Q 01/05

On what date did Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Everest?

A) 29 May 1952

B) 15 April 1953

C) 29 May 1953

D) 2 June 1953

Answer · why

C) 29 May 1953

The news reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and the press hailed it as a coronation gift.

Q 02/05

What was Hillary's trade before he became famous, working with his father and brother?

A) Boat builder

B) Sheep farmer

C) Beekeeper

D) Schoolteacher

Answer · why

C) Beekeeper

The family ran 1,600 hives; he kept bees in summer, climbed in winter, and took 12 to 100 stings a day.

Q 03/05

A 1935 school trip to which NZ volcano sparked Hillary's interest in climbing at 16?

A) Mount Tongariro

B) Mount Taranaki

C) Mount Ruapehu

D) Mount Ngauruhoe

Answer · why

C) Mount Ruapehu

He later said the trip made him want to 'see the world', and he took up tramping instead of studying.

Q 04/05

Hillary's first major climb, in 1939, took him to the summit of which peak in the Southern Alps?

A) Mount Ollivier

B) Mount Tasman

C) Mount Sefton

D) Mount Aspiring

Answer · why

A) Mount Ollivier

It stands near Aoraki / Mount Cook, and the trip brought him the first real friends he said he had ever had.

Q 05/05

What role did Hillary serve in with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II?

A) Mechanic

B) Navigator

C) Pilot

D) Radio operator

Answer · why

B) Navigator

He flew in Catalina flying boats and was badly burnt in an accident in the Solomon Islands in 1945.