Stamps Celebrate 50 Years Conquest Of Everest

Stamps Celebrate 50 Years Since Conquest Of Everest

New Zealand Post is releasing a special stamp issue to celebrate 50 years since Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay heroically conquered Mount Everest in 1953.

Entitled Conquest of Everest, the issue illustrates the magnitude of the climb, the arduous ascent, and the two men emerging triumphant to worldwide adulation after being the first people to reach the summit of the world's tallest mountain.

The issue includes two 40-cent stamps, one stamp featuring Sir Edmund Hillary next to an image of the towering 8850-metre Everest, the other picturing Tenzing Norgay alongside an image of the two victorious climbers reaching the summit.

New Zealand Post's Stamps Business General Manager, Ivor Masters said the conquest was a tremendous achievement and New Zealand Post was proud to be commemorating the courage and determination of these two extraordinary men.

"For New Zealand it was a defining moment in our history as one of our nation's sons became one of our most famous and beloved heroes overnight. Sir Edmund Hillary remains an inspiration to New Zealanders today.

"Not only did Sir Edmund put New Zealand on the map, he and Tenzing Norgay paved the way for a new era in mountaineering," Mr Masters said.

Today, Mount Everest is still the dream destination for many climbers with a steady influx attempting the still demanding and dangerous mountain.

The Conquest of Everest stamps were designed by Steven Fuller of Watermark and will be available from New Zealand Post retail outlets - PostShops and Books & more stores, regional Stamps Centres, selected retailers, the Wanganui Stamps Centre and the stamps website, www.stamps.co.nz from 29 May 2003.

© Scoop Media