Do Go On - 21 - Sir Edmund Hillary

Episode Date: March 16, 2016

Jess takes us back to the 50s to learn about Sir Edmund Hillary - the first person to reach the top of Mt Everest (pretty big mountain). Learn about his childhood, his forgotten sidekick, and hear Matt do a very strange impression of Jess.Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] the show and get rewards like bonus episodes:www.patreon.com/DoGoOnPod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melbourne and Canada, we got exciting news for you. And we should also say this is 2026. Jess, what year is it? 2026. Thank God you're here. Right now, I'm in Melbourne doing my show with Serengy Amarna 630 each night at the Cooper's Inn Hotel, having so much fun. We'd love to see you there. Canada, we are visiting you in September this year.

If you've somehow missed the news, we are heading up Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto for shows. That's going to be so much fun. Tickets for all this stuff, I believe, are online. And I'm here too. Hello and welcome to Do Go on. My name is Dave Warnocky and I am joined across the table by Matt Stewart. Hello, Matt. Yes, hello.

He faked this out. He did a quick point to Jess and then he moved it around to me. Number one or two, I guess, number two. Number two. And number three is... Sucked in number three, you piece of shit. Jess Perkins, you are, in Matt's words, a piece of shit, hello. Oh, no.

No. Number three. Number three, the third to die. I'll be the last one living. Oh. Well, probably. You're two days older than I am, but women generally have a better life expectancy. Yeah.

A couple of years usually, right? Yeah, so. Sorry, Dave. How's your health? Jess, you're feeling good. Pretty good. I was actually just thinking before that what I might do later this afternoon is go cancel my gym membership. So, yeah, my health's tip-top.

Thank you. But you really... Canceling because you've already achieved perfection. You went I've clocked fitness What next? There's no maintenance on that Once you hit peak fitness

You're just there forever That is the shittest thing about fitness Isn't it? That you lose it so quickly How long have you been a member? Oh a few years actually Oh okay that's pretty good You've done the time

It's not like you've done your two free trials And you're like not for me No that's smart If you do your two free trials And you quit it Most people do your two free trials Somehow get signed up to a direct debit And it just rolls on

And you go, oh, shit, that money's coming out of my account. Yeah, it's it. The money comes out, and I can't remember the last time I was there. Oh, so I was going to say, how often are you going? Well, I, at various times I've been a frequent gym goer. But now that I, uh, now that comedy's bloody taken off. You're like, I've got a podcast. I don't need to look good.

They only hear me. That's the worst sentence of my life. I also do a radio show. They only hear me. Exactly. So you've been doing, you're going to spend that money on elocution lessons. Exactly. So you can learn to say kittens.

I believe is your weakness. I'm going to learn how to say S properly. What, learn to say what probably? S, S, S. It's fine, it's probably normal. Fine, thank you. Tricks. Anyway, so yeah, so my fitness is great.

Thank you. Great, I've never been to a gym, so. Really? Just think about that. That's surprising, because you're a pretty fit and flexible young man. Flexible, especially. Well, bendy Dave over here. I'm not that

He can lick his elbow. You can do that. That is true. Both elbows. One at a time. I can lick my forearm. Hello. Just.

Pretty good. I'll have to put this in the list of things to tweet out, but I'll tweet a photo of me licking my elbow. I thought it's funny when Dave told me that proudly. I'm like, yeah, good on you. Everyone can. And then you tried. Like, oh.

I just need another. I just lit. I just lit. You licked the side of your face. I licked the mic. I'm trying to lick the... You are so far off. Your tongue is going the wrong way.

Yeah, that's it. It's like you're looking into a mirror and you're confused. I'm confused puppy. I'm hyperflexible. I can put my hands flat on the ground. I can actually go beyond my feet. With straight legs. Straight legs.

I can touch my knees. That's pretty good. Thank you. Sitting down. Can you touch them now? It's funny. It's funny you should say I'm flexible. That's because three or, no, four,

new years ago I made the resolution to become more flexible because I felt that I was I couldn't get past my knees and now I can touch my toes because I before bed every night I just stretch my legs. I got to stop doing that. Just stretching. That inspired me at the time but I don't think I even did it once. You should do it. I'm going to do it every night like Dave.

It's so easy and also you wake up feeling less sort of crumbled. Oh that's good. I'm such a crumbed. I sleep pretty much in a ball. Yeah. So if you stretch before bed, I guarantee you're back. feel better. I'm really bad at being consistent with things though because I even printed out this. This is so low. There was a, I think it's called buns, guns, guns and abs. 30 day challenge.

Nice. Buns, guns and abs. Yep. Good. So you do pushups, squats and like leg lifts for your abs. And it's a 30 day challenge so it increases slightly day by day. And I was like, cool. And I printed it out and stuck it on my mirror. I was like, that'll, because I look at that a lot, my mirror. I was like, it'll inspire me to do it and I'll cross it off each day. How many days do you reckon I've crossed off? Three. One. I've done the first one.

How long ago was that? A few weeks ago. Oh dear. Is it still there on the mirror? Yeah. Do you feel guilty every time you look at it? Yeah. But I'm still going to cancel that gym membership.

Yeah, exactly. I can start it again. I think what you have to do is cancel the gym membership but then start doing the guns, buns. Yeah. And abs. And abs. And abs. And abs.

And abs. Yeah, you're right. Guns, Bonds and abs. It's pretty great. I couldn't find an un's rhyme for abs. And, Tums. Oh yeah, guns, buns, tums.

That's very good. Now, Jess, is this report that you're about to give us on a topic, anything to do with fitness? Well, yeah, I was going to say this does kind of tie in a little bit. Amazing, because Matt and I don't know what you're about to school us in, but we usually start with a question to get us into or onto the topic. What's it going to be? This week, who do you think is the greatest explorer in history? Oh, my God.

There's so many. Explorer being of... Explorer of land or of sea. Or of mind. Oh. Of the mind. Just spitball. Who are you thinking?

Well, I'm thinking the names, I don't know anything about any of these people really, but the names I think of it. James Cook, Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan. The guy, what's the guy? Christopher Columbus is the other one. They're three big ones. So you're going mostly ocean, aren't you?

Oh, what about... This is land in a very pointy high land. Oh, Everest. Oh, man, Everest. Is it... Um, is it the New Zealand guy? Yeah, what was his name? Why have I gone?

You'll know what it says I say. It's a tism lyric. Of course it's a fucking... In Never Going to be an old man river, he says, um, uh, someone had Everest in his veins. And it's the guy's name.

Uh, what is it? I don't know why I've gone blame. It's a guy's a guy's name and it's, this is a famous guy. It is. And I'm, I kind of want to... Hillary had Everest in his veins. Very good.

