Even though he became the first person to get to the top of Mt. Everest, Edmund Hillary started out in his homeland of New Zealand as a beekeeper. By age 20, however, he had scaled his first mountain peak in the New Zealand Alps and was completely hooked on climbing.

In March of 1953, Hillary, along with a well-equipped British expedition set out to climb Mt. Everest. Hillary's group climbed along the Nepalese, or southern side of the mountain. Hillary and his group set up Base Camp at 17,500 feet, Camp 1 at 19,500 ft, Camp 2 at 21,000 ft, Camp 3 at at 23,500 ft., and Camp 4 at 26,300 feet. (Pop up window text: Camp 4 is also known as "The Death Zone" because of the lack of oxygen. Climbers can only spend a few days at this altitude, then must retreat back down the mountain to give their bodies a rest and take in more oxygen.)

On May 29, 1953, Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to successfully reach the summit of Mt Everest. Climbers who take the southern route to Everest still follow what is called Hillary's trail.

For his historic achievement, Edmund Hillary was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, on July 16, 1953. Sir Edmund has made several trips back to Mount Everest and its region, where he has helped to build schools and hospitals for the Sherpa.

Today, Sir Hillary lives in New Zealand and speaks around the world about his accomplishments. He has also written several books about his many expeditions. Hillary reached the South Pole by tractor on January 4, 1958 and wrote about it in No Latitude for Error. He also was a part of the team who climbed Mount Herschel in Antarctica in 1967 for the first time. His autobiography Nothing Venture, Nothing Win was published in 1975. More recently he has become an outspoken advocate against a proposed hotel at the site of Base Camp on Mount Everest.