this planet! Can we not destroy the Earth?

Previously on LearnNBlog: Perfect Numbers

Also about Everest, in this blog- Because It's There

LearnNBlog #14: Because It's There

“Because it’s there… Everest is the highest mountain in the world, and no man has reached its summit. Its existence is a challenge. The answer is instinctive, a part, i suppose, of man’s desire to conquer the universe.” - George Mallory

16th May, 2018. 

As part of the daily ritual, started the morning by flipping through The Times of India. Mostly filled with political stuff, which I ignored. Ended up reading an article on Everest “Trophy Hunters”. Basically people with more money than actual climbing experience, who are using Eeverest tour operators to pay their way through knocking off the achievement of having climbed Mt. Everest. It had quotes from Guy Cotter (he is also featured in the movie Everest), a New Zealand based adventure tour operator. And then comes the concluding paragraph in the print edition.

“They are not mountaineers. They are just people who want to claim the prize of climbing Mount Everest. They are hunting for that trophy,” said Tenzing Norgay, the first man to summit Everest together with Edmund Hillary in 1953. 

Now Tenzing Norgay passed away in 1986. So there was no way, he could have given this quote in 2018. And it could not have been an old quote either as Everest commercial climbing became a business only in the 90s! Unless, the reporter was time traveling or just using quote generators!

Now, we live in a world increasingly filled with “fake news” and propaganda. But why would anyone put in a fake quote? Turns out, the truth was a little less complicated. Times of India had run out of column inches and just ended the story at that point with minor edits! The actual article as per the News Agency AFP read:

"Nowadays people can go on the internet and buy the cheapest expedition onto the mountain. But there is no criteria for experience with some of these operators," said the owner of New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants. "They are not mountaineers. They are just people who want to claim the prize of climbing Mount Everest. They are hunting for that trophy." 

Tenzing Norgay, the first man to summit Everest together with New Zealander Edmund Hillary in 1953, only reached the top on his seventh attempt. 

Today amateur climbers expect to do it on their first try, prompting many to take higher risks blinded by "summit fever" and lulled into a false sense of security by the thousands who have succeeded before…. 

So who do we blame for this glaring editorial stupidity? Just goes to show how much Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V goes on in the journalistic world? How careless our news sources can be? Little knowledge is dangerous. And in the wrong hands, it can become downright perilous. 

P.S. And why this fascination with climbing Everest? I guess, as the legendary mountaineer George Mallory had said “Because it’s there”. 

P.P.S. And all this while I thought this was a quote by Sir Edmund Hillary. Well, we all learn something new everyday.

Further Links:

• Because It's there: The Quotable George Mallory (Clymb.com)
• Guy Cotter: (Adventure Consultants)
• Tenzing Norgay (Tenzing Norgay Adventures)
• Sir Edmund Hillary (Encyclopedia Britannica)
• George Mallory (Wikipedia)

Previusly on Learn N Blog: Few or A Few