Edmund Hillary. And Hillary, very good, you got there. His sidekick who people always overlook. Was that Samson the donkey? What? You mean Simpson and his donkey? That's so disrespectful to the actual human. Do you mean Simpson and his donkey from Biggli?

Tensig Norgay? Tensig Norgay. Oh, I had a Sherper, yeah, of course. And they're the guys who probably do all the work. Do a lot of the work. I didn't know he had a sidekick. You thought he had a fucking donkey on Everest? I was getting a couple of stories confused there.

You were. Oh, this is. Samson with the hair. Simpson and his donkey and... Hillary on a mountain. Very different. It would have been a mountain goat, if anything. Yeah.

So we had a Sherper. Why isn't the Sherper famous? He wasn't his Sherper. He was a person also on the expedition. Right. So there was a two-man expedition. There was more than that. Much more than that.

Oh, I guess we're going to find this stuff about. We're going to find so much out. Shall I begin? I don't know anything about this. Well, see, like, it's interesting. I think I must have done it in primary school or something. So obviously I will cover the actual, like the expedition, you know, in a bit more detail. But what I found kind of interesting was just his life as well.

Like, he's actually been, he was a really interesting guy. So we'll have a bit of a bloody look. I never had thought of him as an explorer either. Yeah, I know. I thought of him as a climber, but that makes sense. He's exploring new ground. He's a bit of a tricky term. but if I said who's the best mountain climber, it might give it away.

Was he the first person to climb Everest or the first white person to climb Everest? First person. Right, cool. Well, yeah. Recorded person. Yeah, yeah, maybe they got to the top. Yeah, some guy is like, I'm not going to write this down or anything like 2,000 years ago. Made it just went for a jog up the mountain.

Yeah. Which I call... I think it would be pretty doubtful. The Dumpy's Hill is what I call it. And I'm Dumpy. Yeah, I'm Dumpy. That's why I call that. Because it's just no big deal.

I jog up with it every morning. Dumpies Hill. It's just my morning exercise. I wonder if there are big hills somewhere in the world, is what he used to say to his friends. You dreamed about heading around the world. Dumpy. Dumpy's Hill. So, Edmund Hillary, was born in New Zealand in 1919.

He's just to, yeah. It's the year of my grandfather's birth. Not that anyone needs to know that, but I... You chucked in there anyway. Geez, I hope Jess edits that out. Yeah, just really clean. I edit all of his sentences out. Dude.

Yeah, it's this podcast to... It's heavily edited. It's just you and I. I'm sure people would... No one knows I'm here. Yeah. Hello. I'm trapped in the studio.

Send help. I don't think Dave gets it. None of this is going. None of it's going out. His mic is off. Anyway, so he's born in New Zealand in 1919. His sister June was two. years older than him. He had a brother Rex who was one year younger. Great name that needs to come

back. So Rex was born in 1920 the same year as my, both are my grandfathers. Matt, does anyone need to know that? Please. No, no one needs to know. Stop making this podcast about your family. Now, their father whose name was Percival, another great name. It was a really strict hard parent who Edmund admits he was quite scared of. They sort of feared their dad. As you should. I think everyone should fear their dad. I think you should fear everything and everyone. I usually live your life in fear, personally. That's why I got this big tattoo that says fear. Who can you trust?

No one. Trust no one. Trust no one. I've got the no fear tattoo with those weird eyes. I got it done in the mid-90s. No regrets. I've got a, I've got Mambo with that dog lighting his fart. What does it?

What is the call? It's got a name that dog fart thing. Does it? I know it was Regmon Basser as the artist. Dog fart. Dog toot. Dog toot. That's great. I had a manbo pencil case with that dog fart on it.

Did you? I was pretty popular. God, you were a baller. Can I go on? Please. Normally there's someone else going to go on it. Can I please? What places to be?

So it's pretty tough childhood, I'm imagining. He was a pretty small, leady child. I imagine him much like a small Dave Warnockie. Oh, God. He was a very skinny child. He remembers being quite lonely at school, not having many friends. That I wasn't tying to you.

Thank you. Thank you. We're not quite a lot of friends, thank you. Yeah. Imaginary and otherwise. Yeah. That's funny. Something I thought was quite cute was that in an interview, his sister said,

one of their father's rules was that the children went to bed early and went straight to sleep. But Edmund was a big reader. He loved reading and he'd stay awake until like one or two in the morning reading. I love the idea of a dad saying, everyone go to bed and go to sleep straight away. He comes in in five minutes. If you're still awake, he's going to yell at you until you fall asleep. Yeah. Got to sleep.

Got to sleep. Are you asleep yet? Are you sleeping? How now? How about now? How about now? How about now? Are you sleeping?

I'm going to kill you. Dad, you're making me really tired with this tirade. What's that? You're talking? You're probably not talking in your sleep. How are you? Maybe that's where tirade comes from from the word tired. Dave's face was contorted and very scary in that tire exchange.

It is nice to see Dave fire up. He's only so composed. There's not much that will fire me up. One thing is kids, knock on to sleep straight away. When told. On command. On command.

And sleep. Right? Didn't work? Dave's children are little chickens. They're hypnotized. Yeah, he's used to them really going down. He just blocks out the sun and it's all he has to do, block out the sun. Lights out.

Away they go. So he would stay up late reading and when his father found out that he was staying awake, late reading, he was furious. But instead of stopping, Edmund just tied a piece of string around his toe that led to his sister's bed. Like she was in a separate room, but like I think they were sort of joined. And when she would hear or see their father coming, she'd pull on the string and he would like put his books away and pretend to be asleep. Okay.

So the dad's not noticing a big string. A long piece of string. He's fine with string. Just kids being awake. Not that. Not okay. He draws a line. That's got a short fuse but a long string.

That almost made sense. Now he was quite a small, weedy 11-year-old boy, and he struggled when he first attended the Auckland Grammar School. And he remembers a P.E. teacher sorting them into groups and him being sorted with the other misfits, as I referred to, which is nice. And this was the beginning, as he says, of his lifelong feeling of inferiority. Really? Really?

Really? He goes on to achieve. He always feels inferior. Dasfarked. There's a guys who achieve stuff in life, guys and girls. They're normally... people with daddy issues. We can achieve things.

Oh, yeah, okay, that makes sense. Did I say usually or anything like that made it sound like I know that that's a fact? I've just heard, anecdotally, that high achievers often have... Daddy issues. Daddy issues. Want to get the approval from their dad, so they really strive for great heights. Yeah. Literally sometimes.

Much like Edmund Hillary. No, no, I wasn't thinking of him. I was thinking of Buzz Aldrin. Buzz Aldrin, yep. He went even higher, Dave. I read a fucking book. Well, I would, but my dad keeps coming in and yelling at me every time I get one out. I don't know what your excuse is for another show.

