"The Whole World Spread Below Him"

Sir Edmund Hillary passed away Friday in Auckland, New Zealand.

A year before Roger Bannister stepped on the Iffley Road track and made history by completing four circuits of that oval in slightly less than four minutes, Hillary and his sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay reached the top of the world's tallest mountain.

On May 29, 1953, the two became the first men to climb Mt. Everest. For degree of difficulty, I think the original Everest expedition surpasses the original four-minute mile. These days, assisted by better technical equipment, pre-set climbing lines, and the assistance of paid teams, successful Everest ascents are considerably easier than successful four-minute mile attempts! On the other hand, few people have died attempting a four-minute mile (although they might have felt like they were dying in the last 100 meters). Nearly 200 people have died attempting Everest.

Tributes for Everest 'colossus'

NY Times Obituary

More Everest trivia:

The first woman to climb Mount Everest was Junko Tabei (1975)

Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen (1978)

Yuichiro Miura at age 70 is the oldest person ever to reach the summit (2003).

Temba Tsheri at age 15 is the youngest (2001).

Erik Weihenmayer is the first blind climber to conquer Mount Everest (2001).