Dedicated to the explorer Edmund Hillary.
Edmund Hillary was born on July 20, 1919, in Auckland, New Zealand, and took up mountain climbing.
Although he rose to great heights climbing Mt. Everest, Edmund Hillary described himself as "a small
and rather lonely child." He was born Edmund Percival Hillary on July 20, 1919, in Auckland,
New Zealand, to Gertrude and Percival Hillary. He was a shy child and studious, often buried in books,
but by his late teens had grown to a gangly, towering 6'5". He discovered his love of climbing during a
high school trip to Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand's Southern Alps.