The medal both recognizes the service of Sir Edmund Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) on behalf of mountain people and their environment and also encourages the continuing emulation of his example.

The 2017 Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal was presented to Peruvian engineer César Portocarrero in Kathmandu, on 11 December 2016.

[9] Starting in the 1960s, Sir Edmund undertook numerous small-scale development projects on behalf of the Sherpa communities of the Solu, Khumbu, Pharak and Rolwaling districts of eastern Nepal.

Working with friends, family, and volunteers, Hillary built some 27 schools, 3 airstrips, 2 hospitals, and an indeterminate number of bridges, water supply systems, clinics, and other infrastructure.

The idea for the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal came from the Nepal-based ecotourism and volunteer organization, Bridges: Projects in Rational Tourism Development (Bridges-PRTD),[10] directed by Seth Sicroff.