I had a great relationship with my dad. Still do. And that's why I'm quite mediocre in all respects. So really, as a father yourself now, you need to just bring the pain. It's already being done. Good, good. Nothing ever. He brings things to me.

He's a baby. He'll bring some, like, a painting or something. I'd be like... Look what I did, Dad. Oh, this is the shittest thing I've ever seen. You know I like... Try again. You know I like sculpture.

Yeah. Get back out there. Jesus. I know you don't have the fine motor skills to sculpt things yet, but come on. You're a Stuart man. Yeah. By your age, Mozart had written like 30 symphony, so... I assume.

I don't know that for sure, but I assume that. I assume. What's your excuse, shithead? Yeah. Go fucking... I'm not looking at you again. So you've got at least 30 symphonies or equivalent in sculptors. No, I will not buy you building materials or a piano.

Yeah. I think the equivalent of 30 symphonies in sculptures is 45 sculptures. Yeah, easily. I think, yes, one symphony to 1.5 sculptures. Or four sculptors. Like if you're going to... If you can round them up. You're going to round them up, maybe teach them.

I mean, it depends. If they're pre-made sculptors, you probably need about 12. But if you're actually teaching people from scratch guys have never sculpted, then it'd be about four sculptors equals 30 symphonies. All right, young man, you got it? You got that? Do you write that down? Yeah.

Oh, no, you can't write yet. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Is that right? You can't write. Yeah, another thing you can't too. Go to bed. Now.

So your son would obviously be in this misfits group as well, of course. What do you mean by that? So at 11 he's this weedy little kid But by 15 Having worked on his father's honey farm They were beekeepers He now towers well over six foot Oh see Jess

That's what you should do You should work on a bee farm And then hope for a growth spurt And then you'll be big and strong I'm already big and strong And your buns will be Amazing apparently Oh Dave

I'm talking about Jess's buns You mean in reference to my lack of fitness Gotcha I thought you meant In terms of making my dad proud and I'll never do it Dave. Bums, guns and tums. So you're, I mean, there are some things, like, imagine if you just stick to that.

You get really fit buns, really fit tums, really fit guns. But then just like these weird, tiny forearms, like shriveled up calf muscles. You'd be a real misshapen freak. I won't. You've done well not to stick to that. I agree. So anyway, we're back on the bee farm. He's on the bee farm.

How tall is he? He's over six foot and he's only 15. So he grew even taller. And he just became really physically strong. Like he was a very strong person. How physically strong? Yeah, not mentally or emotionally. Still very weak emotionally.

Oh, big time. But physically quite strong, which, you know, I hold that above any other type of strength. Same. Me too. There you go. In his final year at school, he went on a school trip to a volcanic plateau in the center of the north. Island. And it was the first time he'd seen snow.

And this trip, like, they did a bit of skiing. They just sort of, like, did a little bit of climbing up little hills. Like, not big mountaineering climbs or anything like that. But they were just sort of mucking around. It was sort of the trip was the beginning of his passion for climbing. That's sort of how he even puts it. Funny that the first ever man to climb Mount Everest didn't see snow until he was like 17 or 18.

It's not like some guy that's growing up there. Wait, but you did say there was another guy. Was Hillary, oh, we'll get to that. But I'm wondering, was the second guy whose name I've already forgotten? Tenzing. Tenzing. Was he like the Buzz Aldrin? He stepped up second?

What do you mean? Like he... Like, was he the second guy off the rocket ship at the top of the mountain? Yeah, it was those two together. Together, they stepped there at the same time? Oh, well, there's a big debate about that. Oh, cool. Love it.

Yeah. Tenzing. That's a bit of sizzling later. I rarely write anything down, but I'm writing that down. T-N-Z-I-N-G, T-N-Z-I-N-G, Tensing. So four years later, he's finished school and both the Hillary boys, so his brother Rex, they're working on their father's honey farm when World War II breaks out. And originally, Edmund signed up for the Air Force.

However, the entire family had recently joined a fringe Christian faith called Radiant Living. Seems a little culty. But it's actually, I looked it up, their whole sort of idea is this, balance of like faith but also like physical fitness and health so it's all about like healthy eating and stuff as well it's kind of combining all of like the diet fads now with religion which I think is what what the diet fads are missing yeah I think that's also like combining all the things that people don't find annoying about people exactly hey what do you want to chat about oh please radiant living nothing with the hillaries don't talk to the hillary don't make small talk with

the hillaries now part of this radiant living was like it was a pacifist belief so they were against the war and Rex Hillary spent the war behind wire is the way it was noted it seems like some sort of incarceration as a conscientious objector so he was like I

because conscription was around then so he was going no I won't have a bar of it because I'm a conscientious objector so that's Rex Rex his brother and somehow their father argued to have Edmund exempt as well which is weird because then like Rex is in some sort of prison, but not really a prison.

But Edmund's fine. I couldn't really follow what happened there. But basically both boys were like, no, I'm not going to war. But that kind of troubled Edmund. He felt a bit ugh about it. It's the technical term being ugh. Yeah, it would be tricky knowing that other people were doing it. Yeah.

But also, man, like, I just don't want to be a part of that bullshit. Yeah, but he kind of did. And he was starting to lose faith in his religion. He was bored with his life. Like he was sort of feeling very like this is it, which he wasn't happy with. And he convinced his father to let him have time off from Radiant Living. And he did join the Air Force as a navigator. It's going to say, because a lot of people join the army at the time because of an adventure.

Because I feel like it's a purpose. Exactly. So he joins the Air Force. He's a navigator. Which is what my grandfather was in the Second World War, one born in 1919. Oh, there we go. Do you think? I'm related to Sir Edmund Hill.

He was just living a quiet country life when I met him. Really? You've never brought this up. It's amazing. Two in two weeks. You're the grandson of Walt Disney and the grandson of Edmund Hillary. Jess, who knows who your great-grandfather is? Who knows?

Well, actually, my great-great-uncle was James Scullin, who was a Prime Minister of Australia. That's an uncle. So that's completely irrelevant. Is that true? That is true. Hang on, have you not brought that up? That's pretty... Matt doesn't seem impressed.

I'm suitably impressed. Yeah. He's had like one term. It wasn't great. Depression didn't help. Yeah. It's hard to be popular and tough time. I remember very little about him though.

So please no follow up questions. I'm just impressed. I really am. Please do go on. Right. So he's a navigator in the Air Force and the routine search and rescue missions aren't exciting enough for him.

So with another airman, Ron Ward, he restored an old boat and between patrols, he goes hunting for crocodile. During an accident on the boat that they'd made, though, like something exploded. He got really severely burned and was sent home due to his injuries. So he's sent back to New Zealand. Makes sense why he was drawn towards the snow.

