Archer slammed over Everest claim

A New Zealand mountaineer criticised Jeffrey Archer over Everest claim.

Wellington, March 15: A New Zealand mountaineer has criticised a claim by author Jeffrey Archer in a new book that a British climber conquered Mount Everest years before Sir Edmund Hillary, a newspaper reported Sunday.Archer`s book, Paths of Glory, is a fictionalised account of the life of George Mallory, who died on Everest in 1924, 29 years before Hillary climbed the world`s tallest peak with Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

Hillary, who died last year, remains a national hero in New Zealand, and a report about the book appeared on the front page of the Sunday Star-Times under the headline, "Jeffrey Archer`s Insult to Sir Ed". A secondary headline read, "He`s a failed politician and a convicted liar - and now Jeffrey Archer is making the absurd claim that Kiwi icon Sir Edmund Hillary wasn`t the first man to conquer Mount Everest." The paper quoted Graeme Dingle, a fellow mountaineer and friend of Sir Ed, as saying: "He`s dreaming. There`s essentially no chance Mallory got to the top." Dingle said Archer was reflecting wounded English pride at having been beaten by a colonial: "The English were desperate to get to the top, and they didn`t get there, even in 1953. I think the English are pretty sensitive about it." IANS