The pair became friends and in 1951 were members of the first New Zealand expedition to the Himalayas.
They went on to join the British Everest expedition led by British Army Colonel John Hunt and to conquer the 29,028 foot mountain in 1953, days before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr Lowe went on to take part in the Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1957-58, which made the first successful overland crossing of Antarctica via the South Pole.
He later made expeditions to Greenland, Greece and Ethiopia before settling in England and becoming an Inspector of Schools with the Department of Education and Sciences and retiring in 1984.
Over the past few years up until his death, Mr Lowe and his family worked with Dr Huw Lewis-Jones, a family friend and historian, to put together his memoirs and photographs from the climb so they could be published this year.
The Conquest Of Everest: Original Photographs From The Legendary First Ascent, and another book Letters From Everest are published this month, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the climb.
The book of previously unpublished photographs - with a foreword by Hillary himself, an afterword by travel writer Jan Morris, the first person to break the news of the ascent, and personal reflections from mountaineers and explorers - includes landscapes, candid portraits and action shots portraying the day-by-day moments of the expedition.
The book of letters provides an insight into the expedition. The majority are written to Mr Lowe's elder sister Betty, who went on to make handwritten copies to share with the family.
The idea was Mr Lowe's, as he decided how to reply to the flurries of letters he received from well-wishers. The idea was he would write a letter to his sister so she could duplicate it to pass on to others.
"I have an idea that means work for you," he wrote to Betty in February 1953, "but it will probably be a good thing."
The first letter is dated February 20, written from the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay and further messages, written every few days, go on to document the expedition team's journey to Everest.
Compiled in the book, the letters give a continuous account of the expedition, including the moment when Mr Lowe was told by Hillary that he and Norgay had conquered the summit.
Mr Lowe wrote: "I dragged up again and met Ed and T. at the foot of the couloir - perhaps 500ft above the Col.
"They were moving fairly rapidly - the only tiredness showed in their slightly stiff-legged walking as they cramponned the last bit of the couloir.
"I crouched, back against the wind and poured out the thermos contents as they came up.
"Ed unclipped his mask and grinned a tired greeting, sat on the ice and said in his matter of fact way, 'Well we knocked the b*****d off!'.
"It was not quite matter-of-fact - he was slightly incredulous of what he had done.
"Although I had a feeling they had been successful, the statement roused in me a terrific surge of emotion and relief.
"Tenzing, though tired, was all smiles and I congratulated them both enthusiastically and Ed's remark was 'It was a wonderful climb - but if you'd have been there you'd have done the same'."
29 May, 2013
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFFGjuhzSMcV_cIqZvwDaqWwCfssw&url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10085954/Everest-anniversary-unpublished-letters-reveal-emotion-of-climb.html
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