It's nice and cool. Can't get burnt in the snow, can you? You can't get frostbite and lose a limb though, so. How, like, properly burned, he was really injured? In future interviews, like, it's nothing all that visible, like, it's not all over his arms or face or anything like that. But apparently the injuries were quite bad. I think it's like upper arm. And over the next few years, when he wasn't beekeeping with his brother,

he was on the Southern Alps in New Zealand. So he was preparing to climb Mount Cook, which is the highest mountain in New Zealand, which is 3,724 meters. Pretty high. Just a little sizzle, though, because we know what he's going to do later. Everest is 8,848 meters. Wow.

Yeah, I had no. I was like, oh, it's 3,000 are good? It's pretty big. But it's not ever. What's Australia's highest one? Cosiosco. Do you know what that is? I'm not.

I was just thinking that myself. I bet it's 2000 or something. No. I reckon it'd be... Okay, do we say bigger or... Because New Zealand's famously got big mountains. Great ski resorts and Australia's got kind of shitty ones. But maybe that's...

I reckon... About 2,800 metres for Mount Cosiosco. I'm going to say 2650. Mount Cosiosco has a height of 2,000. 228 meters. Both overshot it. Proust is right. We'd both be out.

Wow. So we've got this pissy little... I've walked to the top of Kelsioski. You can just walk it. There's a trail. Really? You don't need to climb it. I've just walked up.

Yeah, right. So you did a quarter of an Everest. Oh. That's pretty good. You just do that four times and you... And I was like a teenager too. Imagine how good you'd be now? Well, imagine how good you would have been at your peak when you're actually visiting the gym.

Yeah. Four. Imagine how good you'll be when you have your guns, buns and tums. Yeah. They're the three key ingredients. Oh, yeah. I'm sure you're about to tell us about that. About my guns, buns and tons.

No, about how Edmund and Hillary worked out his guns, buns and tums every day for a couple of months before he went. No, he seemed to just be climbing all the time and just like, you know, shorter climbs, just doing sections. He reached the peak of Mount Cook on an expedition in 1947, so he did that. and he returns the following year to attempt the previously unclimed south ridge of Mount Cook. I don't know if he was successful there, but let's assume he was. So he's about 28 then? 47, yeah. Oh, 1947, yeah.

28. Which is quite old. What's he doing with his life? Just beekeeping and climbing. It's been in the Second World War. I know. I imagine that that took a couple of years of your life. Good call.

Yeah. How many World Wars have you been? Have you been to? Jess. I like the idea of going to a World War. I've been there. Been there done that. Tick. In 1951 he joined a New Zealand party to the Central Himalayas,

which the trip wasn't actually all that successful for him, because what sort of happened, this is entirely from memory from watching a documentary, they were in this group of, there was at least four of them, all New Zealanders, and one of his buddy, George, stops because his feet were so cold they didn't have adequate footwear so his feet were really cold so they stopped to like try and and sort that out and the other two kept

going and Edmund Hillary was like well they'll wait for us like they'll wait but they didn't they just kept going so Edmund and George have just set up a camp and the others like came back and like oh yeah we made it we made it to the top so we can all head back down now oh yeah and he felt really disappointed that he had made it and like angry at himself he wasn't really mad at the others he was angry he's pissed at george he was probably a little pissed at george but he didn't say that so but all it's done is like just pushed him forward in his mind he's just even more like set on succeeding and climbing he called his dad that night and said i made it i made it a fair bit of the way his dad said

not good enough means nothing why did you call me um to tell me what that you failed again the bees need you and you're not here. You're letting down the bees. You're not even making it to the top, mate. And plus, if my time zone calculations are correct, you are definitely past your bedtime. Go to sleep, go to sleep. Are you reading again?

Just yelling over the phone. So the following year in 1952, he was invited by climbing legend, Eric Shipton. You know, that legend. The great Shepton. To attempt Everest. Right now, traditionally, Everest had always been attempted

from the north, which was the Tibetan side. And the British had already tried and failed seven times to scale the mountain from that side. Classic British. All the year. Classic British. And the route to Everest was closed because China had taken over control of Tibet. And Nepal only allowed one expedition per year.

And a Swiss expedition had attempted to reach the summit in 1952, but turned back by bad weather and exhaustion, 800 feet or 240 meters from the summit. That's so annoying, isn't it? When they get so close. It's like a Birkenwe. we'll sing again. Like, you're so close.

240 metres. Oh, no, but they were tired. 240 metres. I imagine the top... We're tired and the weather was bad. Me. Oh, yeah, it was bad at the top of Mount Everest. You fucking losers.

Of course it's going to be bad. Put a second jacket on. Let me put a smile on you, Dahl and let's get this done. They obviously were getting them very well with their parents. Pieces of shit. Classic Swiss. Just quitters.

Put a smile on your dial and get it done. It's great. Hashtag it. Classic quitters. No, it's not worth a hashtag. Don't force it. You've been told. You've been told that.

Let it happen naturally. We'll get to a hashtag, okay? Just let it happen. Hashtag natural hashtag, okay? For example. Oh, yeah, that was nice. That was a nice experience. I know.

I'm very good at them. So, yeah, they're sort of restricted because they can't, that Nepal will only allow one exhibition a year and so they've already tried and they got so close and they didn't so during just a routine trip in the Alps Hillary discovered that he and his friend George George Lowe had been invited for the approved British 1953 attempt right so they're like okay well the Swiss have fucked it

the Brits are going to have a go and they're invited eighth time yeah but from a different angle this time because they've tried from the from the from the Tibetan side, which is the north side, which is apparently how it's always been traditionally attacked, now they're going to try from Nepal because they can't get in from Tibet because China's like, no, thank you. I feel a bit guilty about my little outbursts against the Swiss. Look, I just want to let the Swiss know that I have Swiss blood in me.

So true? Yeah, and I just, there was no hard feelings, a little bit, you know, I'm one of you. I can say that sort of stuff. Please, don't go all neutral on me. I know that's your way. Don't wage neutrality on me. Just keep on, keeping on Swiss, you dumb cunts. That was a sweet burn, B-E-R-N, which is the capital of Switzerland, everybody.

Thank you. Thank you. I stayed silent there thinking about that for a while there. High-fives have been dished out. I appreciate it. So he's been invited to be part of the British 1953 attempt, right? And he immediately accepts,

but he feels a lot of guilt about staying away from home even longer than planned and leaving his father and brother to attend to the bees. Like, he really did feel guilty about the bees. He's like, oh, God's sake. He's like, oh, you know, he's a lot of work for Dad and Rex. I mean, as far as bee keep, I mean, it's in the top of keeping bees. How hard could that be?

I don't know, I don't know. It must have at least three bees. So he feels like... One for each man. Edmund, your bees getting really pissed. Where are you? It's just flying around in circles. He's really bored.

