If New Zealand had wanted to commemorate Sir Edmund Hillary, who died last night, an alpine centre showcasing New Zealand's pioneering history seems the perfect tribute. In fact, The Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre was opened on December 22, with the full support of the man himself.

The £3.5m centre on New Zealand's South Island is based at the Hermitage Aoraki Mount Cook in the small tourist base of Mount Cook Village, which lies 12km south of the mountain's summit, and features a museum and planetarium.

It also boasts a 3D theatre with a computer-animated journey that takes visitors climbing, flying and skiing across the Southern Alps including the landscape of Mount Cook, or Aoraki (meaning "cloud piercer" in Maori), which was first climbed by Hillary in 1947.

The planetarium has an audio-visual show mixing science and entertainment, as well as the technical-sounding wonders of something called a Sky-Skan Definiti Dome. The Centre is described by Hermitage Hotel General Manager Denis Callesen as "more advanced than any 3D theatre or planetarium ever developed in this country … the museum brings together objects that tell an amazing story of human endeavour and achievement.''

The funds raised by the Alpine Centre will be used to support Hillary's Himalayan trust, which has helped build hospitals, clinics and nearly 30 schools in Nepal.