We call them mountains. To Sir Edmund Hillary, however, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks are merely "quite dramatic hills". The great pioneering mountaineer, who is in Kerry today to open an exhibition commemorating another larger-than-life explorer, Tom Crean, has long since earned the right to look at mountain ranges with a different eye.
When Sir Edmund and Sherpa Tenzing reached the summit of Everest on May 29th, 1953, and stood on top of the world, a new chapter was written in the annals of human endeavour. The achievement changed not only Hillary's life but the lives of the Sherpa people of Nepal, whose cause he has championed ever since.
As the first person to reach the summit (there is still a dispute as to whether George Mallory did so 30 years earlier), Hillary became a superstar of his day and could have spent the intervening years cashing in on his success.
Instead, in 1961, he founded the Himalaya Trust which has brought schools, hospitals and medical clinics to this still remote area of the world. "I formed a very close relationship with the Sherpa people based on my admiration for their courage and strength. Apart from that, I liked them very much as a people."
The Himalaya Trust has branches in the US and Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Germany, which raise funds to keep it going.
"Just last week in Kathmandu, we handed over the administration of the various projects to the Sherpas, who are very enthusiastic for what has been achieved. My mission has been travelling the world to promote interest in the trust and the work it does," Sir Edmund said.
So far, 30 schools, two hospitals, 12 medical centres, as well as airstrips for delivering supplies, have been established, improving the quality of life for the mountain people.
The ascent of Everest by Hillary made it the target of every would- be mountaineer and climber in the world. Nowadays, some 20,000 visitors gather in the foothills of the Himalayas each year, most of them with only one purpose in mind, to climb the mountain for themselves.
Hillary has no objection to the flood of tourists and climbers as long they respect the traditions of the local inhabitants and treat them with respect. A few days ago he spoke to his son, Peter, who was at base camp on Everest, on his way to the summit. There were 1,000 other climbers in the area. "In my day, we were the only people on the mountain," he added.
Has all of this activity infringed on Sherpa culture and on the lives of the people? "No, it's quite remarkable how the Sherpa people have held on to their culture. They retain very strong ties with Buddhism and their identity is largely unaltered. But of course, there have been disadvantages and some western habits have been transmitted to them, one of the them being the use of money. When we first went in, money didn't figure at all; it wasn't important, now it's quite important to them," he said.
At 82 and "too ancient", he says, to tackle even the Kerry "hills", Sir Edmund says his first visit to Kerry has been "thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing".
Mountaineering, he adds, has changed utterly since his day. The challenge now seems to be to find the most difficult routes possible. Climbing has also become a commercial pursuit, with guides selling their expertise to groups of would-be summiteers who are not themselves that expert.
Today in Tralee, he will officiate at the opening of the international Antarctica exhibition in the Kerry County Museum, the first of its kind in Ireland, marking the centenary of the arrival in Antarctica of Tom Crean, who was with Scott on board the Discovery.
The exhibition contains artefacts owned by some of the great names in exploration; Crean, himself, Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton. The items have been lent by the Crean-O'Brien family and polar museums around the world.
There are plans for a more lasting tribute to Tom Crean. A committee has been formed in his native Annascaul to erect a monument to him at Ballinacourty graveyard, his burial place.
The project is supported by Crean's daughters, Mary Crean-O'Brien and Eileen Crean-O'Brien, as well as Pat Falvey, the first Irishman to conquer Everest.