Aoraki-Mount Cook. Photo: empty007 CC-BY-SA-2.0
A ridge on New Zealand’s highest mountain may be named after the first man to summit Everest.
Sir Edmund Hillary topped out on Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Now, New Zealand’s Geographic Board is considering naming the South Ridge of Aoraki-Mount Cook after the country’s best known mountaineer, who himself climbed the route five years before his Everest triumph.
If the proposal goes ahead, the ridge will be known as the Hillary Ridge.
Dr Don Grant, chairman of the board, said: “The late Sir Edmund Hillary made the first ascent of South Ridge in February 1948, so this peak has significant association and connection with him.
“The board believes this is an appropriate memorial, and one befitting a great New Zealand mountaineer and adventurer.”
There will be a three-month consultation on the plan and, if accepted, the new name will be recorded on the country’s official gazetteer.
Dr Grant said South Ridge is a prominent feature of Aoraki-Mount Cook, visible from the Aoraki-Mount Cook village and surrounding area. “For people to be able to clearly see this ridge makes it very much a commemorative feature that people can relate to,” he added.
Sir Edmund Hillary. Photo: Graeme Mulholland CC-BY-SA-2.0
Sir Edmund Hillary wrote about his ascent of South Ridge in the New Zealand Alpine Journal in June 1948, describing it as an arduous climb. “I found it rather a nerve-wracking sensation to lie in a sleeping-bag and see the South Ridge outlined against the sky, with all its steepness and difficulties magnified by the darkness.”
The party didn’t linger long at the top. “A few minutes for photographs, a wave or two to the Hermitage, and we rushed down the ice-cap to the west, to find a sheltered spot out of the wind,” he wrote.
Dr Grant said interest in naming a feature after the late Sir Edmund Hillary had been high, and it was important people have their say over the proposed Hillary Ridge. The Hillary family is supporting the move.
The late mountaineer, who died in February 2008, gave his name to another mountain feature: the Hillary Step, a 12m (40ft) rock wall near the summit of Everest.
