His fame rests squarely on his conquering of Mt Everest in 1953 with sherpa Tenzing Norgay, a feat that had him hailed as a new Elizabethan hero because news of the conquest was made public the day of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. He is regarded as the quintessential New Zealand hero, downplaying his own achievements while helping others, particularly in Nepal. Hillary led many climbing expeditions to the Himalayas and elsewhere and in 1958 completed the first overland journey to the South Pole since the Amundsen-Scott expeditions more than 40 years before. He is a former New Zealand high commissioner to India and the sports funding and participation body, the Hillary Commission, was named in his honour. Hillary was knighted by the Queen for climbing Everest and he was a founding member of the Order of New Zealand. Return to the Inductee list