First Man to conquer Mount Everest dead at 88

The world lost one of the greatest explorers and adventurers of the 20th century yesterday.

Sir Edmond Hillary, the first man to reach the top of Mount Everest, died last Thursday at the age of 88.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark said Hillary described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities.

"In reality, he was a colossus. He was a heroic figure."

A quiet, 34-year-old beekeeper from Auckland, New Zealand, destined to become one of the great adventurers of the 20th century, Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay were the first men to reach the summit of the world's tallest mountain May 29, 1953.

Hillary started mountain climbing in the mid 1930s.

"Some day I'm going to climb Everest," he told a friend just before the start of the Second World War. In 1951 he made his first trip to the Himalayas. Hillary joined the British expedition to climb Everest in 1953. Just 300 feet short of the summit, Hillary and Tenzing, the team's strongest climbers, were chosen to finish the climb.

Though his climb to the top of Everest made his name known around the world, his career was far from over. Over the next 20 years Hillary led six more Himalayan ascents, explorations to the South Pole, a search for the fabled Yeti, better known as the Abominable Snowman, and searched for the source of the Yangtze River. He led the New Zealand section of the Trans-Antarctic expedition from 1955 to 1958 and in 1958 participated in the first mechanized expedition to the South Pole.

But the man who first conquered the world's tallest mountain was most proud of his charity work. Hillary acknowledged he couldn't have made it to the top of Everest without the help of Tenzing and would spend the remainder of his life paying off his debt by helping the Sherpas and the people of the Nepalese mountain villages. Through his Himalayan Trust he helped build bridges, airstrips, hospitals, clinics and more than 30 schools. He was made an honorary Nepalese citizen in 2003.

Renowned British polar explorer Pen Hadow said Hillary's death "closes one of the great chapters of planetary exploration."

Hillary was an inspiration to millions. He showed the world that with hard work, skill and faith, no heights are unattainable.

Here are Hillary's own words of what it felt like to reach the top of the tallest mountain on the planet almost 55 years ago.

"Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no final pinnacle. We looked round in wonder. To our immense satisfaction we realised we had reached the top of the world."