He wants you to come play with him. He's got so much honey in its box or whatever. Big box of honey. Jess's face made me feel weird. So he sends a telegram to his brother and father, and I have the telegram. It says, oh, can I say stop where the full stops are? Presumably that's how it would have been. Oh, you got it.

Oh, yes! Just like on the sound of music. Yeah. So he says, Invited Shiptin Everest Expedition. Stop. Could not refuse. Stop.

Wait, can I stop you? You've got to do it in a more of a Sydney Shineberg kind of voice. Well, no, because he's a Kiwi too. Yeah, but that's how they just read him in the old days. I'm not doing a voice. Yeah, fuck you. I definitely would have. I always, I'm a dancing monkey for you.

I do bad English accents at the drop of the hat. Okay, all right. I'll do it, but I'll be the only. I guilted you into it. The only thing I can think to do is like a 1940s voice. Yeah, perfect. Well, that may almost make sense. It was 50s.

It's way off. I hate this. I just want to read the telegram. I'm going to stop you right there. That was more of a 1940s voice. Oh. So he said... We've done two 1950s episodes back to back.

Can I read the fucking telegram please? Thank you. He said, I can't do an accent as well, in the 40s voice. Either do a Kiwi voice or a 40's voice. Invited Shipton, Iverist Expedition. I say, stop, stop.

It's the same. Stip? Stop. Stop. O's is fine. Stop. Could not refuse. Stop.

Please forgive earring son. It's supposed to be erring. And should be forgave. Forgav. Forgive earring son. Oh, this is indesufferable. Maybe you should just. I'm so cute

Do we start that again? All I'm doing is disappointing you guys Okay, point was, I've done the dumb accent The point was he said, you can't refuse Please forgive me for being an erring son Sorry, soz, dad, but I've got to climb My heart wants to climb P.S. Say hi to my bee for me.

Buzz Oh, that's a great name for a bee. Thank you. I'm good at hashtags and naming pets. And naming bees. I've only got one name and it's buzz, but I'm very good at saying it when I need to. I'm Jess Perkins.

Hi. I'm at someone talking to Jess. I'm being Jess being someone else. Hi. I've got a pet bee. Can you name it for me, please? Yes, Jess, I can. Wait, no, I'm Jess now.

Fuck. Can anyone? else tell that I'm moving to either side of the microphone at the moment? Well, um, Jess's friend also named Jess, I would call your B, Buzz. Oh, you're so good at naming bees, Jess. Well, you're kidding now. What has happened? I don't know, but I think Matt's broken. Yeah, he seems to be, doesn't he? Yeah. And seen. What are you on? What did you get that from? I'm so sorry. I suddenly got so hyped. So sorry.

But it was also, like, I think we could agree, Dave. That was very moving. I'm going to move my chair a bit further back and just listen for a bit. No, no, no. You still need to contribute. That's too far back. Now we can't hear you. Just stay in place and let Jess talk.

So he's apologised to his family, but he's also like, he knows it's his dream. Yeah, I've got to do it. Like, you can't say no to that opportunity, right? I think that's fine. So Shepton was named as the leader of this, of this. expedition but he was replaced by a guy called John Hunt. What happened to Shepton? He's the legend that we all love.

He was still there, but he wasn't the leader. Oh, a bit of a mutiny on the hill. Bit of mutiny. But no, I think he was kind of okay with it. The mountain. The mountain. So John Hunt's now the top two. John Hunt, top dog.

And Hillary considered pulling out, but both John Hunt and Shepton talked him into staying on the expedition. So he was intending to climb with his mate, George Lowe, but Hunt named two teams for the assault, as they're called. Tom Bordelan? Assault or assent? It says assault. Wow.

Because they're assaulting the top of it. They got to really go at it. Salt melts ice. Yeah, I was going to say, that's you sprinkle salt after, I learned that from home alone. After you shovel the snow off your driveway, you sprinkle salt on it. There you go. So there's two teams. Tom Bordelon.

Bordillan. Tom Bordillan. Baudillan. And Charles Evans. and Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgoe. So they're team one. Team one, well, I guess they're two teams, two teams of two. So you've got Tom and Charles, Ed and Tenny.

Tening. Tening. I don't know how you would. Zing? What'd you call them? Zinger. So much. Like, that's such a good name, Tenzing, Norgue.

It's the only thing I've got written on my piece of paper. That's how much I love it. It's a great name. Tenzing Norgue. So many opportunities for nicknames there. So many. Tenzo, Teni, tea bag,

Tenzing, Ngo, Zinger, etc. Zingo. So there's so many, there's heaps. Norga.

Yeah, there's heaps of us. Is there a... Whatever. So there's two teams. Two teams are two. But do they go completely different directions or do they both sort of go the same... I think that, yeah.

Same side of the mountain or is they separate? I don't think they're completely separate. I think they may not be like... all four of them together at one point, but they're kind of tackling different sections in different ways. Assaulting different sections. So Tending Norgay, who he's forcing this friendship with, is he like a local Nepalese guy?

He is. He's a Nepalese-born, I think, Indian Sherpa Mountaineer. So he's one of the... He's the guy you want. Yeah, no, the Sherper is it... If you want to get a sidekick... I know it's easy to back retroactively, but I would definitely back them as my favourite team of the two teams.

Yeah, the one with the mountaineer. What are the other guys? You know how I feel about accountants. How dare you bring them? I was having a really lovely day, and then you brought up accountants. I'm sorry. Specialising in tax. Oh, how dare you?

Well, if it makes you feel any better, Jess, apparently a lot of people die whilst climbing man Everest. Good. Hope they died. No, seriously. People have. So the hunt expedition, total, how many people do you reckon would be involved in an expedition? Okay, so when you say they're on teams of two, do they also have a team as well? They've got like a support team as well.

Oh, right. Sorry, I thought there was just the two. These are the main climbers. Oh, right. I don't know. How many, do they have like two, a guy each helping them? Matt, how many do you reckon? Yeah, I reckon you'd have a PA each.

Taking notes? Do you reckon you'd have 400 people? No, definitely not. They had 400 people. There's no way that's possible. Are you serious? Yeah, it makes no sense. So they had 300...

They're on the mountain with them. 362 porters. I'm a guessing. I'm guessing. I'm guessing they're either at base camp or even lower down. Like it's... Man, all right. Dave, I need you to give me a duty for each of these.

Obviously, they'd all have different jobs. What are the 400 jobs? That's the thing. They've got 362 porters. Portters are just the ones carrying shit. Guy carrying the boots. Carrying the ropes. That's the second guy.

