News Article

"I was sorry to learn late last night of the death of Sir Edmund Hillary at the age of 88. A colossus of a man both in his physical stature and the height of his acheivements, of which the ascent of Everest in 1953 was just the beginning. He was throughout his life remarkably grounded, modest of his own accomplishments and generous in his praise of others. For me his greatest legacy was his unstinting labours on behalf of the Nepalese people who he held in such high affection and who themselves loved him dearly. There will be a great deal of mourning in the lodges of the Khumbu valley today at the passing of this great man. I had the great honour of interviewing him at the Hay Literary Festival eight years ago and despite being awestruck by his presence and overwhelmed by the sheer physical stature of the man I still treasure the memory today. I can only guess at what he must have appeared like when he was in his prime. A man who raced Tenzing up foothills behind Pangboche on the approach to Everest in 1953 - a feat I doubt any European mountaineer of that time could have achieved. In the interview I managed to get him to admit for the first time in public that he was the first person to step on the summit of Everest, a fact that mountaineers had always known, but which he had with his consummate tact kept silent about until long after the death of Tenzing. Although, as he added, it meant nothing at all, since neither would have succeeded the other. He was a true mountaineer epitomised by reaching the summit, gazing towards Makalu, and immediately planning his next ascent. After the mayhem of the Everest expedition he returned to Nepal to 'get on with the real climbing' as Shipton had remarked. He was an inspirational figure who lived a long and full life whose greatest achievement perhaps was to teach us all how to behave.

The reason I heard of his death so quickly was because I was being phoned by the BBC and other press outlets for my comments. I felt that someone of the stature of Chris Bonington or Doug Scott should really make a comment on his passing so I declined the invitations. It was just a shame that they weren't available for BBC News 24, who ended up with Brian Blessed to present a frankly embarrassing eulogy. Fortunately they pulled him on the next broadcast."