A Passage to Himalaya 8185336970, 9788185336978
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English Pages 363 [480] Year 2001
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THE HIMALAYAN CLUB The Himalayan Club, founded in 1928, is one of the earliest mountaineering clubs to have been established in the sub-continent. Its mission was 'to encourage and assist Himalayan travel and exploration, and to extend knowledge of the Himalaya and adjoining mountain ranges through science, art, literature and sport'. Today at the turn of the
new
that
it
century,
has
it
fulfilled
can be safely claimed mission with
its
considerable success. In
the pre-war years, every expedition to the
Himalaya and Karakoram was assisted by the Club members. After the ascent of Everest in 1953, there was a growth in the number of expeditions to India and Nepal and mountaineering caught on as a sport and inspired the youth to high adventure in the sub-continent. With this the role of the Himalayan Club has changed to an extent. Today the Club continues in its main mission by offering a meeting ground to its members - talks, slide and film shows are organised regularly. The Club offers scholarships for needy students to the courses run by the three mountaineering institutes in India.
It
has a
fair
stock of
equipment which it hires out to its members for a nominal charge and it issues to its members every year the Himalayan Journal and the Himalayan Club Newsletter. These publications have now been recognised as in climbing Himalaya, the Karakoram and the
the fore-most authority
in
the
Hindu Kush.
The Club has worldwide membership and can boast of most of the famous mountaineers amongst its members. The Himalayan Club welcomes members: trekkers, climbers, arm-chair travellers, or in any aspect of the mountains, can become members.
persons interested
membership, contact the Hon. Secretary in Mumbai)
(For
Digitized by the Internet Archive in
2012
http://archive.org/details/passagetohimalayOOhari
Soil S.
Mehta
/" rwa Spires, Arwa Valley, Garhwal. Inset. Editors the Himalayan Journal (1928-2001).
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Edited by
HARISH KAPADIA
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS DELHI LONDON NEW YORK 2001
©The
Himalayan Club, 2001
Published by
Divyesh Muni, Hon. Secretary
The Himalayan Club Post Box 1905, Bombay 400 001, Web-site (Hon.
:
Sec.)
e-mail:
(Hon. Editor) e-mail
Printed by
S.
V.
India
:
[email protected] [email protected]
Limaye, Printing
Works,
Ambekar Marg, Mumbai-400 031.
42 G.
ISBN 019 565774 8
D.
India
www.himalayanclub.com
To
Members
The World
is
of The Himalayan Club
a Fine Place and Worth Fighting for (Ernest
Hemmingway)
CONTENTS Page Message from Chief of
the
Army General
Staff Trails
From
A New
Past
To Future
M.
Dr.
S.
S.
Padmanabhan
Gill,
President
Harish Kapadia, Editor
Beginning
xiii
xv xix
THE FOUNDATIONS The Founding of HC The Change. The Word Himalaya
G. L. Corbett
3
H. W. Tobin
5
Sir G. Corbett
6
Himalaya, not Himalayas
Soli
Himalaya
Kenneth Mason
as a
playground
Himalayan Nomenclature
Soli
Mehta S.
9
Mehta
9
12
NOSTALGIA Mountains and
rivers of
the
Himalaya: then and now
Jack Gibson
17
Murray
To Live and Learn.... Memories of early Kashmir climbing
Dr. Earnest
Recollections of an Editor
Margaret Body
W. H.
Neve
22 28 33
EXPLORATIONS Sikkim
thirty years
ago
J.
Destiny Himalaya
The Zemu Gap Picnic on a glacier
A
C.
French
45
H. Paidar
48
H. W. Tilman
53
Stephen Venables
58
-
Karakoram journey
THE RANGE Moderate mountains
for
middle-aged mountaineers
The most spectacular
Holdsworth
67
Romesh D. Bhattacharji A. D. Moddie
76
Mavis Heath
84
R. L.
flight in India
Babar's crossing of the Zirrin Pass,
80
1506
Hidden Himalaya vn
PIONEERING EXPEDITIONS On the Summit of Nanga Parbat Makalu - The happy mountain The South Face of Annapurna
I,
1970
Hermann Buhl
87
Jean Franco
93
Christian
Doug
Everest South-west Face climbed
Bonington
99 110
Scott
THE CLIMBS The ascent of Trivor Kangchenjunga Solo The Abseil Jannu - My Way
Noyce
Wilfrid
121
Roger Marshall
127
Voytek Kurtyka
134
Tomo Cesen
138
NANDA DEVI Nanda Devi Three mountains - and
Charles
Nanda Devi, 1961 Nanda North Face
Hari Dang Terry King
159
Ballad of Bethartoli
John Nanson
170
S.
Houston
145
148
THE TREKS Some
scrambles on the Dhaula Dhar
From
Kalindi Khal to the
Bhyundar Pass Three months
in
J.
0.
M. Roberts
179
T.
H.
Braham
185
upper Garhwal
and adjacent Tibet
Gurdial Singh
191
Ladakh, 1979
Aamir
203
At Thangman Glacier
M. H. Contractor
212
Broad peak and Chogolisa, 1957
Kurt Diemberger
215
Rescue on Devtoli, 1974
Harish Kapadia
226
V Saunders
236
N. Chukerbutty
247
Lute Jerstad
251
H. B. Gurung
256
Dorjee Lhatoo
260
Ali
ACCIDENTS AND RESCUES
Accident on Panch Chuli
V
A.
SOCIOLOGY AND SCIENCES Folk-lore in the
Rupkund region
Therapy mountaineering Aspects of the
snowman
Climbing Sherpas of Darjeeling Pahari Topi: 'where did you get that hat?'
W.
Vlll
M. Aitken
266
THE STORIES The two
A
griefs
Prophet of old
The hunt of
a Urial
Philip Woodruff
273
G. C. Clark
278
M. Das
282
P.
Henry Osmaston
288
Hugh Rutledge
Kenneth Mason
293
'A. K.' Rai Bahadur Kishen Singh
Captain Ward
294
Khan Sahib, Mian Afraz Gul Khan Mangal Singh, Kumaoni
Captain Ward
296
P.
E.
Thompson
297
Hawkins of India
P.
J.
Chester
299
The Har Ki Doon
J.
T.
M. Gibson
302
Three pairs of boots
PERSONALITIES
BOOK REVIEWS Exploration of the Shaksgam
and Aghil
valley
ranges,
by Kenneth Mason
Francis Younghusband
305
Coventry
306
Plant-hunting on the edge of the world, by
F.
Kingdon Ward
B. 0.
The gods are angry, by Wilfred Noyce Return to Sikkim -
Tibet,
A
G.
Sutton
Muslim H. Contractor
by Heinrich Harrer
308
310
Himalayan Tragedy,
by Nari Rustomji
A dream
J.
Soli S.
Mehta
312
of white horses,
by Edwin
Drummond
M. H. Contractor
316
Harish Kapadia
318
T
Braham
323
H. W. Tilman
326
Peter
Lloyd
327
M. Gibson
Aamir
Ali
329
Kenneth Mason
Trevor
Nanda IN
Devi,
by John Roskelley
MEMORIAM
Wilfrid
Noyce
Eric Shipton
H. J.
Adams T.
Soli S.
Carter
Mehta
H.
Braham
Jagdish Nanavati
Chettan
T.
IX
G. Longstaff
335
337 341
CORRESPONDENCE The
origin of
"Kangchenjunga"
Major Nandu D. Jayal and Guiness book of records Meola my name
Lobzang Chhoden and F. M. Baily
345
Gurdial Singh
349
Bruno Meola and Harish Kapadia
350
ILLUSTRATIONS Front Cover:
Aq
Tash (7016 m) rising above the
Back Cover: Looking Pass
to
Murgo,
'the
gateway
Saser La.
trail to
on the Karakoram
to hell',
trail.
Photos: Kaivan Mistry. Frontispiece:
Arwa
Spire,
(Inset) Editors of the
Arwa
Valley, Garhwal. Photo: Harish Kapadia.
Himalayan Journal, (1928-2000)
Pencil-sketches from Himalayan
Honeymoon, by Bip
Pares,
Hodder and
Stoughton, 1940. Sketches of members and Sherpas of 1938 Everest team,
by Christopher.
Appearing between pages 32 and 33 1.
Panch Chuli (22,650 ft.) from Base Camp, Sona gad. Right to ft. Points— 20,710 ft., 20,780 ft., 21,120 ft.
left:
Summit— 22,650 2.
Uja Tirche (20,350 4,000
3.
ft.
Himal from
Bethartoli
5.
Zemu Gap from glaciers, 12th
Zemu Gap from
7.
Snow 12th
the
ft.
on the
ft.).
and Tongshyong
1936.
Tongshyong
col between Talung
May
Kharak (12,000
the ridge between the Talung
May
6.
the Lata
is
ft.
ft.) from Camp IV at 19,000 August 1950.
glacier, 8th
4.
glacier,
13th
and Tongshyong
May
glaciers,
1936.
from
the east,
1936.
Head of Tongshyong Kangchenjunga on
glacier,
right,
glacier. Is this Boustead's 9.
The rock face
left.
Uja Tirche at 17,400
II,
The Panch Chuli (22,650
Upper Sona
8.
The north ridge on
ft.).
From Camp
N. E. Face of Jonsong
Spur from south-east ridge of to head basin of Talung
Col leads over
Zemu Gap?
Peak from Camp
I.
10.
Composite photograph of North face of Chombu.
11.
N. W. face of
Chombu from Tha Chu
Valley.
Appearing between pages 96 and 97 12.
Views north into
Snow Lake from upper
Brakk (Snow Lake peak) pass hidden 13.
the big
Lupke Lawa
Biafo glacier.
pyramid
distant
Khurdopin
left.
to its right.
Tower' (5979 m) on Biafo-Solu watershed. South summit on
'Solu left,
is
and main summit on
right.
Camp
14.
North face of Makalu showing route with
15.
Makalu, 27,790
16.
From
17.
The South face of Annapurna from base camp which was at 14,000 ft.
18.
the
ft.,
west face; Makalu
summit looking down across
The face
is
VI
25,120
II,
in centre.
ft.,
on
left.
the south-east-arete to
Peak
3.
about three miles away.
Haston on fixed rope on
ice ridge
— note
method of safeguarding
oneself with sling
below
Camp
19.
Climbing the
ice cliff
20.
Bonington at
Camp IV
21.
Bonington climbs fixed rope on flanks of
22.
Clough on
23.
Climbing fixed ropes on ice ridge.
24.
ice ridge.
ice ridge.
Clough warms mild
V.
hands over gas stove at
his
Camp
VI after getting
frost-bite.
25.
Everest South-west Face.
26.
Doug 1975.
Scott on the
summit of Everest
To his right
is
the
emblem
at 6.00 p.m. left
by
on 24th September
the Chinese Everest
Expedition in the Spring of 1975. 27.
