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Edmund Hillary hospitalised
24/04/2007 07:27 - (SA)
Wellington - Mountaineering legend Sir Edmund Hillary, best known for the being one of the first two men to scale Mount Everest, is in a New Zealand hospital after a fall, media reported on Tuesday.
Hillary, 87, who climbed the world's tallest peak in 1953, is believed to have fallen during the weekend, the New Zealand Herald newspaper's website said.
It has not been disclosed where the fall occurred, but it was unlikely to have been during any outdoor pursuit. Hillary has been walking with the aid of a cane for several years.
The report said that he was admitted to Auckland Hospital, and that his condition was not life-threatening.
The famed climber's family and the hospital have declined comment. No further information was immediately available.
Last visit to Nepal?
Hillary had visited the Himalayas this month, when he and Elizabeth Hawley - unofficial chronicler of expeditions in the Himalayas for 40 years - met members of the 2007 "SuperSherpas Expedition" in Nepal's capital, Katmandu.
The SuperSherpas Expedition, led by residents of the US state of Utah, hopes to make an historic all-Sherpa attempt on the summit of Everest next month to bring attention to the Sherpa people, who have been a part of every successful attempt on Everest. Many feel their role is under-appreciated.
Hillary's climbing partner when they scaled the world's tallest peak was Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
Hillary met SuperSherpas team members including noted climbers Apa Sherpa and Lhakpa Sherpa, expedition manager Roger Kehr was quoted as saying by the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper in the United States.
"We were unbelievably surprised that Sir Edmund Hillary was there," Kehr said in the April 18 report. "We were honoured when he said that this may be his last trip to Nepal."
Sherpa aid
Since first reaching the 8 850-metre summit of Everest, Hillary has donated millions of dollars to the Sherpas for building schools, hospitals, clinics, roads, bridges.
He has also helped pay for restoring temples and improving water supplies in the impoverished country.
Earlier this year, he was guest of honour at the opening of new facilities at Scott Base in the Antarctic, after helping construct the original New Zealand base during a 1957 expedition.
Hillary also was the first man to drive a vehicle - an adapted farm tractor - across the frozen continent to South Pole.
He was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II for his Everest feat.
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