Guy carrying goggles. Yep. guy carrying pants guy washing the pants that's not a carry it's a washer guy washing underpants guy carrying underpants guy carrying underpants um

guy digging holes for them to take shits in the under study for the guy digging holes exactly under study so you see how it adds up you know they're official by

when I ask the question I'm like there's no way we're going to think of 400 but now I think it'd be pretty easy official biographer photographer unofficial biographer unofficial photographer

it just goes on and on they had about 20 Sherper guides 10,000 pounds of baggage and it was really seen as a team effort like this is it's I would say that history sees it another way and as far as teams go

how many teams have 400 people yeah I know that seems a bit ridiculous but apparently that's the case. It feels like, of course, they made it. 400 people. You could have just, like, had 400 people holding hands. The bottom guy is at the bottom, and the top guy is at the top.

They're just holding hands. Yeah. Just a bloody chain of people. I'm holding out my hands in case you guys, I know what that might look like. Imagine there's a guy at that end, holding my hand, and I got that end holding my hand. And each of those guys are also holding a guy. Times that by 400. I don't think that'll make it to the top of an 8.8 kilometre mountain.

Well, I don't know if you're doing the maths right, Dave. Jess, am I right? I think you're right. Yeah. All right, it saves us. Shut the fuck up. I'm so sorry, Matt. I'm so sorry that he felt the need to contribute.

When I say it was a team effort, though, it's kind of the way that they break up different parts of the expedition. So, for example, George Lowe supervised the preparation of the, I'm going to say this definitely really like the Lotzy face, which is this huge ice face for climbing. So he sort of supervised that. Edmund Hillary forged a route through part of an icefall. So it's kind of like they're all taking turns in being the leader and working together as a team because the idea is just that we get to the top because nobody's done it, right?

You look concerned. What's wrong? Yeah, and who's paying 400 people? Yeah, it seems excessive. So I was about the money with you, Dave? So the expedition set up base camp in March of 1953. So maybe, I'm doubting 400 people are in. base camp but you know there's there's a there's a support group at base camp they're there at march

1953 so edmund's 34 years old yeah still time for us guys um there's still time well not much for you buddy but um cop that matt you just have to find 400 mates so they work quite slowly um up uh to its final camp at the south coal which is at 25 000 900 feet which is 7800 So that's really high. It's quite high, yeah. And on the 26th of May... I prefer quite high. Really high was a bit excessive.

Quite high. It's more than three Mount Cosioscos. Yeah, quite high. Which Jess strolled up. Yeah, I strolled up really easy. We took a packet of chips. So it's three strolls. And I was like 13.

Just, anyway. And how much ice and snow was there? Not a lot. Yep. Imagine if she was 39. She could easily do Everest. On the 26th of May, the other team, Bordillion and Evans, attempted the climb but turned back when Evans' oxygen system failed.

The pair had reached the South Summit, which meant that they came within 300 vertical feet or 91 metres of the summit. They're 91 metres away. They didn't quite make it. I don't know how... It's obviously very icy up there, but maybe you could see it. Oh, man, I walk... Yeah, I wonder...

It's probably so foggy, no, I don't reckon you could. I walk 91 metres nearly every day. Do you walk it up? Sometimes. So, I... I reckon you might even walk. So they just had to bail because without the oxygen, you'd obviously die. Yeah, exactly.

Damn it. So they turned around and came back. So that's when John Hunt then directed Edmund Hillary and Tenzing to go for the summit. He's like, go for it. Oh, my God. So that was just a bit of luck there for Eddo? I guess so in a way. They probably thought that all four of them would make it, though?

Probably, yeah. Presumably they thought you're the ones who were going to go to the top. But the snow and wind held the pairback at the south coal, which is that spot, which is at 25,900 feet. So they've still got like a long way to go. They had to wait there for another couple of days because the weather conditions were quite bad. And they set out on the 28th of May

with support trio, including George Lowe and a couple of others. So they pitched a tent at that spot on the 28th of May while their support group returned down the mountain. And on the following morning, Hillary discovered that his boots had frozen solid outside the tent. So we spent two hours warming them up before he intensing attempted the final assent. And they were both wearing 30 pound or 14 kilo packs. Which doesn't seem like a lot, 14 kilos.

That's nearly all of Dave's weight. I know. And you're trying to climb up ice and rock. And there's very little oxygen, so you're... Yes, you're really tired. You're exhausted. But I also think that... Every step is a battle.

It's very dumb to leave your shoes outside in the snow. Yeah. Wow, but it's rude not to. Yes. I don't want to ruin the carpet. Oh, that's great. But how do you warm, is he just? Breathing on them?

They're probably got little, uh... How do you warm up shoes when you're in the snow? Little kerosene burner things are going to be in. Probably, yeah, I wonder. Put them on a fry pan. No, probably just braided on a bit. Using your very little air. Yeah, exactly.

That's probably how you'd want to use your last breath. So the crucial move. for the last part of the ascent was a 40 foot or 12 metre rock face that was later named the Hillary Step, it was named after him. Because he saw a means to... It's also a dance move. And in the 1950s it got quite big in the square dance halls.

Square dance halls. The Hillary Step. What's it look like? I'm doing it right now. See that? Mm-hmm. So that's sort of like your normal two-step, but then he turns it in a...

this. Oh. And that was what changed it to the Hillary's step. I see. It's worth it. Thank you for demonstrating. It's hard to do. It is. I learned that that step took me about six years to learn.

Do you think that naive master that you'd do it over a 12 meter rock face? Yeah. Yeah. That's the tough part, the bit where I jumped 12 meters at the end. Sure. In one false move. You jump 12 meters. Well, step.

So Hillary saw this. means to wedge his way up a crack in the face between the rock wall and the ice. So they're just kind of, what I like to imagine is, like, they've got their back against the rock and their feet and the ice and just like shuffling their way up. I don't think that's quite how it went, but in my head it is. So therefore in history, that's how it happened. And in my head, now that is also how it is. Thank you.

So they make it, they've made it to the top, they've made it to the summit. It was a... Oh, yes. I'm proud. Apparently, after getting like through that, that 12 metre rock face, it was fairly easy after that. Yeah. Apparently. Comparatively easy.

Yeah, must have been. And in his narration, the dreams come true, Tensing Norgay stated that Hillary had indeed taken the first steps atop Mount Everest, despite Edmund Hillary himself quoting that both had reached the summit at the same time. So who got there first? Well, that's the thing. That was sort of widely debated. And I'll talk a bit more about that later as well. But it sounds like Hillary's saying both at the same time.

We got there at the same time. But Tenzing's like, no, no, he was ahead of me. He got there first. Oh, that's quite, I like it that it's not one person claiming. No, I was there. Yeah, that's a much nicer argument. No, no, no. We did it together.

No, no, no. Thank you so much. I couldn't possibly. No, you hang up first. So they reach Everest 29,028 foot or 8,848 meter summit, the highest point on Earth at 11.30 a.m., you know, suppertime or morning tea. And as Hillary put it, a few more wax of the ice axe in the firm snow, and we stood on top.