Dougal Haston on Summit
directly
hand corner of 28.
Aerial view of
the last leg before the
summit with
behind him and the deep gap the
in the
the South
bottom
left
photograph being the South Col.
Nanda Devi
with
Nanda Devi East on
the right.
Appearing between pages 224 and 225 29.
From Camp
30.
Mani Mahesh and peaks
I,
looking south towards the Arete of 'Cream Roll'. in
Chamba from below 'Two-Gun
June 1937. XI
Peak',
and
Matte rhorn' from Dadh, October 1937.
31.
'Toral Peak'
32.
The Dhaula Dhar 'Matte rhorn' from Dadh, October 1937.
33.
June
27,
1957
the
—
'
Hermann Buhl ascending
South-east ridge of
Chogolisa, view towards summit. Accident occurred on cornice out
of sight below right arm. 34.
Camp
Evening at
22,800
111,
ft.,
on the west face of Broad Peak,
looking towards Masherbrum, 25,660 35.
Broad Peak, 26,414
ft.,
ft.
showing route and camps: view from
Ridge of Chogolisa. Left K2, 28,250
ft.,
Gasherbrum
right
S.E. IV,
26,000ft. 36.
Nanda Devi peaks seen from
37.
West face of Nanda Devi.
38.
Dharansi Pass.
39.
Climbing 'Pathway
to
Devtoli.
Heaven', en route
to
the
Nanda Devi
Sanctuary. 40.
'The Curtain Ridge', en route to the
41.
Route
42.
Rescue
43.
Waiting for helicopter.
Nanda Devi
to Devtoli. in the Sanctuary.
Appearing between pages 320 and 321 44.
Rishi Gorge.
45.
Geoffrey Latham Corbett.
46.
Wilfrid Noyce.
47.
Sir Francis
48.
Charles Granville Bruce, 1866-1939.
49.
Willy Merkl, 1900-1934.
50.
Prof Kenneth Mason.
51.
N. D. Jayal.
52.
Jack Gibson, 1908-1994
53.
H.
54.
Roy
E.
Hawkins.
55.
Soli
S.
Mehta.
Adams
Edward Younghusband, 1863-1942.
Carter.
xn
Sanctuary.
MESSAGE On
the occasion of the Foundation Day of Himalayan Club, I convey my greetings and best
wishes to
all
Members.
Over the years, the Club has rendered service in promoting mountaineering
yeoman
and continues to contribute actively in organising expeditions and sporting activity in
in India
our mountains.
am happy
know that on this occasion, a compendium entitled A Passage to Himalaya' I
featuring
some
to
of
Himalayan journeys
the finest writings being released. This both the sport and is
tribute to practitioners of the past. fitting
on a
is
its
I wish the Himalayan Club many more years of useful service to the glorious sport of Mountaineering.
U (S
X^ Jan 01
Padmanabhan)
General
From
the President of
TRAILS T*HE
The Himalayan Club
FROM PAST TO FUTURE
IDEA OF FORMING
Himalayan Club germinated
the
when
surroundings of Shimla,
Sir Geoffrey Corbett, a
took upon himself to give shape to the club.
It
was
in the apt
member
of ICS
the initial efforts of Sir
Geoffrey Corbett, Major Kenneth Mason and the Chief of the
Army
then that saw the Himalayan Club to
is
by Corbett
its
inception. This story
Staff
well told
in the first article here.
Like any other newly born organisation, the Himalayan Club too had to
undergo teething problems. Gradually, the office bearers and the local
were appointed
secretaries
at suitable
roadheads from where an expedition
would normally venture
into the mountains.
queries that people from
all
As
fame grew, so did
its
over the world sent
to the Club.
To
the
tackle and
disseminate the voluminous amount of Himalayan information and archive
commenced
material that the Club had accumulated, Himalayan Club
publishing several journals, primarily the Himalayan Journal, which
is
considered the ultimate source of Himalayan information today.
Over
the years the Club's activities gained
momentum, sponsoring and
aiding international expeditions, conducting slide shows, seminars, and proliferating the vast
Himalayan amphitheatre
mountaineering achievements. With
which
instituted,
had risked
this
to
to discover.
and honour
identify
aim, the Tiger badges were
outstanding Sherpas.
felicitated
world
for the
The Himalayan Club has always been quick
in particular
those
their lives to ensure the success of an expedition,
shown extraordinary courage
in the face
of the gravest of
bestowed with the Tiger Badge would gain
among mountaineering
instant
peril.
who
and had
Any Sherpa
fame and adulation
countries the world over.
With the mushrooming of more and more
local branches across the
globe, the Himalayan Club soon gained the status of a truly international organisation, fields of
known
the world over for
There are hundreds of
work
its
immense
Himalayan exploration 'through science,
relentlessly, solely
Each
year, the
contribution to the
and
sport.'
selfless volunteers all across the globe,
due
to their love for the sport
which has kept the Himalayan Club fraternity.
art
at the forefront
of the mountaineering
Club assembles some of the xv
who
and the Himalaya,
finest
mountaineers
and speakers from different parts of the world, lectures at various places, for
At the turn of
this
members and
century the Club has to look
looking for a complete facelift
changing needs, the Club has now modified several of
mountaineering film
After Independence,
Tensing
in the
when I joined
its
the
with
its
library
housed
in
Delhi
in
started with Soli
1961, after training with
Institute,
it
was
functioning
still
people like Trevor Braham later
moved
to
who had Mumbai
I must 'Mumbai Group'.
India International Centre.
at the
yeomen work done by what
to the
it
glory slowly began to fade as the
Its
in Calcutta left, including
Club
guided the Club for years. Luckily the Club was
pay a tribute
make
exclusiveness and
armchair mountaineers.
Himalayan Mountaineering
between Calcutta and Darjeeling.
Englishmen
reduce
to
is
enthusiasts, including
to
The primary
festivals, inviting guest speakers, etc.
concern of the Club presently
more open
earlier rules
its
memberships, mountaineering scholarships, holding seminars,
for granting
It
now new premises, and Mumbai. Responding
at the future. It is
terms of procuring
in
building an international standard climbing wall in to
and deliver
to address
the general public alike.
I
call the
Mehta, K. N. Naoroji and Brian Ritchie. Soon there
were others led by Jagdish Nanavati, who remained Hon. Secretary for 21
He
years!
subsequently served as President of the Club for 8 years.
Harish Kapadia also deserves credit for taking over from likes of Kenneth Mason and Soli Mehta as editor and continuing with the
Now
Himalayan Journal.
his
must compliment Harish and
Himalayan Journal,
done on the
mountaineering world recognises
Club
is
in safe
Hon. Secretary,
Tanil
On
known
occasion
this
expand out and
we
to
It is
they are
we must more
necessary
if
look forward to the
Himalayan
professionalism. like
now
salute tnem.
visible
one has
We
taking
The
proud.
all
The
future of the
Divyesh Muni
it
as the
new
it
the vigour
forward with
full
it
had
speed.
The Himalayan Club must grow,
changes without resorting
to
unwanted
to flourish in the 'information century'.
as a
new dawn
in the era
of
and challenges, along with a deep-rooted
concern for environment protection, for one and its
I
have made some positive changes
new millennium
travel, exploration,
Editor.
Rishad Naoroji and others.
revived the Club, but given
And
our young people.
will consider
publicity.
We
before.
Kilachand,
Hon.
tremendous work they've
which makes us
its
hands today with people
They have not only never
the longest rein as the
is
his colleagues for the
all.
primary aim, the Himalayan Club surges forth on
future.
xvi
With
this
its trail
agenda as
towards the
While I
have
I
am
to learn
an old member,
and hope
once General Patton lead that
new
you it
I
am
honour
a
new
continue to do
told his troops:
into the battle'.
will be an
to
At
so.
recruit to the
management.
While assuming command,
'Gentleman,
it
will be a pleasure to I
can say
team
into the
this juncture, in a different vein,
to lead the
Himalayan Club and
its
century.
Dr. M.
xvii
S.
Gill
From
the Editor
jS\
A NEW BEGINNING f f
Tll/HAT, ANOTHER BROUHAHA planned for the Millennium ?" T This was the expected reaction from friends who had attended many
too
'dos'
72 year old Club cannot
by now. But a
we decided
century without fanfare. So
to present
enter the
new
our members and others
with a collection of mountain literature as a memento. Printed here are selections from the best writings of the
Himalayan
Journal. But one must remember that the present volume has 350 pages. And these were selected from 56 (yes, fifty six!) volumes of almost same number of pages each. So the selections are choices made by a team of editors and finally If
what you
suggesting
what we have here
most
like
in the
these selections,
Electricwala has
and pen
to
I
am
grateful to
all
after guiding the Indian
as
President, has
its -
am
when
cannot be helped. For
Dam
S.
Aamir
for bringing in fresh ideas.
running around with paper
President of the
S. Gill, for writing the preface. Dr.
M.
S. Gill,
Mountaineering Foundation vigorously for 6 years
now
taken over as the President of the Himalayan
With
the largest
busy schedule as the Chief Election
his
democracy
celebrations and this publication lot
it
despatches.
in
ever could find time to do anything
do a
-
thankful to the ever-dependable
supporters and specially to the
a rare distinction!
Commissioner of
a fairly representative selection.
now done enough
deserve a mention
Himalayan Club, Dr. M.
Club
I
is
missing here
is
Aitken and
Ali, the brilliant writer Bill
Huzefa
HJ
his heart
is
in
else.
I
have always wondered how he
But he has guided the Club, the
with enthusiasm,
proving that
man can
it.
The Himalayan Club (HC) was founded on 17th February 1928 in the room of Field Marshall Sir William Birdwood, then the Commander-inChief of the Indian Army, and he was elected the First President of the Himalayan Club. And now, on 15th February 2001, a special meeting of the committee of the Club is to be held in the room of General S. Padmanabhan, Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, who is elected as the first Patron of the club.
over a
new
The
HC
has turned a
full circle
and turned
leaf.
Harish Kapadia xix
The Founding of
HC
G. L. Corbett
The Change
H.W. Tobin
The Word Himalaya
Sir Geoffrey Corbett
Himalaya, not Himalayas
Soli
Himalaya
Kenneth Mason
as a
Playground
The Naming of Peaks
in the
Himalaya
Soli S.
The Himalayan Club was conceived on Hill in
Shimla during a
Corbett, the
Mehta
first
talk
Mehta
the Mall,
between two British
below Jakko
officers. G. L.
Secretary of the Club explains
how
the
The Club immediately settled down to establish norms for visitors to the Himalayan range. The name Himalaya itself was explained and rules for naming new peaks were established. The first editor, Kenneth Mason, foundations of the Club were
laid.
and his successors established a high standard of publication.
^^v THE FOUNDING OF THE HIMALAYAN CLUB G. L.
