Before Everest

He was an extraordinary human being who created such a legacy for New Zealand but we did want to put the story straight. If my father hadn't organised the 1951 expedition, there's no way Hillary would have got on the British expedition in 1953.

– Filmmaker Richard Riddiford in an interview with Wilderness magazine, June 2020

What do you do when the man on the $5 note disparages your father?

– The question at the heart of filmmaker Richard Riddiford's documentary, NZIFF website

History is written by the victors. For 65 years, Hillary and Lowe essentially sanitised 1951's events, especially who climbed Mukut Parbat and the night of bitter dispute, [Lyn] McKinnon says. "People loved the Hillary myth," she says, "but times pass."

– Writer Will Harvie quoting author Lyn McKinnon on the infamous 1951 Everest expedition, The Press, 22 April 2017