5 Aug 2010

Highest ridge suggested for Hillary honour

9:01 pm on 5 August 2010

The public will help decide whether a ridge on New Zealand's highest mountain should be renamed in honour of Sir Edmund Hillary.

The New Zealand Geographic Board says South Ridge on Aoraki-Mt Cook is the most appropriate site for a tribute to Sir Edmund, who died in 2008.

He climbed the South Island ridge in 1948, five years before he conquered Mt Everest.

The idea came from John Carruthers, a former mountaineer, and was one of several suggestions by members of the public.

The board will begin its public consultation process soon and a final decision should be reached by the end of this year.