Sir Edmund Hillary Parka, ca. 1955
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APPRAISER:
Are you a mountaineer, or a... and I see you have sled dogs.
GUEST:
Well, I'm 72 years old, so my mountaineering has kind of faded. But I used to guide Mt. McKinley climbs.
APPRAISER:
Did you? Wow. Well, I see that you brought in today a parka here. And have you worn this parka yourself in climbs?
GUEST:
Yeah, I wore it several different years and many different races.
APPRAISER:
Well, I see on the front here it's got a nametag. It's almost like a World War II pilot's nametag that you stitch on, and it has the initials "EH" on it. Can you tell me what that signifies?
GUEST:
Well, it's Edmund Hillary. And my friend Bill Denz, who came and worked for me in Alaska, he got the parka from Edmund Hillary when he told Ed he was going to Alaska.
APPRAISER:
Wow, what year was that that he got the parka from him?
GUEST:
'83.
APPRAISER:
Wow. Edmund Hillary had a background. He had been a navigator in World War II, and then later on he followed his dream of mountaineering. And he was the first, in 1953, to climb Mt. Everest, with a sherpa. He was the first to make the summit. So tell me about the Hillary Step on Mt. Everest in 1953.
GUEST:
Well, it's a real awkward spot at around 28,000 on Everest, and it turned back quite a few people. And Hillary was the first one who went up it, and he went around the side and up the step to the top.
APPRAISER:
Wow.
GUEST:
But apparently the weather had allowed him a better route than had normally been available. Because he was the first one up, they named it after him.
APPRAISER:
Well, Bill Denz, he was a legend. I mean, anything to do with mountain climbing in New Zealand happened because of Bill Denz. He was instrumental in getting climbing going there. So when Bill Denz came to work with you, tell me how you acquired this parka. Tell me more of that story.
GUEST:
Well, he brought the parka with him. And it was so beat up, you know, he needed better gear, I thought. So I took him to Anchorage, and I bought him all new Gore-Tex, and he gave me the parka for buying him all new Gore-Tex and boots.
APPRAISER:
It's got wonderful wear to it. Bill Denz, when he was given this, do you know what year that he was given this parka by Edmund Hillary?
GUEST:
'82.
APPRAISER:
The reason I ask is Bill Denz, he had a reputation for being invincible. Everybody who went climbing with him just thought that nothing could happen to him. He was in so many close scrapes, he had so many adventures in his career. And then in 1983, in Nepal, he died on a climb. So that would have been one year after you got this from him. Is that correct?
GUEST:
Right. Four months later.
APPRAISER:
Did you go on any climbs with Bill Denz, or...
GUEST:
I did a lot of climbs with Bill. Of course, he did extreme stuff. And I did some minor climbs with him. I wore it on the '84 and '85 Iditarod. I wore it to Greenland in '86, when we went to look for the World War II P-38 airplanes on the Greenland ice cap. It was so historical, I always just wear it to special occasions, you know?
APPRAISER:
Amazing. Well, you look here, and this is all coyote fur here, I believe. It's a European material which is a blend of cotton and nylon. I believe that at auction, this parka would sell between $4,000 and $5,000. It's just such an incredible historic piece. Amazing historic find. Thank you very much for bringing it in.
GUEST:
Thank you.
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