CORBETT
MR.ClubDOUGLAS
FRESHFIELD
the Asiatic Society of
Bengal by Mr.
me
Himalayan was formally suggested to Drew and Mr. W. H. Johnson. And
tells
goes back so far as 1866, when
Mr. Freshfield himself, writing that at
in
F.
that the idea of a
it
The alpine Journal
in
1884, advised
our knowledge of the Himalaya might thus be extended. "The formation
Calcutta or Simla," he said, "of an Himalayan Club, prepared to publish
would The idea must have recurred to many, but it never took shape, not because a Club was not wanted, but because in this land of endlessness it is only now and then that the two or three are gathered together. The thing had hung in the balance for years when a chance talk at Simla tipped the beam, and the Himalayan Club was born on the path behind Jakko on the afternoon of the 6th October, 'Narratives of Science and Adventure' concerning the mountains,
be the most serviceable means
to this end."
1927. I
wrote
first to
Major Kenneth Mason of
had long cherished the hope of a Club;
to
the Survey of India,
who
also
Major-General Walter Kirke,
then acting as Chief of the General Staff; and to Brigadier E. A. Tandy,
seemed no reason why was with me heart and soul; Kirke that he would do anything he could to help; Tandy that he would help in any way he could. So encouraged, I went ahead. The Viceroy, Lord Irwin, the Commander-in-Chief, Field-Marshal Sir William Birdwood, and Sir Malcolm Hailey, then Governor of the Punjab, were among the Surveyor General of India.
the time should
first to
the
whom
I
now be
Survey of India;
who
was
diffident, for there
Mason
told our plans. Others
still,
replied that he
were Mr. T.E.T. Upton, Solicitor
to
Edwin Pascoe, Director of the Geological Major-General Kenneth Wigram and Brigadier W. L. O. they say, count for something among Gurkhas; Mr. G.
Government of
Twiss
I
fulfilled.
India; Sir
Mackworth Young, Army Secretary; and Mr. J. G. Acheson, Deputy Foreign Secretary. Mason meanwhile had consulted Major E. O. Wheeler of the Survey of India, and Captain
J.
G. Bruce, 6th Gurkhas. These were the
founders of the Himalayan Club, and
it
is
to their
confidence and sound
judgment that the Club owes its constitution. There were three others who had no claim to be members of the Club, but whose interest and advice
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
4
meant much
to us: the
Secretary, Mr.
J.
Foreign Secretary, Sir Denys Bray; the Education
W. Bhore, who included
in his
Department the Survey of
Mr. George Cunningham. was Denny Bray who determined the quality of our founder members: "What you want," he said, "is a solid core of men who have done things."
India;
and the Private Secretary
to the Viceroy,
It
We
proceeded deliberately, remembering always that
There were three things
that counts.
to
be decided:
it's
the first step
What should
the
Club
What should be its objects? Who should be asked to become founder members? The name of the Club was soon settled. "The Alpine be called?
Club of India" had been suggested, but seemed
whose
likely to scare those
was not high mountaineering; nor had we need to look for a name beyond our own great range. Almost from the first we thought of ourselves as "The Himalayan Club." It was agreed that our objects should be based on the famous definition in the Rules of the Alpine Club. But it is shikar that first impels nine-tenths of those who go to the Himalaya; and though we were unwilling to admit shikar as a specific object of the Club, we thought that our objects should recognise that knowledge of the Himalaya is extended through "sport," which would cover mountain climbing and interest
ski-running as well as shikar. In this
"To encourage and
assist
way we
Himalayan
arrived at our definition:
travel
and exploration, and
to
extend knowledge of the Himalaya and adjoining mountain ranges through science,
art, literature
and sport."
The list of those who should be asked to become founder members, was anxiously and carefully compiled. Our intention was to include everyone who had "done things" in the Himalaya; and if anyone was inadvertently omitted, I hope he will forgive and join us now. On the 20th December, 1927,
Mason and
I
sent out our circular letter, and then
apprehensively for the replies.
We
had never dared
to
we
waited
hope for such a
From all over India and beyond, and from the back of beyond, from Europe, Africa and America, replies came welcoming the Club and response.
making varied and valuable suggestions. Almost everyone replied, and almost everyone who replied became a founder member. Our 127 founder members contribute to the objects of the Club much that there is of Himalayan knowledge and experience. The Club was formally inaugurated at a
meeting held in Field-Marshal Sir William Birdwood's room
at
Army
Headquarters, Delhi, on the 17th February, 1928.
While we were still intent on our first step, we learnt that "The Mountain Club of India" had been formed at Calcutta on the 23rd September, 1927.
Mason and spirit,
and
I
it
took an early opportunity to meet Mr. W. Allsup,
was agreed
that the
its
moving
two Clubs should go forward with mutual
THE FOUNDATIONS
5
goodwill, and that the question of fusion should be considered
inaugural meeting of the Himalayan Club
At the
later.
was decided
it
to
ask the
Mountain Club whether it would be willing to amalgamate. A general meeting of the Mountain Club on the 14th December, 1928, agreed to amalgamate "for the benefit of the common aims of the two Club," and we are now one strong and united organisation. Allsup to our regret has now left India, but the combined Club will not forget how selflessly he advocated amalgamation.
We owe much
too to the Alpine Club, and in particular to Colonel
founder members, and
From
to
who
Alpine Journal,
E. L. Strutt, the Editor of the
is
also one of our
Mr. Sydney Spencer, the Honorary Secretary.
the first and throughout
I
have been
in close
correspondence with
them, and their ungrudging help and wise advice have never failed me.
Members of the Alpine Club who come to a warm welcome and all the assistance that
And it:
so the Himalayan Club
is
the the
scientist that
our knowledge of the Himalaya, its
peoples and their
expand; the
artist that its glories
may dream
of the
first
may
how
to
(HJ
Vol.
enjoy
life
rocks and glaciers,
may
living,
inspire fine pictures.
its
continually
The mountaineer
ascent of a thousand unclimbed peaks, the shikari
men
in India, hard
on the high
My own
and
hope
self-reliant,
is
that
who
may know
it
will
hills.
/Av
1929)
1,
its
way of
of record heads shot in nalas yet unknown. help to rear a breed of
we hope great things of map may be filled in; the
founded, and
the geographer that the blank places on his
animals and plants,
Himalaya may be sure of Himalayan Club can give.
THE CHANGE H. W.
TOBIN
UNLIKE
THE PREFACE
to
volume
xiii,
the presence
and
matter of this editorial requires no explanation but only apology for the shortcomings of an inexperienced editor. That issue, ably edited by
Wilfrid Noyce, worthy successor to Kenneth Mason, was, as he termed 'a
coming
alas,
to life'
number.
And
it
was
in truth a
promising
the swift evolution as independent states of India
brings in
its
train the early repatriation of nearly all active
it,
rebirth. But,
and Pakistan
members of
the
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
5
Himalayan Club. And the hitherto simple access
new
in the
states.
to the great
enjoyed only by those
India's northern borderlands will be
Consequently, unless, or
mountains of
who
will
mountaineering
until,
is
work taken
up seriously by Hindu, Moslem, Sikh, and others, the very raison d'etre of the Club will be no more. Nationalization of the Club or a
volume
is
\iv
tor all of us
given so
its
almost certain to be a final issue, which
members, and perhaps more especially
much
of their time and their talents to
a
member
its
hand
it
(HJ
better qualified
to another nurse,
will fall
Vol.
it
seems
its
that
a tragic thought
who have
creation and
The
life.
should be
in the
with up-to-date experience of mountaineering in and
from India, so the now officiating editor was only
someone
is
So
for those
that future production
Committee had hoped and planned hand of
mean production of
successor will
national editor and a national publication.
Journal by
it
became seems
to 'hold the
baby' until
available. Instead of his being able to
that the duties of
performing the obsequies
on the present incumbent.
14,
^/^V
1947)
THE WORD HIMALAYA Sir
GEOFFREY CORBETT
WORD Himalaya THE Hi-ma," snow, and
is
derived from two Sanskrit words,
—
means The Abode of Snow. Words similarly formed and similarly pronounced are "Devalaya," Abode of God and "Shivalaya," Abode of Shiva. In northern India, Himalaya denotes the whole range, or rather ranges, stretching from Chitral to Assam, "like a measuring rod of the earth." But in Nepal and east of "a-la-ya," abode; and
—
—
Nepal, each group of snow-covered peaks
which
is
it
is
called
a contraction of Himalaya, and a separate
group rather than
to the individual peak.
Himala or Himal,
name
Thus Brigadier
is
given to the
E. A. Tandy, late
Surveyor General of India, says that the Everest group is called Maha Langur Himal in Nepal, and that Mount Everest itself has no Nepalese name. Similarly Colonel Ganesh Bahadur Chattari, who directed the recent survey operations in Nepal, considers that the Tibetan is
name Chomolongma
applied generally to the whole Everest group or Himal, and not
particularly to the highest peak.
—
—
THE FOUNDATIONS
7
The common Anglicised pronunciation is Himalaya. But in recent years among superior folk to say Himaliya or Himaliya.
there has been a tendency I
happened
year to be a
last
member
of a committee of the Indian legislature
which included representatives from
all
parts of India,
and we suspended
work one morning to discuss the right pronunciation of the word from which the Club takes its name. There was considerable argument and divergence of opinion, which I should summarize thus: Northern India
r
..
Bengal
..
Southern India
at
Army
Hindi-Himalay.
Urdu-Himaleeya.
..
Himala or Himal.
..
Himaliya.
Colonel C. L. Peart, Adviser of Examiners
(1)
{ (2)
..
in
Languages and Secretary
to the
Board
Headquarters, was good enough to go into the
question, and he has sent the following note:
"There
is
no doubt
pronounce the
all
that Tibetans
first 'a'
and Hindi and Urdu-speaking Indians
long, though the last
named
stress
it
more than
the first two.
"The
real difficulty lies in the transliteration
Several Tibetans questioned by the Indian the
word
of the
as 'Himaliye' passing quickly over the
'Himalai' and 'Himalay.'
It
last
two
syllables.
Member of the Board pronounced 'i.'
Hindus pronounce
will be noticed that these renderings
it
have the
effect of making all the syllables of the word almost of the same length. The Muhammadan rendering is 'Himaliya' and less frequently 'Himala.' These renderings have the support of the standard Urdu dictionary, the
Farhang-i-Asafia.
"The rendering given by only be supported a,
the final soft
Sanskrit.
Army
Read
if it is
'a'
in
Platts
and other authorities, 'Himalaya,' can
read in the Hindi or Sanskrit way, that
being the sound that follows
many
final
is,
Himalay-
consonants in
any other way, say under the Hunterian system or the
system, the word would read Himalaya, which of course
"Plans' rendering,
if
read in the Hindi way,
is
is
wrong.
probably the correct
way
same as the commoner Tibetan and Hindu pronunciations given above. The difficulty of writing the word so as to ensure that the last two syllables are pronounced in the Hindi way is overcome for us by the fact that English people already pronounce these two syllables almost in that way. of writing and pronouncing the word and
the
we should follow Tibetans and Hindus in their Muhammadans is only reasonable, as the former are
"That not the
is
renderings and the inhabitants,
and therefore have presumably the proper pronunciation of the name.