A few more wax there, chaps. They spent only 15 minutes at the summit. Hillary took the famous photo of Tenzing posing with his ice axe, but since Tenzing had never used a camera, Hillary's assent went unrecorded. Isn't that funny? I knew that he'd never had a photo up there. However, though, very annoying.

Again, according to Tenzing's autobiography, which is called Man of Everest, when Tenzing offered to take Hillary's photo, Hillary declined, and this is a quote, he said, I motioned to Hillary that I would now take his picture, but for some reason he shook his head. He did not want it. I think bullshit. Wow.

Surely you'd want your photo. Yeah, but... Like, I don't particularly... I'm not really one for selfies. But if I was on the top of Everest, I would take the selfie. For the first time, yeah. Even, no, no, even now. Heaps of people have done it, I'd still take a photo.

Oh, definitely. You know? I don't know how to use a camera. Like, you put, just push this button. You can't fuck it up that much, can you? Crink, crank, crank. It would have been those. It would probably would have been in the days of the disposables or whatever.

We had to wind them on. Crunk, cron, cron, cron, and then... It's pretty straightforward. I think it was a disposable camera. And is it true that Sir Edmund Hillary took a piss up there? Oh, I don't know. Let's say yes. Do you ever come across that?

I didn't come across that in reading it. I've read that before that he took a piss up there. I love that. I hope that's true. Matt, if you're Googling, can you please come? No, no. Let's just say yes, he definitely did it. Because who needs truth?

Yeah. Now, Tensing left chocolates in the snow as an offering, and Hillary left a cross that he'd been given by John Hunt. and they took a few extra photos and then, so like photos from the top looking down the mountain, just like proof that they'd actually made it to the top.

Yeah, I imagine a lot of people would be doubting it, yeah. Yeah. So they took a few extra photos. And then they had to take care on the descent after discovering that drifting snow had covered their tracks

because originally they were just like, we'll just trace our own steps back because they'd sort of, you know, careful footing to get there safely. They're like, well, you know, work the way up, it'll work the way down. but the snow's covered it, so they're being really careful.

Now, the first person that they met was Hillary's lifelong friend, George Lowe, who had climbed up to meet them with hot soup. To the top? Not right to the top, but this is on their way back down, so he probably got close. What a legend. Isn't that to me, in my mind, that just makes it sound so easy. There's a guy just carrying a mug of hot soup, not spilling a drop. No, two mugs of soup.

He's just walking up. Two bowls of soup. Oh, that's great. With some bread. Good at all. But he's got like, he's got like bread on separate plates. So he's got it all up his arms. Crank pepper, sir.

He's on a chairlift. I don't know why you guys just didn't take this thing. He's like the chairlift. Weird. Anyway, soup. As we alluded to before, there was always a lot of speculation as to who reached the summit first. That's who pissed on the summit first. And who shat on the summit first.

I would like to be the first man to shit on all seven major stuff. summits of the earth. Wow. What a goal? Thank you, but please do go on. What were they think? Even the official documents state that the men reached it together. That was sort of to appease, like, you know, the people of Nepal and the British.

Okay. Just keeping everybody happy. If they reached it at the same time, why do we all know Sir Edmund Hillary's name, but not Tenzing Norgh. People do know Tensing Norgay's name. You're just an uneducated piece of shit. See, I knew that there was another guy, but I didn't know his name. I didn't even know there was another guy.

Maybe we know it more because Edmund Hillary was a keyweed. I was going to say that. I reckon there's two things probably for us. Proximity. One of them is that. And the other one is that Edmund Hillary is white. Exactly. Oh, big time.

But like, at the time. But, yeah. And Tenzing's just a lowly Sherper man. His father was a yak. Oh, my God. That's so long. I'm sorry. Because that would have been big.

If his father was a yak, I'd be so impressed. You pause the three minutes. His father was a lot. a yak. Heard, I. No, because he, Edwin Hillary was one of the, at the time,

like the most, one of the most famous men on the whole planet. It's in Tensing Norgay, I believe, went on to climb Mount Everest several times. Yeah, I think he said. As a Sherper,

but he'd already, he'd been part of the expedition, the Swiss expedition before, who nearly got there as well. And did Edmund Hillary ever go back? Not to the top. I don't know why you'd bother. Yeah,

You've been there, done that. Unless it was just a gig, Sherpen. Sherpin. But I, I'm so disappointed that we don't know. Way better. I mean, Hillary is a great name. But Tenzing Norgay, great name.

Holy shit. It's one of the great names. That is a great name. Dave, I know, you do, you write trivia questions. You've got to put that in. Tensing Norgay. Yeah, that's going to be a question next week. He's the partner of whom, maybe.

Yeah, good one. So apparently, as they were on their way back down, coming back into Nepal, there was like banners and posters and stuff that depicted Tenzing, basically dragging Edmund Hillary up the top. So obviously everybody in Nepal is like, we got their first. Yeah. Everybody, because it's a British expedition, so everybody in Britain's like, we got there first. So for 30 years, these guys stuck to their gentleman's agreement and refused to say who would reach the summit first.

in climbing terms No one could have reached the peak alone So they were like Not we're a team We got there together Which I think is quite nice Until It was only after his friend's death in 1986

So Tenzing died in 1986 Hillary felt able to speak freely Saying finally I just I think about to say Fuck him Finally I got a gut full of it

I got tired of people saying Tenzing had got to the top first So apparently he said I got there why who cares you've got to add a gutful come on mate so he did claim it i think so yeah oh well in the end that whole nice he could have continued to say no we got there together who gives the fuck really i mean like you say you're both neither of you could have got there without the other exactly it was a team effort uh tending probably to me he's he's doing the bulk

of the work i'm imagining he's been up there before he knows it he's a mountaineer He's a beekeeper. I'm imagining it. He is being dragged up. The Simpsons episode? Yes, exactly. I was thinking the power saw spars, but whether the Sherpers at night drag Homer in a sleeping bag up.

And when he like excuses them, they're cartwheeled down the mountain. That's how I'm imagining. Tenzing is on the mountain. Like he's just so good. So yeah, you're probably right. He probably got there first. But hey,

Edmund's white. Or, yeah. Or he was just behind him, but like he was doing star jumps and like jogging on the spot. He's like, come on. Let's keep moving. God, he's so slow. No, you're right. This has been tough. Oh, whoa. That was tricky, wasn't it?

You fucking dick, yeah. Yeah, that's probably it. I will say that I just looked up, Tenzing Norga, because I just felt he wasn't getting enough credit, but him and Edmund were jointly named one of times 100 most influential people of the 20th century. They certainly were. So he got a little bit of creed, which I'm happy for.

So news of the expedition reached Britain on the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, and the press called the successful assent a coronation gift. In return, the 37 members of the party received... Sorry, I just want to stop you there and say that's probably one of the only things that would knock this event off the front page of the paper is a new queen. Yeah, but it's funny that they've called it a gift. That means the queen owns it.

