1. Norman David Hardie was a New Zealand climber who was one of the climbers on the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition who first reached the summit of the 8,586-metre mountain, the third-highest mountain in the world.
17 Facts About Norman Hardie
1. 2.
Norman Hardie left school early and, encouraged by his father, spent two seasons hunting deer in the Boyle and Hurunui River valleys.
3.
Norman Hardie continued hunting to finance his studies, but became increasingly involved in tramping and mountaineering.
4.
Norman Hardie graduated from Canterbury in 1947 and worked at Lake Pukaki on the hydroelectricity scheme.
5.
Norman Hardie first met Edmund Hillary during a rescue mission for an injured climber on La Perouse in 1948 described as "the most arduous rescue in New Zealand's climbing history".
6.
Norman Hardie spent five years in London working in structural engineering and water works.
7.
Norman Hardie's role was to survey and map the routes up to Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world.
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Edmund Hillary 8.
Norman Hardie became close friends with Charles Evans during the expedition.
9.
When Evans received a telegram during the expedition inviting him to lead an attempt to climb Kangchenjunga in the next season, he asked Norman Hardie to join him.
10.
Norman Hardie, based on his engineering background, was put in charge of developing a better oxygen system than had been available to the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition.
11.
Norman Hardie was appointed deputy leader by Evans and put in charge of training two team members, John Angelo Jackson and Joe Brown, in the use of crampons.
12.
Norman Hardie published a book in 1957 based on his diaries, In Highest Nepal.
13.
For 22 years, Norman Hardie was on the board of Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust.
14.
Norman Hardie has been to Antarctica on three occasions, including as leader of Scott Base.
15.
Norman Hardie published his autobiography, On My Own Two Feet, in 2006.
16.
Norman Hardie lived in Christchurch suburb of Cashmere in a house designed by Don Donnithorne.
17.
Norman Hardie was one of the speakers at Hillary's state funeral in 2008.