If
— A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
g
that
so,
is
only remains for the Survey of India to bring the English
it
pronunciation into line with the Hindi pronunciation as given by Platts
and others, by placing an accent over the written in English,
i.e.,
"Under our present Army system which
of the word as already
the
word would be
written 'Himalea.'
an excellent rendering but would, no doubt, be violently assailed."
is
Peart's note to Professor A. B. Dhruva, Pro- Vice-
showed Colonel
I
first 'a'
'Himalaya.'
Chancellor and Professor of Sanskrit
at
Benares Hindu University.
He
writes: " 'Himaliya, with the accent
authorized Urdu or is
correct so far as the accent
also
on the second
is
so far as
it
on the second
Muhammadan
But the Urdu pronunciation
vowel a between
"The Tibetan 'Himaliye'
is
be the
concerned, which in Sanskrit and Hindi
is
syllable.
slurs over the
syllable, is said to
pronounciation, and the pronunciation
/
and
is
defective in
v.
a corruption of the Sanskrit 'Himalaya', the
a on each side of y being changed into i and e according to well-known laws of sound and change. The Muhammadan 'himaliya' nearly corresponds to the Tibetan 'Himaliye, syllable.
and 'Himala'
The omission of a
after
/
in
is
the contraction of 'aya' into one
some mouths
is
due
to the
absence
of accent on the third and fourth syllables. "In the Sanskrit pronunciation the accent falls on the second syllable,
much
with a slight accent on the final soft a, just so
pronounce
it
distinctly.
as
is
required to
Since Hindi and other modern Indian languages do
not require the final a to be pronounced distinctly or even indistinctly, there
is
only one accent, and
it
is
on the second
syllable.'
The sum of it all is that Himalaya is a Sanskrit word, and there is no doubt about the correct Sanskrit pronunciation. The English equivalents of vowel sounds are these
the
—
Hi- as in "him" -ma-
as in "father".
-la-, |
In is
as in "fur" or French "le".
modern Hindi
the final -a
is
ordinarily not sounded, and the world
pronounced Hi-ma-lay. I
have reached
this
Malaviya and Pandit
(HJ
Vol.
1,
1929)
conclusion with the help of Pandit
Brijlal
Nehru,
who
assure
me
that
it
Madan Mohan is
correct.
THE FOUNDATIONS
^/^^ HIMALAYA, NOT HIMALAYAS MEHTA
SOLI
1HAVE
BEEN
meaning
to
about this for some time Rahul in his book "The
write
Ram
now, but a recent paragraph by Prof.
Himalayan Borderland" places I
quote
"I
the subject in
its
proper perspective.
:
have used the collective name Himalaya (Him, snow, plus alaya,
home)
in place
of the
commonly used Himalayas, which
and a grammatical monstrosity. Indeed,
to use the
is
a double plural
word Himalayas
is
as
absurd as referring to Englishmen as the Englishes or using the word alphabets for two or
Himalayas phrases.
jars
It
is
corruption. In
more
letters
and characters of an alphabet. Moreover,
on ears accustomed
curious that all
it
is
euphony of Sanskrit words and
to the
only
English that the
in
name
suffers a
the other languages of the world, including other Western
languages like French and Russian,
it is
what we
in India
have called
it
from time immemorial."
(HJ
Vol. 32,
1972)
y^V
THE HIMALAYA AS A PLAYGROUND KENNETH MASON OF THE EARTH MANY PARTS They low low
today are in an unhappy state of
unrest.
A few parts are
are the
of the earth are
parts,
left unspoilt;
in altitude
and low
in outlook.
the loftier regions of the
among them. From time immemorial men have been
Himalaya
able to quit the
anxieties of their daily life in the plains and seek relaxation, pleasure, and
peace among the mountain solitudes.
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
10
The Himalaya
are
becoming
better
known
to the world.
The days when
they were visited only by survey officers, travellers, and sportsmen, escaping
from the heat of the plains, are gone. Every year more secrets are revealed, more hidden paths are trodden; and every traveller, maybe quite unconsciously, reaps where his predecessors have sown. Every new achievement has a long history of preparation behind it. A great summit
may be to
its
seen from the plains and fixed; a surveyor locates the approaches its beauty and pass it by; perhaps a
base; travellers remark on
mountaineer, unprepared to
Between
may
come
grips,
to
may
and the day when the summit
this stage
play about
its
many
reached
is
skirts.
years
elapse.
found Kamet; Adolf and Survey of India, in 1875, and Pocock surveyed its western flanks. Detailed reconnaissance began in 1907. Bruce, Mumm, Longstaff, Morris Slingsby, Meade, Kellas, Morshead, and possibly others, Richard Strachey, as long ago as 1848,
Robert Schlagintweit were next to see fixed its position and height accurately
it;
first
Ryall, of the
all
played their part, before Smythe led his party to a well-planned victory
in
1931.
So
is,
it
and so
None become nation.
it
should be, with other great peaks of the Himalaya.
the personal property of any one
Each subscribes
man,
still
less
of any one
his contribution to the ultimate object.
and nationalism have nothing
to
do with the matter.
A man
Nations
of one nation
may show the way, a man of another nation may reach the summit; a man may help towards success from an office in Simla ocjn London;
of a third
without the Himalayan porter no success
is
possible; all have contributed.
There has been talk of 'poaching'. Poaching consists of snaring things from another man's property. It is not applicable to the great mountains of the Himalaya. No man and no nation has a prescriptive right to climb any of the summits, except with the permission of those to
who
whom
they belong;
consideration than
shown his competence has a better claim to one who has not. In many forms of international sport
friendly rivalry
giving place to a passionate nationalism. There
though one
is
has
is
no
place for this in the Himalaya. There should be friendly co-operation between
mountaineers of
all
nations, though,
international high-climbing parties
One records.
curse of Himalayan climbing It
was held
for
many
owing
may be is
years by a
to
human weaknesses,
inadvisable.
the straining after high altitude
humble member of
the Survey of
who placed a pole on the summit of Shilla in Spiti, 23,050 feet, in 1860. He did not know the altitude, and we do not know his name. The modesty of the man who achieved this feat should be a lesson to modern
India
record-seekers.
(HJ
Vol.
7,
1935)
THE FOUNDATIONS
11
y^v THE NAMING OF PEAKS HIMALAYA
THE
IN
ATTENTION IS CALLED to the letter from Brigadier H. Surveyor-General of India, dated the
J.
Couchman,
October 1936, regarding the
1st
invention of names for peaks and other features of the mountains to the north of India, the full text of the letter
The Surveyor-General asks
that his letter
published in the Honorary
is
Secretary's Report for the year on p. 196, and
it
should be carefully studied.
should be brought to the notice
may
of travellers and will be grateful to explorers for any suggestions they care to make.
Names where
possible should be given in the local vernacular,
and English names should be given very sparingly. The words
local
vernacular are important. In an uninhabited area, such as parts of the
Karakoram, the use of
Balti or
Ladakhi should, of course, be preferred
to
the language of Kashmiri shikaris or Darjeeling porters. In his letter the
Surveyor-General asks that proposed names with sketches or annotated copies of Survey of India
maps should be
sent to
him
either direct or
through the Himalayan Club. Full reasons should be given for the proposed
names, with their meanings
names
will not
It is
to
in
English and the language adopted. Personal
be considered.
be noted that the Surveyor-General
for the adoption of
is
the sanctioning authority
new names. Geographical names have been given by
explorers in the past, a few of them with the consent of Surveyor-Generals, others without. class
is
when
a
The only knowledge
new
the Survey has of
traveller goes to a region
name is not known; in that case he sometimes suggests name has been sanctioned by the Surveyor-General
a
interests
name
of geography that future travellers should
as widely
known
some of
and reports
try
the latter
that a certain
a
new
it
is
one.
more
Once in the
and make the accepted
as possible in the district, so that that
name and
no other becomes current among the neighbouring people.
With the approval of the Surveyor-General, a small committee has
some time
names of mountains in Karakoram, and it is hoped to publish the results of the work of committee in the next Himalayan Journal. past been investigating the
for
the this
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
12
^^v Himalayan Nomenclature For the information of mountaineers climbing in the Himalaya and the Karakoram (perhaps the Hindu Kush) some guidelines on naming unnamed peaks have become increasingly necessary. The Editor of the Himalayan Journal therefore wrote a
letter to the
Surveyor-General of India, and for
the benefit of present-day readers reproduces
below the correspondence: 5 Oct. 71
'The Surveyor-General of India
Survey of India
Dehra Dun
(U.P.)
HIMALAYAN NOMENCLATURE Dear
Sir,
Volume IX (1937) of the Himalayan Journal,
In
the editor printed
a letter from the Surveyor-General at the time, Brig. H.
No.
letter
Mason.
As
I
291-T of 1st October 1936, enclose a copy of that letter. d.o.
editor of the
increasing
trend
J.
Couchman-
to the editor,
Himalayan Journal, I have felt concerned at the of expeditions towards naming peaks
indiscriminately, particularly with personal names. to reprint this letter as a
I,
therefore,
again provide guidelines in this connection to the leaders.
fresh letter shall
to print
it
in the next
—
it is
all
the
towards accuracy
more necessary in
that
You may
or even issue a this
matter and
volume.
The Himalayan Journal, as you know, references to climbing in the Himalaya,
Kush
own
on the policy of the Survey of India on
be pleased
wish
reminder to future expeditions and to once
probably wish to add some comments of your
I
Kenneth
is
one of the foremost
Karakoram and it
the
leads and guides a
Hindu
move
nomenclature, spellings and heights.
Leading directly from the last statement, it must be noted that the average climber in India suffers greatly from the lack of good maps.
do not wish, here, to argue on the pros and cons of the official decree and such restrictions, but would prefer to suggest to the I
powers-that-be through you, of the issue of sketch maps (as can be
found
in journals, but infinitely
more accurate) on
a sufficiently
THE FOUNDATIONS
13
large scale as to assist the practising mountaineer in his endeavours
and also guard against his temptation to reckless naming of peaks and their heights. The areas required are comparatively few, e.g. Kashmir, Kulu, Lahoul, Chamba, Garhwal, H.P. and Sikkim. such a suggestion should
If
fall
on
share the effort in every
way
fertile soil, I
we would
behalf of the Himalayan Club that
wish to say on
gladly undertake to
possible.
With kind regards Yours faithfully Soli S.
Mehta
Hon. Editor, Himalayan Journal.'
The following letter No. d.o. 291-T of 1 Oct. 1936 received from J. Couchman, D.S.O., M.C., Surveyor-General of India.
Brigadier H.
