George Lowe, 89, died in Ripley on Wednesday after a long-term illness, with his wife Mary by his side.
New Zealand-born M Lowe was part of the team that helped Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the summit in 1953.
Family friend and historian Dr Huw Lewis-Jones paid tribute to a "gentle soul and fine climber" who shunned the limelight.
Mr Lowe also took 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.
Speaking to the BBC in 1995, Mr Lowe said of his Antarctic adventure: "We estimated we could do it in 100 days, and we got across on the 99th day.
"There was a great feeling of euphoria from everyone. It had a multiplying effect.
"We were pleased that England and New Zealand knew about it, and we thought that's where it would stop."
He also talked about his "second job" as the group's cameraman, and having to wear four pairs of gloves to work the clockwork camera.
"When there were dramas, there was a split problem. Do you take part in the urgency - or do you record it?" he said.
Dr Lewis-Jones, the former curator at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, who first met Mr Lowe in 2005, called him a "hero".
"I don't often use that word but then it is not very often that you get to meet one," he said.
Source: BBC News
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