Everest's Hillary Dies at 88

First man to conquer Everest laid to rest after state funeral

(NEWSER) - New Zealand paid tribute to its most famous native son today as throngs lined the streets of Auckland for the state funeral of Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealand Herald reports. The prime minister led the tributes. "Sir Ed described himself as a person of modest abilities," said Helen Clark. "In reality he was a colossus, he was our hero." More»

(NEWSER) - This year saw the passing of many notable people, from Paul Newman and Michael Crichton to William F. Buckley and designer Yves St. Laurent. Here are a few that made the lists of the NY Times and LA Times:

• Tim Russert (b. 1950)—TV journalist and 16-year host of Meet the Press.
• Charlton Heston (b. 1923)—star of Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments, and later NRA activist.
• George Carlin (b. 1937)—legendary rabble-rousing comedian.
• Heath Ledger (b. 1979)—rising star's credits include Brokeback Mountain; Oscar rumblings for Dark Knight.
• Steve Fossett (b. 1945)—billionaire adventurer missing since September 2007.
• Albert Hoffman (b. 1906)—research chemist who discovered LSD.

Peak draws hundreds of climbers, who leave behind trash

(NEWSER) - Mount Everest remains an irresistable lure for hundreds of climbers every year—and it shows in a bad way. In the wake of Edmund Hillary's death, the Independent surveys the landscape of the world's highest mountain and finds it littered with climbers' trash. It's a matter of logistics, experts say. It's simply not easy to schlep home empty oxygen containers and the like from 29,000 feet. More»

Handful have already reached summit today

(NEWSER) - The deaths of four people in a Mount Everest "traffic jam" last weekend haven't stopped a new crowd from pushing toward the peak. More than 150 people plan to attempt to reach the top this weekend, and already today, a number of climbers have made it, an official tells the AP . The AP notes that there have been no reports of trouble thus far, and weather conditions continue to be favorable. More»

Deadly congestion claimed at least four lives

(NEWSER) - Mount Everest climbers, "disoriented, frostbitten, sick, and totally exhausted," struggled against 80mph winds on congested trails last weekend , writes friend Chris Tomer on the blog of American adventurer Jon Kedrowski, who helped to rescue four climbers in the mountain's "death zone." "A two-hour wait at one of the choke-points near the summit left climbers caught in these 80mph winds," Tomer writes. "Jon was ascending while other climbers from the previous day who had summited were descending through the choke-point after 18 hours or more on the mountain. Cut-off times were ignored and oxygen had run out." More»