You've given that to it. Well, the queen was the one. She owns what? The fact that somebody... You can't own a... No, she... If that was the gift to her, then she's the first person who have assaulted... assaulted the summit.

You're right. Good job, Lizzie. And that's why we want to stay underneath her. I don't want to be underneath anybody, thank you. Hey, Jess, do you think this episode more than any other? We have just cut you off about three words into every sentence. Yeah. I'm so sorry.

Do go on. In return, the 37 members of the party received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal with Mount Everest Expedition engraved on the rim. And the group was surprised by the international. acclaim that they'd received upon arriving in Kathmandu. So they get back to Kathmandu, and everybody's like, wow. And they're surprised. They're like, oh, do you guys hear about that?

Yeah, they did. And Hillary and Hunt were knighted by the young queen, while Tenzing received the George Medal from the British government for his efforts with the expedition. Now, that medal is the, I think, like the second highest, one of the second highest achievements you can get, and it's for bravery. Oh, that's kind of cool. Because he couldn't have been nice.

as he wasn't in the Commonwealth like, yeah. Wasn't Nepal? Is that... So, post Everest, I want to talk a little bit about what, about Edmund Hillary's life because he's done a lot, right? So he climbed 10 other peaks in the Himalayas on further visits in 1956, 1960 to 1961,

and 63 to 65. He also reached the South Pole as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, for which he led the New Zealand section. That was in 1958. So his party was the first to reach the South Pole using motor vehicles. So there had been a couple of treks in like 1911 and 1912 on foot, but they were the first to do it in cars.

So it's like, well... Which is way harder than walking. I just want to say in Antarctica here it's opposite where walking's easy but driving very difficult. Oh, and takes much longer. Yeah, of course. Oh, okay, okay. Because it takes a little while to put chains on the wheels.

Okay. Yeah, that's an inconvenience to no one wants to have to deal with. No, I'd rather just walk it. Anyway, Hillary married Louise, Mary Rose on the 3rd of September in 53. Soon after he came back from Everest. He was a shy man and he relied on his future mother-in-law to propose on his behalf. Oh, wow. Yeah.

That is not boating well for a relationship. Not good. How's the communication going in your life? relationship. It's all right, as long as our mother-in-law's around, we're fine. Are you okay? They had three children, Peter, Sarah and Belinda, and in 1975, while on route to join Hillary in a village in Nepal where he was helping to build a hospital, Louise and their

youngest daughter, Belinda, were killed in a plane crash near Kathmandu airport shortly after takeoff. So he's lost his wife and youngest child, which is very, very sad. but between 1977 and 1979, so a couple years after that, Hillary commentated aboard several Antarctic sightseeing flights operated by Air New Zealand, so they would do like sightseeing flights and he would like be like a tour guide, I guess, which is kind of cool. So weird.

But he was scheduled to commentate on the 28th November 1979, the Air New Zealand flight 901, but had to pull out due to work commitments in the United States. He was replaced by his close friend Peter Mulgrew and the aircraft. aircraft crashed into Mount Erubus in Antarctica, killing all 257 people on board. Well, so he was supposed to be on. He was supposed to be on that and he... He's got his friend to step up. He put his friend on, right?

So that's already pretty bad. But then later, Edmund Hillary married his friend's widow. Oh, and they both lost partners in plane crashes. Yeah. And then they got married. Following... So after post-Everest, he devoted much of his life to helping the Sherpers. people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he found in 1960.

And so through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built around the remote region of the Himalayas. I've got a list here. So they built 28 schools, 12 medical clinics, three air strips and two hospitals. That's pretty great. That's pretty great. Edmund Hillary died on the 11th of January in 2008, died of a heart failure at the Auckland City Hospital.

And it was announced by the Prime Minister. she said that his death was a profound loss to New Zealand. And they had a, it was a couple months later in April, a service of Thanksgiving was held in his honour in the UK. And the Queen attended. Got a couple of fun facts. I don't know how fun they are, but just to round off, a few fun facts. Okay?

Yep. All right? Is that okay? I'm ready. Hey, look, you invented the genre. These will be pretty fun. They're not even that fun. A couple are just quite nice.

His son Peter Hillary also became a climber. He summited. Do you summit it? Yeah. Summated Everest in 1990. But in May 2002, Peter climbed Everest as part of a 50th anniversary celebration. And Tenzing Norgay's son, because he had died in 1986, so his son was also part of the expedition. So their two sons did it for them on the 50th anniversary.

That's sweet. Which is quite nice. I like that. Sweet facts. Sweet fact. Yeah, it's not fun, but it's bloody sweet. This is kind of cool Edmund Hillary is on the $5 note in New Zealand

That's great That's pretty fun Who doesn't want to be on currency I know what a sign of respect Yeah Even if it is the five And just finally The second highest mountain rage on Pluto

Is named in honour of Edmund Hillary It's called Hilary Montes That's kind of cool That is cool He's got a mountain on a planet named after him Is the tallest mountain named after Tensing Norga? The second highest is. Who possibly got there first?

Well, is Pluto a micro planet or something? Is that that one? It's a dwarf planet. Yeah, yeah. So that's sort of like, that's the second highest mountain range. And the highest known mountain range on Pluto is named Norgay Montes after

Tensing Norgay. He got something better than Edmond. That's a bloody time. Yes. So that's pretty good. exciting and they also got a airport named after them the tensing hillary airport in nepal and tennsing comes first yeah oh so that is my report on my cd means that i'm not able to let go of the fact you said a airport named after him did i i can't make me feel all weird did i say that yeah oh i'm so disappointed

to myself i'm sorry well it's because you i think you would change you said a and then there was it anyway Oh god, no, no, no, but I'm sorry to you, I'm sorry to our listeners. I'm sorry to my English teachers. I airport. Oh, I just kill you so. I demand a apology. So there we go. That is very cool.

I did enjoy that a lot and I hope that all of us can commit Tenzing Norgay's name to memory. Tensig Norgay, Tensing Norgay. That's how you commit things to memory. Good stuff. Thank you, Jess. I did appreciate the report, Matt. It was really good, Jess. I was really.

It's funny that I knew nothing about it. I could hardly even remember Hillary's name, let alone Tenzing's name. Very good. I don't know about any of that at all. Well, now you do. If you asked me when it happened, I would have said 70s or 40s or 60s, but not whatever you say, I'm never guessing 50s. Sure.

30s, maybe. Maybe. Now, you know. And so do you all out there. for listening, guys. If you want to get in contact or suggest a topic for us or indeed for me to talk about on my report next week, you can get in touch on Facebook where do go on, Twitter, do go on pod, email, do go on pod at gmail.com.

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