Did they make it then, 29 years before Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay?

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To actually look where Edmund Hillary and all these people climbed was absolutely fantastic.

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The top 10 included Marco Polo and astronaut Neil Armstrong as well as mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary.

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Sir Edmund Hillary's ghost would come down and beat you senseless with a crampon, but you could wear it.

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Either way, as Sir Edmund Hillary has remarked, they did not get back.

ECONOMIST: Madness and its men

The incident drew much soul-searching in the mountaineering world, with Sir Edmund Hillary complaining to New Zealand's Otago Daily Times of the "horrifying" attitudes it revealed.

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Since New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepali Tenzing Norgay first summited the roof of the world in 1953, nearly 6, 000 people have attempted the climb to the summit.

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It wanted photos of famous partners in exploration:the Apollo 11 crew of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, and Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay.

FORBES: Image Enhancement

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man up Everest, used to say that if you were in real trouble in a difficult place you needed an explorer called Ernest Shackleton, because he understood his people, knew how hard it was to lead well, and was prepared to do the right thing.

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"My thoughts are with Lady Hillary, Sir Edmund's children, wider family, and close friends at this sad time, " Helen Clark said.

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