Sir Edmund’s family has warmly welcomed the proposed name changed to “Hillary Ridge.” Daughter, Sarah Hillary, told the New Zealand Herald that it is a very good choice of location “as the climb meant a lot to my father and he would have considered it a great honour to be associated with it by name.”
Five years after climbing Mount Cook on May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay climbed Mount Everest, becoming the first ever to conquer the highest mountain in the world.
The New Zealand Geographic Board considered several landmarks that might be named after Mr. Hillary, narrowing it down to one.
The proposed renaming would make it the first alpine landmark in New Zealand named after the great Sir Edmund Hillary.
A 70km route through the Waitakere ranges in Auckland was named Hillary Trail. A $40 million ward at Middlemore Hospital was recently named Sir Edmund Hillary Block.
Sir Edmund Hillary died in Jan. 2008, at the age of 88.
There will be a three-month public consultation procedure before the name change can take place, beginning soon.
