Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man on top of Mount Everest, was Monday hailed as a national hero in the first of events marking the 50th anniversary of the achievement with nobody forgetting the man who made it possible– late Nepali Tenzing Norgay, AFP reported from Wellington.

Hillary and Norgay, part of John Hunt’s British expedition, reached the summit on May 29, 1953, the first to conquer the 8848 meters summit. “I like to think that I am a very ordinary New Zealander not terribly bright perhaps but determined and practical in what I do,” Hillary, now 83, told a gathering at parliament led by Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Hillary and his wife were driven to parliament’s front door in an open-top black sports car after a parade through parts of downtown Wellington. The pair arrived at Parliament Building behind a brass band and
accompanied by Indians, Sikhs, Nepalis and mountaineers wearing helmets and harnesses.

“For, after conquering Everest, Sir Edmund did not turn his back on Nepal. Rather he stayed engaged with and committed to its people for the past half-century, raising funds for and inspiring the works of the Himalayan Trust which he founded to bring new hope and services to the country’s Sherpas. “His practical work as a humanitarian and as an environmentalist has made a very significant difference to the lives of the Nepalis,” Clark said. nepalnews.com br April 1