'As you are perhaps aware, the question of the entry of names invented by explorers and others for peaks and other features of the
on maps published by the
muntain systems
to the north of India
Survey of India
one on which there has been occasional controversy.
is
'The practice of the Survey of India
names should be entered on itself responsible, unless
least
indigenous origin.
in the
case of
Mount
It
in the past has been that no maps, of areas for which it considers
its
they have been found to be of local or
Everest, but
highest mountain in the world especially
when
at
has admittedly departed from this practice
the result
it
will
be generally agreed that the
entitled to special treatment,
is
was so euphonious.
In the absence of a
name, the old practice was to allot a symbol, and a number. This practice has, however, been
local or indigenous
usually a letter
abandoned on our maps
for
many
years except in the case of
which, as probably the second highest mountain,
is
K2
perhaps also
entitled to special treatment.
'This practice has had
two
results,
unfavourable. The favourable result
one favourable, the other is
that there has
been no
temptation to give personal names to peaks, the embarrassment of selection of the person to be so honoured has been avoided, and the situation, not
unknown, of the name of a peak being changed because its owner had lessened, has not occurred.
the reputation of
'The Survey of India will always be grateful to
its
predecessors
for this result.
'The unfavourable result
is
that
owing
to
absence of local or
indigenous names in these sparsely inhabited areas our maps are undoubtedly deficient in names. With the everincreasing growth of
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
14
Himalayan
travel this defect
is
becoming of increasing prominence.
'The position has therefore been examined, and that the
it
has been decided
embargo on invented, other than personal names, should be
removed. 'Invented
maps
names
be accepted by the Survey of India for
will
its
taking into consideration the following points: (i)
(ii)
(iii)
Lack of
local
names
Suitability of the
When
in the vicinity.
names.
applicable,
degree of currency among
the
climbers and explorers that they have already obtained. (iv)
Personal names will not be accepted.
'Suitability is difficult to define, but entirely fanciful or
names
will not
such as those
in the
Karakoram and
considered for adoption
at
'You will no doubt agree that
its
doing
so, either
the
Sikkim Himalaya,
will be
once. this
brought to the notice of travellers, and in
humorous
be acceptable. Well-known English names of peaks,
by publication of
I
change in policy should be would request your assistance
this letter or
by a reference
to
contents.
'The Survey of India will be grateful to past, present and future explorers for any suggestions they
language of the names
we
may
care to make.
As
regards the
should prefer that English names be
confined to the more popular climbing centres. In the lesser-known regions explorers are requested to suggest
names
freely after
consultation with the local guides or coolies-nalas, cols, glaciers,
and peaks
may be named
after
some
local pasturage or other existing
name, or may be invented with reference,
some
other distinctive feature. Such
in the local
say, to shape, colour, or
names should normally be given
vernacular and should be pointed out to the local people
so that they
may
the
more
should be given sparingly
readily gain currency. English
in areas
which are
names
likely to be unimportant
from a mountaineering point of view. 'Explorers are requested to report their proposed
sketches or annotated copies of Survey of India
maps
names with to
me
either
direct or through you. In sending in reports full details should be
given of the reasons for the proposed names, with meanings in English, and the local language adopted.'
(HJ
Vol.
9 and 31, 1937 and 1971)
Mountains and
Himalaya
:
rivers of the
then and
now
Jack Gibson
W. H. Murray
To Live and Learn Memories of an
early
Kashmir
Neve
climbing
Dr. Earnest
Recollections of an Editor
Margaret Body
Each mountain has an
history and as a mountaineer spends
much
time in the range there are nostalgic memories. This allows for introspection and the history of the range
observations. For Gibson, Garhwal
Kashmir was
attractive.
was
Murray uses
is
recreated by their
the playground, to
his
Neve
pen with grace whilst
And no sooner do you complete Maggie Body firmly take over. I was most impressed when I first heard her lecture on the writing about the various ranges.
the writing, than editors like
recollections of chasing authors
mountaineers chasing a mountain.
all
over the place;
like
y^x MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS OF THE HIMALAYA: THEN AND NOW JACK GIBSON
Then we
Now
trod soft along pacdandies;
on black topped saraks.
telas ply
The hills that then were green with trees Are barer now and scarred by land slips. The wood carved, stone roofed mountain hamlets Are changed to cement and corrugated iron. Pilgrims by tourists
now outnumbered
Pray with their feet no longer, but
Ride packed
The
By I
buses belching fumes.
in
river's blue
is
turned to grey
blasted rock and bulldozed debris.
miss the peace of yesteryear.
And
yet,
and
beggar's diminished,
yet,
The bear-scalped
farmer, goitered shepherd,
Children dying of disease,
Women
in difficulty
with child birth
Have schools and hospitals within their Wheels can replace the back for loads, The river's water will be stored,
And
roads defensive and for trade
Have changed
MY
reach.
the
ways of
life that
was.
FIRST EXPEDITION in the Himalaya, fifty years in 1937 when we were the first to climb on
John Martyn
ago,
was with summit
to the
ridge of Bandarpunch, and then to cross by the Kalindi pass from Gangotri to Badrinath.
This range had already been crossed by Shipton and Tilman,
but by another route unsuitable for laden porters.
We
from Mussoorie
who looked we engaged other load places when these returned,
after us
to
and carried loads
carries first in Mussoorie, in Harsil.
We
had with us throughout,
Naini Tal, the Sherpas Tensing and Rinsing at
high altitudes, and
and then
to take their
paid the porters Rs. 114 a day to carry up to 50 lbs and cover
17
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
18
up
to 16 miles.
There were,
we were
who would
told, those
carry up to
20 miles a day for 12 annas! As far as I remember we paid the Sherpas Rs. 2Vi a day, and the two months' expedition cost us each Rs. 80
lbs
700. In 1955 the
first
known
ascent of Kalanag,
Black
to us then as the
Peak, with Sherpas Pasang and Chetan and varying numbers of porters, the
Kalanag expedition
lasting about
40 days, cost us about Rs. 950
each member. The expenses of climbing were increasing, but were
-
for far
still
less than they are today.
now were
Other great differences between then and footwear.
Warm
and
boys mostly climbed
light thermal in
in clothing
grey flannel trousers.
We
all
walked
in
Boots for climbing were heavy and nailed with clinkers and, get them, tricounies. a pair of Henke's I still
to
It
was not
much
till
later that
I
gym
if
shoes.
you could
was able
to
import
Vibrams where moulded rubber took the place of
have these as
I
and
underwear had not been invented and
nails.
cannot find anyone with large enough feet (size 11)
want them. Any takers?
We
had crampons, but not those with spikes
we had no pitons. Climbing rope in those days was bulky and heavy and we never had enough for fixed ropes. Ice axes of course we carried for hard snow and ice. forward
My
at the toes,
last
and
expedition was in 1973, but as
this, like all
but three of
my
was with school boys, and these others were between 1937 and 1940, 1 have no qualifications to write
sixteen adventures into the Himalaya, three
of mountaineering 'now'. in
My
only experience has been watching training
rock climbing under Colonel Balwant Singh Sandhu
of Mountaineering tied to or
at
Uttarkashi. There
hanging about the climbers
I
at the
was astonished
— apparatus
Nehru
at the
that
Institute
ironmongery
enabled them to
climb vertical slabs or overhangs that would have been impossible early days; but that with
you have only
modern equipment
been insuperable
climbing journals
to read reports in
difficulties
in
my
to realise
can be tackled that would have
in the past.
Another great difference between then and now
is
speed of approach.
Then we had to get to our mountain on our feet. This would take a week or more and involved carrying food for both arrival and return, and this meant employing more porters. Today you can go far into the mountains by bus or jeep. This has the disadvantage and acclimatized as
The
we
used
great thing today
adventure to trek or climb
is
that so
many more
in the hills;
the rivers in canoes or inflatable rafts.
Adjutant of the Joint Services
that
you may not
arrive as
fit
to do.
Wing
are
and not only
When
I
moved by
the spirit of
to trek, but
come down
did this with cadets and the
of the National Defence
Academy
in
NOSTALGIA
19
October 1950 from Devaprayag, and then with other cadets
down
the Jamuna,
become
as popular as
Devaprayag sunk but
was
I
is
it
Hardwar.
to
1951
in April
never expected that White Water Running would
I
afraid
it
I
now.
come down
to
Ganges from
the
the boat (an inflatable raft) could not be
might be capsized.
know about
of rocks, but did not
wanted
I
knew
I
we could keep
reckoned
waterfalls.
looked carefully
I
of the river but could find none marked. To
make
sure
clear
at the
map
wrote to the
I
Survey of India, the Forest Department and the authorities of the Ganges Canal and asked them
None of them decided
did, but
if
We
had
to
falls
below Devaprayag.
and waited for a suitable occasion. This came
to find out
Dushera holiday and we was.
knew anything of
they
none of them could guarantee there were none.
I
at the
from Dehra Dun where the N.D.A. then
set out
go round the Siwaliks by Roorkee and Hardwar
as the
bridge across the Song at Doiwala had not yet been reconstructed after the rains.
We
got there in time to enquire about buses up the Ganges valley
were told
for the next day and
we
to
be ready to
hours
and we
full
to the water, to the
not believe their eyes. At
down
go
they
in
long survive. The
were soon
first
boat float to
in a
we weathered
men
to carry
Prayag where the Bhagirathi and hanging on
their dip
inflated the rubber floats, launched the boat
we planned
-reached Devaprayag at
to chains
we
being washed away by the swirling current. Here
to prevent their
let the
We
started.
Alaknanda meet and where pilgrims take
life
by 7 a.m. Accordingly
afternoon and enlisted the help of a gang of
in the
down
the boat
was
the bus
till
about 2.30
and
start
lined up early the next morning, only to have to wait exasperating
it
first
they thought
how
to see
far
and
The
set off.
we were going to it got, and when
locals could
return by bus
they realised
we would
not
100 yards were something of an adventure as
we
made
plain that they thought
it
rough patch with water breaking over the sides; however
that
and began
jackets, though
to feel
more
confident.
We
were
all
wearing
had we been upset the danger would have been
less
from drowning we supposed than from being badly bashed about. All the
same they were psychologically comforting.
We
swished
down
the gorge
through magnificent scenery, here and there between precipitous black cliffs,
and
at
great black
the water
humps,
was most
in others
it
occasionally got stuck, finding
main
current.
The
other places between high banks of shelving white sand.
movement of
Here and there
it
interesting.
At places
it
welled up in
swirled round in whirlpools in which it
difficult to get the boat
we
back into the
rushed over some great submerged boulder
and you found yourself dropping as much as three
feet
on the other side;
or going round a cliff enclosed corner you were thrown against the rocks
and had cliffs
all
but
you could do
came
to
to fend the boat off.
Twice we crashed
no harm, and each time our confidence
into these
in the
boat
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
20
We
increased.
dark
had covered about 21 miles by the time
— an average speed of about 7 m.p.h.
and eddies.
