KEY POINTS:
He had solid footing on the side of a mountain, but when Sir Edmund Hillary took his one and only step into the world of politics, things became a bit more slippery.
In 1975, Sir Ed put his name to a campaign called "Citizens for Rowling", which was hatched to try to get then Labour Prime Minister Bill Rowling re-elected later that year.
The campaign is now widely viewed as one of the most disastrous seen in New Zealand politics - it ended with Mr Rowling losing office in a landslide to National's Robert Muldoon after the public turned against Citizens for Rowling and branded it as elitist.
It was Sir Ed's first and last openly political move, but there has been a lingering view ever since that it cost him a chance to be Governor-General.
Sir Ed was one of 12 public figures who launched Citizens for Rowling - the others included the then Professor Geoffrey Palmer, broadcaster David Exel, Bishop Paul Reeves and John Hinchcliff.
The mountaineer's name stood out in the group and his message through the campaign was also slightly different to the others. The 12 each wrote small statements for a public booklet, and Sir Ed's was the only one not to include an open attack on Sir Robert . He pointed out instead what he saw as the advantages of Mr Rowling being Prime Minister.
"Being a Prime Minister is a tough job - especially being a good Prime Minister," he wrote. "I believe that Bill Rowling has a good chance to keep us together as New Zealanders - to disperse much of the bitterness and hatred that has sprung up in our society over the few years."
Sir Robert saw the campaign as an "exercise in character assassination" and at one point fought back by noting that none of the 12 people behind it needed to worry about their jobs or whether they had homes.
Public opinion turned quickly against Citizens for Rowling. It was seen as more of a campaign against Sir Robert than something which backed Mr Rowling. Sir Robert won the election and had a long tenure at the helm of the country.
During it he appointed Sir Keith Holyoake as Governor-General, which was seen in some quarters as a direct slap at Sir Ed.
