Foreword by Mingma Norbu SherpaReleased in paperback just in time for the 50th anniversary of Hillary’s history-making climb, this exciting photobiography celebrates the extraordinary life of the New Zealand farm boy who in May 1953 became the first person known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. With climbing partner Tenzing Norgay, the iron-willed Hillary crossed deadly icefalls, clawed his way up vertical walls, and persevered through gale-force winds until he finally stood at the top of the world. Along with this gripping adventure, readers follow the explorer’s trek to the South Pole, his quest to find the Abominable Snowman, and his continuing efforts to help the Sherpa people, without whom, Hillary is convinced, he never would have scaled Everest.

Broughton Coburn is presently Special Projects Director for the American Himalayan Foundation. After graduating from Harvard in 1973, he moved to Nepal where he lived for nearly 20 years. Three of these years were spent in Khumnu, homeland of the Sherpas. His fascination with and respect for the region has inspired several books, including Everest: Mountain Without Mercy, published by National Geographic. In 1997 he was awarded the American Alpine Club’s Literary Achievement Award. Coburn lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his wife, daughter, and recently adopted Nepalese son.