In 1948, along with Ruth Adams, Harry Ayres and Mick Sullivan, he made the first ascent of the south ridge of Mount Cook. He later participated in two reconnaissance expeditions in the Himalayas, one in the Everest area in 1951 and the other in Cho Oyu in 1952. So he was noticed by John Hunt, who invited him to take part in the successful British expedition of 1953. The conquest of the peak (29 May 1953) was announced at the same time of Queen Elizabeth's coronation. Then Hillary, already famous all over the world, took part in several expeditions in the Himalayas between 1956 and 1965.
He went also to Antarctica, reaching the South Pole on 4 January 1958 with the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, a motorized expedition (composed of three Massey Ferguson TE20 tractors) carried out with Vivian Fuchs. He has been the third man in history to reach that point by land after Amundsen and Scott in 1911-12.
Hillary devoted much of his life to helping the sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded to build schools and hospitals. He was also the honorary president of the "American Himalayan Foundation", a non-profit organization that tries to improve the ecological balance and living conditions of the peoples of the Himalayas. Hillary, who in daily life was a beekeeper, stated that he considered his achievements in the humanitarian field as his greatest achievement.
He left us on 11 January 2008, at the age of 88.