SNOW WEEK - Conquering Everest

TITLE: Triumph on Everest: A Photobiography of Sir Edmund Hillary

AUTHOR: Broughton Coburn

WHO WAS WHERE IN THE SNOW? Edmond Hillary, a New Zealander, along with a Nepalese Sherpa named Tenzing Norgay, were the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest at 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953.

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THIS EVENT: We would never have heard of Hillary if not for Tenzing. His quick thinking saved Hillary from what would have been a fatal crevice fall as they began to ascend Everest. After his Everest adventure, and being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, Hillary set out to fulfill his childhood hero’s goal. Ernest Shakleton had not traversed Antarctica but Hillary accomplished this feat in 1958. Then he devoted most of his life to creating schools, medical access and ecological stability for the people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. All of this from one adventurous man who started his life as a beekeeper!

This is an interesting National Geographic Society book with pictures aplenty.

Ages 9 to 12
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Activity: Can you name the highest mountain on each continent?