Ask to use material, get more information or tell us about an item
Programme 1- Follows Hillary’s life, from his boyhood in Tuakau, Auckland, through his feats in scaling Everest and reaching the South Pole, to his money raising efforts for his Sherpa friends in more recent years.
Programme 2 - Documents the peaks of Hillary’s life - his conquest of Everest and his marriage to Louise Rose. Colonel John Hunt, leader of the expedition to Nepal, wants two Englishmen to be the first to stand on top of Everest as a Coronation gift to Queen Elizabeth. Bourdillon and Evans only get as far as the South Summit where exhaustion forces them back. They describe the summit as unclimbable. Hillary and Tensing are successful and there is immediate jubilation in Nepal. Nevertheless the hero is surprised when he is made a knight of the realm without his permission.
Programmes 3 & 4 - Life after Everest - the first motorised journey to the South Pole; the Search for the Yeti in Nepal; how Hillary built schools, medical clinics, bridges, a hospital and put in water supplies, in Nepal; his devastation when his wife and daughter were killed in a plane crash in Kathmandu and his jet boat trip from the mouth of the Ganges to the head water of the sacred river high in the Himalayas. After his friend Peter Mulgrew is killed on Mount Erebus, Hillary and June Mulgrew become constant companions and she accompanies him to India when he is appointed High Commissioner. Hillary is constantly showered with accolades by Presidents and Prime Ministers and dines with royalty. But he is still happiest in Nepal, sharing a simple meal and laughter with his Sherpa friends.