Sir Edmund Hillary, 1919-2008

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest (accompanied by his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay), passed away today at the age of 88.

Now, even though I'm always saying you don't have to climb mountains to be an adventurer, I'm definitely in complete awe of the passion and commitment he must have had to achieve such a momentous goal. (And I really gotta love the first words he said to the first person he met on his way back down: “Well George, we finally knocked the bastard off.” :)

Here's a link to Hillary's Wikipedia entry if you want to learn more about the life of this extraordinary man who truly exemplified the concept of an adventurous spirit.