Edmund Hillary's Son: Dad Would Be Appalled

First man to scale Everest would be 'quite sad' at the crowding on the mountain this year
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2019 9:07 AM CDT
Edmund Hillary's Son: Dad Would Be Appalled
In this May 26, 2003 file photo, the 29,035-foot Mount Everest is seen from above Everest Base Camp, Nepal.   (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan, File)

Wednesday marked the 66th anniversary of the day Sir Edmund Hillary became the first man to stand atop Mount Everest, and Hillary's son says that the overcrowding and death seen this year on the mountain would leave his dad "horrified at the whole thing" and "quite sad." Peter Hillary tells the New York Daily News that "when all this guided climbing started … it was a bit of a shock to his system,” Hillary, 64, said. Edmund Hillary and his guide "had the mountain to themselves," but 2019 saw a rash of permits issued to people who in many cases hadn't trained sufficiently and were taking advantage of so-called "budget" guides.

The solution isn't shutting down Everest, says the younger Hillary, but Everest expert Alan Arnette says it "lies in governments having strict qualification on who can guide and climb and not simply accepting their money without question. You have to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but not to climb the world’s highest peak. Therein lies the problem." (More Mount Everest stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X