Last week Sir Edmund Hillary, who, teamed with Tenzing Norgay, first scaled Mt. Everest, died at the age of 88 in his home country of New Zealand.*
Hillary and Norgay reached the top of Everest after a brutal climb, and were later asked what they were thinking when they made the summit.
Sir Hillary talked about the majesty of the view. The grandeur of the moment. The breadth and the brilliance of the mountain. The satisfaction of reaching a goal that many people thought beyond human endurance.
Norgay said, “How to get down.”
Thank you for your accomplishments, gentlemen. May we all find relationships with the kind of balance that make such human endeavors possible.
*Hubby and I have read a lot of memoirs about mountain climbing, its one of Hubby’s favorite genres. If you’re looking for a great read, try John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster.
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I love the Hilary/Norgay anecdote (one I hadn’t heard before). The Krakauer book was absolutely gripping, powerful writing. I got vertigo just from reading it. I experience dizziness if I stand on my bloody toes, let alone imagining scaling a 29,000 foot peak that has killed scores of people over the years. Good post…
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