Sir Edmund Hillary has passed away at the ripe old age of 88. I had never heard the name until I browsed National Geographic’s webpage today; I’ve missed out on a very cool person. He and Tenzing Norgay were first to climb Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. Upon completing this deed he returned to the base camp and exclaimed “We knocked the bastard off.”

That’s just so cool.

And here’s something he wrote about the pair’s final steps to the top:

“Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no false cornice, no final pinnacle. We were standing together on the summit. There was enough space for about six people. We had conquered Everest.

But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper, once the star pupil of the Tuakau District School, but no great shakes at Auckland Grammar [high school] and a no-hoper at university, first to the top of Everest.

I just didn’t believe it.”

I’m getting chills all over from reading that. A part of me has always wanted to do Adventurous Things(TM). As a young kiddo I even dreamed of having business cards with the title “Hacker / Adventurer.” A few days ago I realized that it’s about time that I get business cards for my little KarjaSoft venture…and that I could finally have that desired title!

But then it struck me that I haven’t done as many adventurous things as I’d planned in younger years.

Sure, I’ve done a fair bit. Spent time in Germany as a 12-year-old, living with a friend of the family away from home.  Hitch-hiked around Sweden at 15, where I received strange invitations from creepy old men. Travelled all around the US for two months, where I ended up at various hostels and parties and weird situations. Got lost in the Cyprus mountains and had to be rescued by the police. All very fun and all, but it’s not adventuring! Adventuring means wearing a cool hat and a whip, and visiting old ruins! Or climbing mountains! Or going out in the rain forest with a machete and rope (you always need rope), looking for some doctor or another!

I still might choose the title “Adventurer” when I print my business cards, but if so I’m going to have to earn the title in the coming years. I’m adding “become an adventurer” to my todo list!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 4:31 pm and is filed under Awesome Stuff, Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.