Climber George Lowe who helped Tenzing-Hillary first Everest ascent is no more

George Lowe of New Zealand, the last surviving climber from the expedition led by Sir Edmund Hillary that conquered Mt Everest in 1953, has passed away at the of age of 89.

Lowe’s death in a nursing home in the British town of Ripley on Wednesday marked the end of an era in mountaineering, AFP quoted Hillary's son Peter as saying. “George was one of the great climbers on the 1953 Everest expedition,” he told Radio New Zealand, adding,“He was really one of my father’s closest friends, kept him laughing all the time. They had a long friendship and a tremendous mountaineering partnership.”

Hillary and Nepal's Tenzing Norgay had claimed atop the world's tallest peak on May 29, 1953 for the first time. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key said Lowe was part of an expedition that was still a source of pride for the country.

“George Lowe, along with fellow Kiwi Sir Edmund Hillary, made New Zealand a household name when, along with the other members of the Everest expedition, (they) conquered the mountain in 1953,” AFP quoted Key as saying, “I was sad to hear of his death but remain very proud of these men’s achievements.”

Lowe had helped Hillary and Norgay prepare for the final push to the peak and photographed the expedition’s last stages, using the material in an Oscar-nominated documentary “The Conquest of Everest”.