In places
were fortunate
in spite
began
it
to
grow
of delays in whirlpools
we reckoned we were going
good
a
15 m.p.h.
We
being able to land on a gentle shelving sand bank leading
in
to a little village.
Unprepared
for the delays
on the road
we had hoped
to
reach Rishikesh before night and had brought no beddings with us, and
we had
if
they would have been, like us, wet through.
quilts in the village, spread
We
borrowed two
one on the sand and the other over us and
huddled as close together as we could. The top one did not quite stretch
from one end
dew
fell
and there was a certain amount of tugging remember because I was at one end. It was cold and but it was much less cold and uncomfortable than it
to the other
during the night.
I
heavily,
would have been without
We
the quilts.
were off again early the next morning, expecting
by lunch. But instead of getting places
we
let
easier, the river
down on
the boat
to reach Rishikesh
became more
difficult. In
the end of a rope, one of us remaining in
it to ease it over rocks while the rest, on the side, hung on to the rope. Just below Laxmanjhula we had our most exciting moment. We saw a big drop in the river ahead and decided to land. In spite of frantic efforts to row to
the shore the current took charge and carried us into a fierce rapid.
We
estimated that the waves were three to five feet high and they filled the
boat so that
we were
sitting in
water up to our waists. Here
I
had better
describe the construction of the boat, an inflatable naval landing craft that I
had bought from war disposals.
of
wood wired
two lower
together so that
floats,
one
at
each
it
side,
Above, forming the sides of the
was covered by
Its
deck was of heavy
would
roll up.
and rested on the
boat,
into the boat. This sheet prevented the water
away. While fresh
from
I
tried to tear
it
up
I
floats
were two more
a rubber sheet to keep water
slats or battens
These were fastened
when
floats,
to the
inflated.
and the deck
from beneath splashing up
we had shipped from
getting
shouted 'Bale, bale her out'. The Adjutant,
a parachuting exercise, thought
I
was using
the expression
'bale out' in the Air Force sense. 'Don't, Don't, he shouted. 'Cling on.
Cling on'. Fortunately
soon emptied
itself
we
all
clung on, and the sheet removed, the boat
of water, and
we had
importance of inter-service understanding. The
learned something of the rest
of the day was peaceful
and beautiful, and as we slipped past the temples the people worshipping or bathing turned to look at us.
Though
the
voyage had turned out successfully,
I
hardly expected to
However the winter passed, misgivings were dimmed, the blood stirred in the warmth of spring and April provided another holiday for Holi. We decided to go down the Jamuna from where repeat such an adventure.
it
is
crossed by the Mussoorie-Chakrata road to the headworks of the
NOSTALGIA Jamuna
At
canal.
that time of year there
21
was not
a great deal of water in
were many rocks above the surface.
the river and there
places to ease the boat over them. At one place
at
down what looked
a harmless rapid
the force of the water turned
on
life
jackets and
of our clothes.
It
came
I
lost
we were overtaken by
Another upset
tied the boat up,
the boat got stuck
over and spilled us into the
it
no harm, but
to
my gun
had
to get out
fast
on a rock and
We
river.
and we
all lost
had
most
took us some time to repair the boat and collect what had
floated ashore, and the gorge.
when
We
we were going
in the
climbed the
cliff
house, two miles away, where
darkness before
we
got out of
dark persuaded us to abandon ship.
and found someone
we were
to
We
guide us to the
expected to dinner.
I
wrote
in the
Guest Book of our host: Jagut Shamsher Jang Bahadur
Kept a good
I
and a good larder
Sood and Ranu came to dinner Out of the night, and drank and
ate
Dry every
plate.
The next day we not',
cellar
Gibson, Uppal, Ombir, Sinha,
Till
bottle
and clean every
retrieved the boat and completed the voyage.
took us through magnificent scenery and to anyone
wake I
I
who
does follow
can promise almost unlimited excitement. But don't
suggested you should go, and I
T would
wrote, 'seriously advise anyone to repeat these voyages, but both
end
make your
will before
an attempt to describe the pleasures
in
One, a vanity, has been
making
in
are diminishing, but there are
still
first
I
tell
in
our
your mothers
you do
so.'
have had from expeditions.
The opportunities
ascents.
for this
many unclimbed peaks and numerous
new ways of getting up those already climbed, and one must always remember that mountaineering is largely a matter of luck with the weather. Valuable,
think,
I
is
the sense of satisfaction and achievement in reaching
one's objective, and this
with you, be I
it
is
young beginners you take
particularly so for the
a summit, a pass or just a trek.
have had enormous fun skiing, a sport that has not yet been
developed
in India. In the
often find, early in the day
summer,
when
heights above 14,000
ft
fully
you can
the sun has softened the hard surface of
the snow, conditions that are perfect.
mountain
at
I
suspect the time
may come when
huts, like those in Switzerland, are widely built for skiers
and
climbers.
Above
all I
movement,
have enjoyed just walking
in the
mountains: the rhythmical
the changing scene, the birds and animals and flowers. If
you
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
22
cannot afford the time or equipment for
There
difficult climbing, just
go walking.
no finer or better health-giving way of taking a holiday; and
is
remember when you do so not to leave litter, and refrain from spoiling and shrubs to make a fire. Take a stove and fuel with you. 'Then' there were few expeditions to the Himalaya and little damage was done in trees
burning the plentiful supplies of dry wood. 'Now'
we must
think of
all
those others.
(HJ
y^X
1987)
Vol. 44,
TO LIVE AND
LEARN...
MURRAY
W. H.
MY
ACTIVE CLIMBING LIFE
having come to an end, I thought to some vivid memories of past days. I went so far wrong road as to make a list of what these might be: the
regale readers with
down this moments of
and
their direct opposites
'Number your
insights:
'not
great danger, the hairbreadth escapes, the suspense of
—
exploration
red-letter
by summits (no time
when
there)'.
The long
second thoughts. Not only had much of
it
new
relaxation brings
days by campsites', said
Tom
Longstaff,
gave
me
been said before, but
all
length of the
list
mountaineers had had such experiences of their own, therefore had had
them more vividly than by hearing them again from me.
My
plan had been a mere beating about the bush, an evasion of the real which was: when had mountains taught me in a long life? What, if anything, had I learned of real value? Real, not just for me but hopefully
issue,
for others too?
once
to
The second, I
I
had of course learned a multitude of things.
mind, and two are enough for first its
thing
I
will explain these two, but first, let
'Nothing
is
impossible for the to
rose at
had learned was the value of commitment, and the
corollary, that all obstacles are imposters,
The words sound
Two
this short discussion.
me
glib,
me
say that
man who
I
and none impossible.
do know the aphorism.
doesn't have to do
spoken perhaps by one
it
himself.'
who had
not yet
discovered commitment's secret.
When
I
began climbing as a young man, one of the
to learn, if only
first
things
I
had
by slow degrees, was a proper irreverence for the pundits
NOSTALGIA of
my own
country, that
and
my
ice'. In
when
is,
me
they told
was impossible, or
time, that a rock-route
23 as they did
from time
else 'unjustifiable
early years on Scottish mountains,
began
I
to
under snow
to appreciate
the truth of Fridtjof Nansen's words, spoken out of his Arctic travels: 'The
which can be done at once, the impossible that which takes But I still had to learn their truth more thoroughly.
difficult is that
a
little
longer.'
In 1939, at
had found a friend
I
Westminster.
He
me
told
climb one particular peak
awesome bedroom
spoke of
its
hung on
his
feet of
unbroken rock
obstacles, his I
—
—
he was 14 his ambition was
to
Muztagh Tower. When he eyes shone. Sella's famous photograph
Karakoram
in
wall.
John Hartog, then a schoolboy of 17
in
that ever since
took one look
the
at that
monolith, nearly 10,000
— the thought came me despite lessons thought knew by Mercifully, embarrass held my tongue and swallowed my laughter — did not want impossible!
the
involuntarily,
to
heart.
I
I
the boy.
The north wall of
the Eiger,
which had
I
to
I
been climbed, looked
just
by comparison stumpy and practicable. Yet John was no wild-eyed youth.
He had commonsense and eyes and a quality of
an orderly mind. Behind his glasses were quiet
stillness.
a first-class brain, and
I
liked him.
seemed able
He knew
to relax in that
already that he had
awareness.
When
grew up, he would act with authority without seeming aggressive would also, I felt sure, grow out of his Muztagh folly.
The war with Germany
carried us off.
he
— and
When we were demobbed,
John
Oxford and soon became president of the OUMC. His boyhood dream was still with him. Sella's photograph still hung on his wall at
went
1
to
college, and
climb to
still I
my
discounted
equal to his Muztagh. taken
at
Two
all
thought of his acting, for he could not
standard on rock and (I
ice,
had not seen
and
I
reckoned
years
later,
return,
Michael Ward, being closed, a
Tom
I
photographs
was climbing with friends in Kumaon. Within a China invaded Tibet. That event sharply reminded
Bourdillon and me, that the old approach to Everest
new one might be opening, because Tilman,
autumn of 1950, had been allowed Houston's American party.
A new
to
go up the
Pathar, at six miles' range.
I
that
same
glacier with
its
west side from 18,000 feet on Kala
asked him what he thought. His reply was
unequivocal, characteristically terse: 'Impossible. I felt, I
Khumbu
reconnaissance of Everest from Nepal seemed to us an urgent
need. Tilman had photographed
1.
standard not
other angles).
month of our
as
my
his collection of other
was not unduly dismayed.
I
Oxford University Mountaineering Club.
knew
that
No
route.'
Confounded
no one could say such
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
24 a thing of
any obstacle without 'rubbing his nose against
nose was not six miles long.
am
I
unable to
same thing (inwardly) of
not been saying the
Meantime, the Himalayan Committee of the
side (seen
from the col
RGS
and
east of
Pumori)
up the
possible, even could one get
AC
2
glacier... the
I
backed Tilman.
report of the
do not much fancy
'I
Had
Muztagh Tower?
the
— they had read Mallory's
That was hardly surprising
and Tilman's
it',
criticise his opinion.
it
Khumbu
would be
western glacier and the
slopes above revealed one of the most awful and utterly forbidding scenes
came
ever observed by man.' Tilman's emphatic words therefore clincher.
They would
grant us no money.
£500 of our own, and on (The
News Chronicle had
that basis
I
So we each agreed
as a
to put
up
went ahead and organized.
offered us £40,000 on condition that
we
took
along a staff photographer, and a reporter with freedom to write as he
We
chose.
turned that
were unwilling
no
down
to suffer.
At
as likely to result in ballyhoo of a kind the last
moment,
the Times gave
Throughout,
strings attached, but too late to be of practical use).
we
£5000 with
we
had good moral support from the RGS.
