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To the Top and Back

On May 28, 1953, New Zealand explorer Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men ever to reach the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Pictured: the trailblazers on the cover of LIFE, in which Hillary told the story of his dangerous journey in a firsthand account.

Meeting Hillary was a major turning point for me as a youth. Yet it was years before I learned the depth of his inspiration. In 1964, Hillary visited the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Valley Forge Pennsylvania. He came to provide encouragement and inspiration to the thousands of young men attending the event. Having been selected to be my unit’s scribe, I was fortunate enough to attend a press conference as part of my task of finding news to send back to our home town paper, The Gary Post Tribune (Gary, Indiana). To be honest, I don’t remember the details of the interview. But I was touched that this man stopped to encourage me, a 16 year old kid. Later in life, his accomplishment became a metaphor to me as I began to climb my own Everests. Now at age 62, I cherish that moment.

ShallieBey 10/2/2011 10:23 AM EST Read more at www.life.com