Sir Edmund Hillary has told an anniversary banquet that he could not have scaled Mount Everest without the Sherpas of Nepal.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of the world's tallest mountain, Sir Edmund said that he and Tenzing Norgay owed their successful adventure to a whole team of people.
He told the banquet, hosted by the Sherpa community in his honour, that they had been critical to the expedition.
'Fifty years ago I think the gods ... looked down on a young New Zealand farmer and said 'He is strong and enthusiastic but not so bright but he will make many friends among the mountain people,'' said Hillary. 'And so it has been.'
At another function, Nepalese Prime Minister bestowed honorary citizenship on the 83-year-old New Zealander. Lokendra Bahadur Chand said Sir Edmund deserved the honour 'for the valuable contribution he has made to Nepal'.
Prime Minister Chand also presented commemorative medals to around 280 foreign and local Everest summiters, including to Tenzing Norgay's son, Jamling Norgay, who summited the world's highest peak in 1996.
An Irish team, two of whom summited the mountain during 50th anniversary expeditions, is due in Dublin on Wednesday 4 June.
