An Undiscovered Paradise

An Undiscovered Paradise

"You're mad!" the man behind the counter said, midway through taking a blanket out of a cupboard behind the old mahogany desk. Just below the cash register, the words "Walter's supplies" was engraved on the wood.

The supply shop had been opened in 1949, when interest in reaching Mt. Everest had become to increase. The name of the man behind the bar was George Walters. He was an experienced mountaineer who had suffered severe frostbite in the thirties, during a mountaineering expedition. The frostbite had claimed his leg but had done nothing to dampen Walters' love of climbing. He set up the shop at the foot of Mt. Everest so he could help those trying to conquer the tallest mountain in the world, he just didn't think this I had it in me.

"Please George! We're ready for this!" I replied . I was tall, almost 6 feet in stature. My beady eyes surveyed the shop and finally settled pleadingly on Walters. I was Edmund Hillary. I was part of an expedition to climb Everest.

"Fine!" sighed the elderly shop-owner, resignedly, giving me the blanket. "But you'd be crazy to think you'll get anywhere near the top without a Sherpa" he added defiantly. "It's on the house" he added, as I reached for my pocket to pay. "Think of it as a good luck charm."

I left the shop and gasped as the cold wind hit me like an icy fist. The temperature had dropped another couple of degrees. That wouldn't help the climb.

The next morning, we set off. We were led by John Hunt, a British explorer. At first, the going was easy, with only gentle slopes to deal with. All too soon, however, the going got much harder and after a few weeks, we had to use their oxygen tanks.

All along the first leg of the journey, I had been battling with my conscience. Could we honestly reach the summit of highest mountain on Earth? Could mere humans conquer 29,000 feet of rock, snow and ice? When I confided his doubts and worries in his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, I was relieved that the latter was an optimistic sort, with an "of-course-we-can" attitude.

After a few weeks, we got very close to the top of the mountain. Just before the final push was made, disaster struck. With 300 feet to go, one man's oxygen mask failed and we were unable to complete the ascent. Hunt sent me and Tenzing to go the final distance and complete the climb.

On the 26th of May in 1953, me and Tenzing Norgay made the final push to conquer the highest mountain in the world. We faced only a 12 metre ascent that was to become known as the "Hillary Step". Could we do it?

Me and Tenzing reached the top of Mount Everest, 8048 metres high, on the morning of the 29th of May, at 11:38am local time. We found ourselves