Hillary wanted Everest to be protected

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- New Zealand adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary wanted the site of his greatest conquest, Mount Everest, protected from climate change, it was reported Saturday.

The Independent reported that, according to a close friend of the late adventurer, Hillary wanted the world's highest peak protected from the ravages of global warming.

George Band, who was part of Hillary's historical expedition up the hazardous Nepalese mountain in 1953, said his friend was concerned global warming may one day ravage the mountain peak and the world.

"He knew that the retreat of the glaciers was happening and presented a new challenge, even though there is nothing that a few people can do to affect climate change in one place," Band said. "But he saw that what was happening on Everest was a symbol of what is happening in many, many parts of the Himalayas and beyond."

Band told the newspaper Hillary, who died Thursday at the age of 88, wanted his fight for Everest's future to continue even after his death.