Beyond the challenge of even reaching the base of the mountains, which required a jetboat trip up India's Ganges River, the trip stood out for Hillary as a great father-son adventure. Rather than feeling he lived in the shadow of his father, climbing legend Sir Edmund Hillary, Peter Hillary used his upbringing to forge his own adventuring career.

"It comes down to how you want to see things," Peter Hillary said in a phone interview from New Zealand.

Hillary, who has also forged a career as a motivational speaker, will visit Saturday in Salt Lake City during a convention of Sibu Inc., a South Jordan company that markets dietary supplement juices. There will be a limited number of free tickets available to the public for his talk.

The father-son duo, along with a climbing team, became the first expedition to reach the peak of two Himalayan mountains in 1977. That adventure is an example of what lured Peter Hillary into the family business.

"I just love the people of mountaineering," Hillary said. "It didn't take long for me to decide what I wanted to do for myself."

When Peter Hillary climbed Mt. Everest for the first time in 1990, it was the first time a father and a son had reached the peak of that mountain. (His father and Tenzing Norgay famously became the first to summit Everest in 1953.) Peter Hillary repeated the feat on the world's tallest mountain in 2002.

His most recent expedition came earlier this year when he climbed Mount Elbrus, the tallest mountain in Europe at about 18,000 feet.

The keys to surviving treacherous climbs are maintaining focus, fostering teamwork and keeping a positive attitude, Hillary explained.

"Keep your sense of humor when everything is going mad around you," he said.

Today's adventurers have advantages over the pioneering mountaineers who set their sights on Mt. Everest, he said.

"We know more about the mountain, the weather, human physiology," he said. "Most importantly, we know it can be done."

Hillary has more mountains he'd like to climb, including Alaska's Mt. McKinley, but he has to keep perspective as time passes.

"I can't expect to climb mountains at the level I did in my 30s now that I'm 51," he said.

In making new goals, he strives to find challenges he can take pleasure in tackling, he said.

When not gearing up for the next adventure, Hillary helps his father with charity work in Nepal. The Hillarys have opened schools and hospitals and provided other aid to help improve the lives of the Nepalese.

Apa Sherpa has climbed Mt. Everest a record 16 times and made his maiden trek up the mountain on Peter Hillary's first attempt.

"It was a very good success," Sherpa, in Salt Lake City this week on business, said of his expedition with Hillary. Sherpa, who attended a school in Phame, Nepal, that Sir Edmund Hillary had opened, said the Hillary family has made its mark on life in Nepal.

Sibu also has a connection to the Himalayas, as the company's products use berries found in the region. The company sought a speaker with a connection to that region. Sibu also uses climbing analogies in its corporate terminology, which made Hillary a natural choice, said Varlin Law, president of the company.

"We looked for the most renowned speaker we could find," he said. Hillary's story of perseverance "is an inspiration to all."

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* GREG LAVINE can be contacted at glavine@sltrib.com or at 801-257-8620. Send comments to livingeditor@sltrib.com.

Looking to hear Hillary speak?

* WHERE: Peter Hillary will speak at the Sibu Inc. convention on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Salt Lake Hilton, 255 S. West Temple.

* MORE INFORMATION: Call Sibu at 801-542-7500 to inquire about the limited number of free tickets. Some tickets also may be available on Saturday. Inquire at the registration booth in the Hilton hotel.