Sir Edmund Hillary's Sagarmatha

by Edmund Hillary

This large-format (230mm x 330mm) hardback book of superb colour photographs portrays the grandeur and beauty of Sagarmatha - Mount Everest - and Himalaya, compiled and written by world-famous mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. The images include close-ups of Sherpa life, aerial views of the Everest Massif, along with birds, butterflies and brilliant sunsets. An extraordinary variety of people with close connections to Everest were invited by Sir Edmund Hillary to contribute to this book. They were asked to give photographs that portray the spirit or capture a special moment in the Khumbu that was personally important to them. Conceived as a fundraising venture by Singapore-based publisher-photographer Hans Hofer, the project was orchestrated from Kathmandu by Lisa Choegyal, with help from Himalayan expert Elizabeth Hawley and editor Wendy Brewer Lama. Photographs were donated by many writers, mountaineers and photographers, including Chris Bonington, Arne Naess, Lord John Hunt, Peter Hillary, Kurt Diemberger, Norman G Dyhrenfurth, Bruce Chatwin, John Tyson, Hamish MacInnes, Michael Dillon, B Ned Kelly, Dieter and Mary Plage, and many others.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary KG ONZ KBE was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. From 1985 to 1988 he served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal.

Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school. He made his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II. Prior to the Everest expedition, Hillary had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951 as well as an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958. He subsequently reached the North Pole, making him the first person to reach both poles and summit Everest.

Following his ascent of Everest, Hillary devoted himself to assisting the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he established. His efforts are credited with the construction of many schools and hospitals in Nepal. Hillary had numerous honours conferred upon him, including the Order of the Garter in 1995. Upon his death in 2008, he was given a state funeral in New Zealand.

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Mount Everest (Chomolungma is the Tibetan name), and the name of this book of photography, which was produced in 1991 as a fund raiser for the Thyanboche Monastery in Khumbu, Nepal. It had recently be raised to the ground by an accidental fire, and was a terrible loss to the Sherpa people of the region.
Sir Ed Hillary was a key figure in this due to his ongoing (at the time) work with his Himalayan Trust in the Khumbu region building (and running) hospitals, schools and building water pipelines and bridges.
In simple terms, Hillary and the organisers wrote to a bunch of people who spent time in Khumbu and Nepal, and asked them for photographs which portray the spirit or capture a special moment that was personally important to them. These have been collected in this book.
The photography is excellent, and of a high quality, well reproduced.

5 stars for photography.