Norgay and Hillary on Everest: 60 Years Ago Today

The world – well, a lot of people – are commemorating the 1953 first summit of Mount Everest today by the late Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay. It's a huge to-do in Nepal, Australia and New Zealand.

The Auckland Museum has been publishing the last 19 days of Hillary's diary to cover the final push to the summit. I read it completely and had such a difficult time navigating through the thing due to all the redundant advertising and navigation issues that I didn't want others to have to wade through it. I've included the diary entries below. I've also included a Google Earth map that you can download.   [A free Google Earth file of this route is available: Get the map.]

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The Scott Expedition: Greenland

If you're thinking that you didn't need to follow the Scott Expedition because I would probably do it for you – you were correct, I did.

Not quite like being there any more than reading Bill Bryson's book about hiking the Appalachian Trail, but for us armchair relegated types it was a good adventure none-the-less.

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The Scott Expedition - Antarctica

Hold onto your hats, the Scott Expedition is back underway. Perhaps you remember when I posted a year or so ago that I had discovered the blog of Ben Sanders after viewing a TED talk.

He's the guy that was the third in history to ski solo to the North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton.

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