Editorial

Climber's death marks end of an era

Friday, January 11, 2008

It's the end of an era.

Some of us, upon hearing that Sir Edmund Hillary had died, were amazed that he was still alive.

Ranking with the likes of Charles Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong, Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, were the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953.

British surveyors had determined in the 19th century that Mount Everest, at 29,035 feet, was the highest point in the world.

Dozens of climbers and guides died attempting to reach the top, victims of storms, windchlls in the negative three-digit range, and oxygen starvation.

After responding "Because it's there!" to a question about the reason for his quest, one climber, George Leigh, died on the mountain in 1924, only to have his body found 75 years later, 2,000 feet shy of the summit.

Hillary's was a massive effort, involving a dozen climbers, 350 porters, 35 Sherpa guides and 18 tons of food and equipment.

After another portion of the team gave up only 315 feet from the top, Hillary and Norgay first "camped out" overnight at 27,900 feet on a tiny, tilted rock ledge that now bears Hillary's name, then reached the peak the next day.

The news electrified the world, adding excitement to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II a few days later.

Today, the peak of Mount Everest is an exclusive tourist destination, open to anyone who's in decent physical condition and who has $65,000 or more to spare.

Still, more than 200 have died on Everest, with the odds one-in-six that you will die before making it back down. Today's climbers pass scattered equipment and frozen bodies along the route.

We've gone to the moon, descended to the extreme depths of the oceans and both poles were reached long ago.

Still, humankind is still finding ways ways to challenge itself. One of Hillary's spiritual heirs was Steve Fossett, who sometimes visited ballooning friends in Southwest Nebraska, and who apparently died this year while preparing for his next great adventure, an assault on the land speed record.

Yes, the daring have to go to greater lengths to find frontiers yet unconquered, and a few will lose their lives doing so. Their exploits may seem foolish to the timid among us, but we'll all be poorer if they stop trying.

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