Hillary takes his family on an Everest walk . Sir Edmund Hillary set off from London today to take his wife and three children on a " vigorous walk " , 15 , 000 feet up in the Himalayan foothills. Bound for Darjeeling , the family are to stay with Sherpa Tensing , the man with whom Sir Edmund climbed Everest . The three children are Peter , 7 , Sarah , 6 and Belinda , 3 . Sir Edmund said , " I want to take the family on a little trek to see something of the great Himalyan peaks . It is possible that the girls may get a little tired so I am taking a couple of ponies for them to ride , but the rest of us will walk ". The Hillary ' s will spend January and February at home in New Zealand . Then in March Sir Edmund goes to Nepal . He is to organise an Anglo - American attempt on the 21 , 500 foot peak of Taweche . Photo shows ; Sir Edmund Hillary with his wife and children at London Airport today before flying to India . 26 November 1962