RIP Sir Edmund Hillary

I don't. I celebrate Pocahontas Day.

 

Your synapses are an object of my awe and wonder.

 

Not really. I don't think the analogy fits, Ace.

You gotta get there SOMEHOW. And Hillary got there when nobody else could, including a team that attempted to summit right before Sir Edmund and Tenzing Norgay, but were forced to turn back 300 feet from the summit.

Something else that bears mentioning about Sir Edmund. He spent countless hours raising money for a Sherpa Trust to help build schools and infrastructure for the Sherpas of Nepal.

The man was a hero -- and envelope pusher -- in every sense of the word.

 

All right. I'll give it to him.

But I still think Columbus was lost.

 

Has the luster of Everest been lost with all of the successful attempts recently?

 

Sir Ed was one of God's true gentlemen.

 

By now I there probably are escalators that will get you three-quarters of the way up Everest. Hillary: Now THERE'S a climber.

 

Base camp is at 17,600 feet, so there are only 11,400 more to go. Not quite three-fourths, but close.

 

No...just because Armstrong was first on the moon, given there were missions up to Apollo 17, did that dilute what 11 did?

 

I'm no so sure Hillary did the deed.

Based on the black-and-white footage in that Himilayan Foundation PSA that seemingly run non-stop all of the sudden, it looks to me like the sand people from Star Wars took a detour on their Banta's and made the climb.

Kidding aside, RIP to the man who conquered the last major obstacle of our time not underwater.

 

My argument is thus:

A few years ago, Everest lost its luster to me because so many people have had successful attempts climbing it. It's becoming a trash heap up there from all the people going up it.

Plus, all of the modern technology is making it easier for people to climb. Even that blind Asian man got up there, which is an accomplishment in itself, but he wouldn't have been able to do it back in Hillary's time.

IMO, it's lost its luster as being unconquerable and thus, it has lost its mystique.

 

You're right. I have never been at Mount Everest.

But how many people have died trying to climb it and how many have successfully made it up and down?