One month
We
before
asked him
we set off, Eric Shipton had arrived back from China. He told me that he too had seen Everest's west side
to lead.
from the Pumori Col. and agreed with Mallory and Tilman from the
Khumbu
homeland...
Pumori
— but would come because he'd love
The upshot was, of
in late
we climbed on
course, that as soon as
September, and looked
full
on
— no route
to visit the Sherpas'
to Everest's
to
west face, the
route to the South Col lay plain before our eyes.
No
less plain rose that
major obstacle, the
to us all like a death-trap.
Hanging
Khumbu
icefall. It
seemed
glaciers draped the flanks of both
its
containing ridges. Judged by Alpine standards, the avalanches falling from these must surely rake the icefall from side to side.
I
could already see that
debris scarring the Nuptse wall had shot out to near the icefall's centre.
Could we long as
justly ask Sherpas to
we watched and
the advice given to
reconnaissance:
southwest side
We made
me
by
'My guess
much more
prone to avalanche.'
I
go there? Doubts
waited, no other ice-blocks
Tom is
Longstaff
filled fell. I
when he
that you'll find the ice
our minds. But
then remembered
first
heard of our
on the mountain's
viscous than that on the north, therefore less
mentioned
this to Eric.
He was
naturally uncertain.
three probing climbs to search that icy chaos for a safe route
through, and in late October began our final ascent of the whole icefall. 2.
The Royal Geographic Society and The Alpine Club.
NOSTALGIA Nearly a month of dry weather had reduced
25 snow-cover.
its
It
was now
in
an extremely open, rickety condition. The glacier seemed to have been
moving down upon a badly days.
It
unco-ordinated jerks. Less than two hours up,
in
looked as
if
shaken by earthquake. The upper glacier overhung the
lower, and between them a great
blocks the size of houses.
A
chasm had opened, jammed
I
here?'
felt terrified. I
tight with ice
glassy bridge spanned the nearer part of this
chasm. As we roped carefully across feet.
we came
shattered area, which had greatly changed in the last five
I
could feel
He muttered
Shipton did too.
trembling beneath our
it
me, 'We shouldn't be
to
agreed wholeheartedly. Quite apart from the blue depths waiting
The farther we went, became badly 'shot', with dark cracks running in every direction. When an ice-axe was thrust hard through, it was apt to meet empty space. (We were glad not to be wearing us, I feared still more more tortuous grew the
below
the Nuptse flanks above.
the
route.
The
glacier
crampons). At one passage through seracs, a giant
pillar, as tall as the
Tower of Pisa, leaned so far out that we expected to see it topple at any moment. We crept past, holding our breath. At last we faced the final wall. After two abortive attempts, a route to the top was cut by Tom Bourdilon. We had made it the way looked clear to the South Col. But not quite
—a
—
vast crevasse at our feet barred the full breadth of the glacier.
could do no more, and turned back. not be ours
— not today — but
its
We knew now
that the
day would come.
We
We
mountain could
had dispelled the
psychological barrier of 'the inaccessible' and the negative attitudes
engendered.
We
had found the key and could pass
it
on.
Our
upper glacier basin and to make a supply route up the would need aluminium ladders and much fixed rope.
to gain the
In
it
successors, icefall,
one long day of nervous tension, we had climbed up and down
without incident. Nothing had fallen from Nuptse.
No
serac had toppled.
Lrngstaff had been right as usual. Subsequent history has shown the whole obstacle
— so intimidating on our
first
an imposter, not impossible. Nonetheless, principal killers.
After that,
I
A
ascent it
my
to
be like every other,
has been one of the mountain's
wise climber has to keep
ought to have learned
—
alert at
lesson
every move.
— but my grasp of
it still
fell short:
We
live
and
learn, but not the wiser grow.
Pomfret's one-line shaft might have been aimed straight
at
me. Thus,
when John Hartog told me that he soon hoped to have time and money to make his attempt on the Muztagh Tower, I gave no positive encouragement. In 1956, now aged 34, he invited Tom Patey, Ian McNaught Davis, and Joe Brown, to join his team. That they were able to climb the mountain
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
26
notice that summer, with
at short
was due every
minimum
reconnaissance and no hitches,
He had
entirely to John's twenty-year research.
known photograph of
the mountain
in his
from ground and
possession
air at
every
Never
angle. Every written report had been collected, filed, and analysed.
before had an unclimbed peak of the Karakoram been so thoroughly studied
man
by a
trained to research from his youth. His
was
the first attempt by
any nation, yet he knew already that his best approach was by the Muztagh
and Chagarin glaciers, and
At
his
his first attempt, the twin
been a wrong tendency their great skills
most hopeful route the northwest
summits were climbe^ There
to give all credit to
and known names. The
ridge.
has, since,
Brown and Patey because
truth is that while they all
of
had
need of each other, the Muztagh had been Hartog's peak. His, the chosen
commitment, and so
route; his, the long-term
ascent.
He was The
conception.
principally, his, the first
the vital initiator, the linchpin and energy source in
route as climbed
time in Asia (AJ 1956,
HJ
was
1957).
It
technically the hardest
made
done
its
at that
history for another and better
reason: following the ascent of Everest and eight other 8000-metre peaks
by ponderous expeditions, mounted
at
high cost and manageable only by
use of army-type logistics, the Muztagh
seemed
new
to clear the
goal
It
air.
— not height
came
as a pointer to the future.
It
directed the climbing world's attention to the
for
its
own
sake as before, but to high standard
climbing on lower peaks, done alpine-style, by small, swift parties, and with costs cut from £100,000 or more to £4000 or
less.
The Muztagh story had begun with a schoolboy's dream. John Hartog was so unassuming that I forbore to scoff, but confess I had thought his dream impractical. This is an old, old story, which we all have to keep in mind that dreams are more potent than reason: that if you can dream a thing you can attain it too, as often as not. The pages of the HJ through the years give endless testimony. Dreams are for action.
—
That truth has a universal application, without
we dreamed
that Everest
limit.
When I was
young,
might be climbed one day without oxygen, and
were derided by the physiologists. We dreamed of space travel and planets, and were derided by the physicists. And so it plane. This year, in a debate broadcast from
to the is
moon
on every
Oxford University,
I
heard
who dreamed of man's union with the deity derided by the biologistphilosophers. We may all be slow to learn, but slowest of all are the men those
of science, raise
it.
A
when
they lack vision.
do not seek
I
to
abrogate reason, but to
camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle. Vision can.
There are many doors closed
in this
But for mankind, of which we through will always be found.
world
all
to a
handicapped
man
or
woman. Ways
are part, no doors are closed.
NOSTALGIA That brings
me
make our very
commitment.
to
first
When
27
three friends and
expedition to the Himalaya,
I
thought to
we were dreaming
in
Garhwal and Kumaon, but were not yet committed. Dearly as we wanted to go, we wondered: Could we raise the money? Dared we jeopardise our jobs? Did we know enough about Himalayan conditions? We dithered and delayed, but not too long. The great change came when with sudden resolve, we put down our money and booked our passage to India. A simple but vital act. We were committed. Our change in fortune was then so rapid, much of it through prompt help from members of the particular of
Himalayan Club, Until one
is
that
I
felt
moved
committed there
is
is
one elementary
this record:
truth,
all
acts of initiative
ignorance of which
countless ideas and splendid plans: that the
committees oneself, then Providence moves
moment one
and kills
definitely
too. All sorts of things
occur to help one that would not otherwise have occurred.
whole
A
from the decision, raising in one's manner of unforeseen incidents, and meetings, and
series of events issues
favour
all
material assistance, which no his way.
I
man
could dreamt would have
What you can
The Himalaya has commitment,
Vol. 50,
come
have a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: do, or
dream you
can, begin
Boldness has genius, power, and magic
(HJ
3
draw
hesitancy, the chance to
back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning creation, there
down
time to set
at the
is,
in the
finally taught
me
that
in
it.
it.
man, given single-minded
long run, not subject to impossible obstacles.
y\
1994)
MEMORIES OF EARLY KASHMIR CLIMBING Dr.
ERNEST NEVE
(No mountaineer who has
visited
Kashmir during
the last half-century
has ever appealed to our veteran member for advice or help in vain. Dr. Ernest Neve joined his brother Arthur, who had already been at the in Srinagar for four years, in the winter of 1886. They learned to know and love the people and their land; they carried hope
Mission Hospital
Scottish
Himalayan Expedition, (Dent, 1950).
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
28
and health to every remote village in the State; and, long before any Himalayan Club came into existence, they were the two fountain-heads of information to which all mountaineers went for advice. In the memories that follow, Dr. Ernest barely mentions his own achievements and claims no repayment of the debt so many of us owe to him and to his brother. - Ed.)
ARTICLE, 'early climbing' must be taken to end with the War EJ THIS 1914-18. Even so, impossible to draw a sharp distinction between f
it is
travellers
and explorers, such as Schlagintweit and Shaw, surveyors, such
as
Godwin Austen and Montgomerie, and sportsmen and
as
Mummery
and Bruce. All
in the early
climbers, such
days contributed to our knowledge
of routes, passes, and mountains. It
was during and
after the Indian
first
heights,
and names of many
and
that the Great Trigonometrical
lofty
and impressive peaks north of the Indus
Kashmir were then determined, and
in eastern
first
Mutiny
undertook the scientific survey of Kashmir. The position,
Survey
in
1861
Godwin Austen
discovered and surveyed such glaciers as the Biafo and the Baltoro.
This important work should have revealed the enormous potentialities of
Kashmir Himalaya for the Alpine climber. Yet, in spite of the splendid work done by the Government Survey, there still remained areas off the main valleys north of the Indus almost unvisited, and much further exploration was accomplished by such expeditions as the Forsyth Mission to Yarkand in 1878. W. H. Johnson in 1866, and Freshfield again in 1884 proposed the founding of a Himalayan Club, but it was not till 1927 that the Club was born and nursed by Corbett and Mason. the
In 1882, little
little
when my
brother Arthur
first
mountaineering for sport. In his
went
first
to
Kashmir, there was very
year he
made an
interesting
journey into the Astor valley and climbed the Alampi pass, obtaining
Nanga Parbat which he thought infinitely more impressive snow slopes and ice-cliffs of the eastern face of Mont Blanc.
a fine view of
than the great
Descending
to the
Indus
at
Katsura, he entered the wonderful gorge, where
below Rondu the peaks tower up
to the south to
on the other side Haramosh reaches 24,270 journey Arthur began those
first
and matured, were recognized
feet,
while
On
this
glaciological observations which, amplified
in
by the award of the Back Grant,
knowledge of
over 19,000
feet only 7 miles away.
1911 by the Royal Geographical Society 'for his
important contributions to our
Kashmir
the physical geography and glaciology of the
Himalaya'.
The was
first
that of
large-scale exploration after
Younghusband.
my
In 1887, inspired
arrival in
Kashmir
by the example of
in
1886
his uncle,
NOSTALGIA
29
Robert Shaw, he traversed the whole length of Asia, and from Yarkand crossed the main K'un-lun range by the Chiraghsaldi pass. to correct a topographical error in the
map
He was
able
of the Yarkand basin; for he
observed that the southern tributaries of the Yarkand river came down, not
from the Muztagh range, but from an intermediate one which he crossed by the Aghil pass; and that between the range and the Muztagh lay another long tributary of the Yarkand
On
river, the
Younghusband had stood entranced by
the Aghil pass
magnificence and glory of the view their to
snowy summits and
18,000
feet.
Shaksgam.
— peak
after
the
peak stood before him,
beetling crags reaching heights of from 15,000
Following down the Shaksgam valley and turning the
corner of the Sarpo Laggo, incredible height.
K
2
again
What an experience
came it
in sight, rising to
must have been
followed his daring crossing of the Muztagh pass, with
an almost
for him! its
Then
adventurous
and perilous descent.
Younghusband
visited this region again in 1889. Since that time he has
always been the most influential supporter and a valued adviser of the
numerous expeditions which have
visited these regions,
whether for
climbing the higher peaks, or for exploring and mapping the Muztagh
He was
range.
My
a pioneer himself of that fascinating country.
memory is of Conway, Eckenstein, and Bruce, who in 1892 way to Gilgit, and after some practice climbs reached the Hispar by a cross-country route and then traversed that glacier, some of them crossing the Nushik pass and others the Hispar pass. The latter went down the Biafo glacier to Askole and on to the Baltoro glacier, which has since been the operation ground of so many subsequent expeditions. Conway made
next
their
climbed 'Pioneer Peak'
(c.
23,000
feet),
with
its
glorious view of 'the
Muztagh Tower'. He would have liked to attempt Masherbrum, 26,500 feet, but the weather was too unsettled. From the north the summit of Masherbrum appeared fenced round by ice-cliffs and crags.
The extent to which this district has been subsequently explored is well known. My brother and I met most of the travellers in Kashmir. In July 1899 Dr. and Mrs. Workman visited the Biafo glacier and climbed on the Skoro La mountains. They mapped the great Chogo Lungma glacier up to its
sources.
Drew had
described this glacier thirty years before. In 1909
was the base from which the Duke of the Abruzzi made his attack on K 2 which presents an unbroken series of precipices and overhanging glaciers. Two attempts were made: the first, up the eastthe Baltoro glacier ,
south-east ridge, only reached an altitude of 16,000 feet; on the west a fairly
high col on the watershed was climbed. Judging
be impracticable, the
Duke
this side
of
K
2
to
next surveyed the upper basin of the 'Godwin
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
30 Austen
glacier',
and from the south-eastern ridge of 'Staircase' he examined
the northern side of the mountain; then, abandoning
K
2 ,
he moved
south branch of the upper Baltoro ice-field and set up a small the seracs
to the
camp over
by the Chogolisa saddle. From here, on the 18th July 1909,
hours of climbing
in soft
snow, he succeeded
after
reaching an altitude of
in
24,583 feet on 'Bride Peak', or Chogolisa. This was,
at that time, the
highest altitude reached by any climber. Farther east,
De
Filippi's great expedition of
1913-14 was splendidly
organized, with very careful provision for scientific research. Dainelli was the geologist and naturalist.
and the upper equipped
The upper Shyok
tributaries of the
party,
Yarkand
river
valley, the
Depsang
were surveyed by
plains,
this well-
to be omitted owing to was subsequently surveyed by Kenneth were given in the finest series of volumes
though the upper Shyok valley had
the outbreak of the Great War; this
Mason. De Filippi's results which has ever been published of
this region.
These were the high lights of my pre- War memories in Kashmir; but were many other journeys of great interest. If I mention my brother's, it is because the Editor pressed me to do so. In the autumn of 1895 Arthur crossed the Deosai plateau and visited the Shigar valley, making interesting observations and notes on the geology and former glaciation of the district. there
He ascended
the Nushik La from the south, hoping to descend to the owing to the lateness of the season, he judged the seracs and berg-schrund impassable. In 1897, starting from Kel in the Kishanganga valley, he made what was probably the first crossing by a European of the Barei pass, and descended through the little village of Paloi to Chilas.
Hispar, but,
In 1902 Arthur
known
was especially
attracted
by the Nun Kun.
Two
well-
climbers, Bruce and Lucas, had previously visited these fine twin
peaks, but had not had time to outflank the seracs. also skirted the massif and had photographed
and the Parkutse La. With limited time
at his
only able to reach a height of 18,000
feet.
The Workmans had
from the Rangdum valley disposal, Arthur Neve was
it
He
discovered, however, a
practicable route between the precipitous North Peak and the
Dome
Peak,
which looked quite easy. There appeared to be a good site for a tent at a point just above 17,500 feet, and it was here that Dr. Sillem, in 1903, acting on my brother's advice, placed a little base tent for some days and from it climbed to the great snow plateau between the two peaks. accompanied by Cecil Barton, my brother revisited Nun Kun. had an experience which might have had brave results. It was the end of July. The Gulmatonga river, above the junction with the Shafat river, was swollen by melting snows. Barton and two of In 1904,
It
was on
this trip that they
the strongest porters roped together tried to cross and
were almost swept
NOSTALGIA
31
away. They finally emerged on the other side, wounded and exhausted.
Rangdum
This happened some distance below the
Ascending from the Suru
river
where
it
monastery.
tunnels under the rocks at
Camp in the Sentik, my brother, with provisions, an a Mummery tent, crossed the Barmal,
Tongul, and establishing a Base
two days'
three porters,
found an excellent of D41.
By
11
line
up
and the weather so threatening their highest point they
of
Barmal La, and then attempted the ascent
to the
o'clock he reached 19,000
Dome
Peak.
These
activities
were
feet,
that the attempt
level with the
but the
snow was so
had
be abandoned. At
snow
had an interesting sequel; for
to
plateau at the west foot
in
1906 the Workmans
returned, and ascending by this route they placed a higher
from
plateau, and
In
1902 Arthur had,
in
camp on
climbed 'Pinnacle Peak', 22,800
this point
soft
the
feet.
Alpine Journal, pointed out a needed
the
correction to the map, regarding the destination of the great glacier flowing
westward.
When
once more
the
Workmans
disputed this correction
region, proving that the great
enters the head of the In these
Nun Kun
climbs
my
which these expeditions can be and obtained
first
Nun Kun
some
with a length of
15 miles
1
brother demonstrated the
effected.
He employed
economy with
seventeen coolies,
and eggs from Suru. The whole cost of two of them was under seven pounds.
flour, sheep, fowls,
the tour for the
The
brother returned in the
Barmal glacier flows from the outlying
Nun Kun massif, and Wardwan valley.
buttresses of the
my
and carried out some survey work
in 1910,
ascent of
Kun was achieved by Count
Calciati's party in 1913.
His beautifully illustrated book with delightful reproductions of his photographs of
this
mountain from
his
camp
at
20,666
feet,
views, was not published until 1930. Nun, however,
and of other
still
awaits
its
conqueror. In 1907 Arthur visited the
Karakoram. He travelled up the Nubra with
Captain Oliver, the Joint Commissioner for Ladakh, through Panamik and as far as
Gompa.
It
was from here
that Collins of the
Survey of India
in
1911 ascended Shelma and other peaks in order to triangulate Teram Kangri.
Oliver and
my
brother then turned up the Saser and
made
a careful
examination of the Murgisthan, or Mamostong, glacier and the mountain
K 1.
32 .
The
details of this little controversy are given inthe
Geographical Journal, Vol.
1920, pp. 124-7, in a paper entitled 'A Note on the Topography of the
Massif
in
Ladakh', which
I
wrote
at the time.
— Ed.
lvi,
Nun Kun
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
32
my
In 1908
brother joined Longstaff and Slingsby on a journey by
Dras, the Suru, and the Indus valleys to Kharmang, and over the Ganse
La
to
Khapalu. The view of the Saltoro spires
is
Ascending the Saltoro valley and turning up
one never
K
they looked right up the Bilaphond glacier, with the peak
Struggling over moraine they
camped
to
be forgotten.
a lateral valley to the north
at Ali
11
in the clouds.
Brangsa, over 17,000
feet,
and next day reached the Saltoro pass before midday. Before them lay a vast glacier,
which according
to previous accounts should
northwards
to Central Asia.
This was proved to be the Siachen glacier,
downwards
continuation
by Longstaff.
Sir
to the
much
advice and assistance. Longstaff 's excellent
sketch-map of the great Siachen glacier and
its
neighbourhood was a
valuable contribution. His tracks were followed by the
I
its
Nubra being subsequently demonstrated Francis Younghusband had shown much interest in this
expedition and had given
when
have been flowing
their surveyor,
Workmans
in 1911,
Grant Peterkin, made a careful survey of the
have noted some journeys
far afield in
Kashmir; but both
glacier.
in the Pir
Panjal, and in the mountains to the east and north of the Vale of
Kashmir
there are peaks which, although of quite secondary importance so far as
Himalayan standards of
altitude are concerned, are nevertheless of interest
who
to the climber, especially to those
more
cannot afford the time or
and extensive climbing. The summits afford an
distant
variety of glaciers, ice couloirs,
snow
slopes,
money
for
attractive
and rock.
Haramukh, towering up above the Wular lake, has several summits. 2 The 'Station Peak', the lowest, can easily be approached from the west by a long ridge, and was used by the Great Trigonometrical Survey in 1858. From it Colonel Montgomerie first observed K 2 In 1887 my brother and I successfully reached the summit of the western peak. It was not till 1899, however, that Geoffrey Millais and I made the first ascent of the .
outstanding eastern peak (16,900
feet).
We
used the Erin valley route, and
turning up a small valley on the right above the village of Kodura, pitched
on the western
a shelter tent at 15,000 feet
a.m. next morning,
we reached
made by Bruce some
the
years later
arete.
Then, starting
at
4.30
summit before midday. An ascent was from the eastern side. He found it an
interesting climb without any special difficulty.
Kolahoi, 17,799 is
2.
highest of the peaks near the Vale of Kashmir,
amount was made by Kenneth Mason and me in 1912. has been climbed several times since, generally by the same route, but
of snow. It
feet, the
also an interesting climb, varying in difficulty according to the
The
For a good
first
ascent
illustration of the
vol. xi, 1939, p.
185.
Haramukh massif from
the air see
Himalayan Journal,
u
3.
The Panch Chuli (22,650 ft.) from
Camp IV at
1
9,000 ft. on the Upper Sona glacier.
8th August 1950.
life
5.
Zemu Gap from
the ridge between the Talung glaciers, 12th
W«*>
6.
,
.re*-*
Zemu Gap from
May
and Tongshyong
1936.
^
the
Tongshyong
glacier, 13th
May
1936.
f&
7.
Snow
col between Talung
and Tongshyong
glaciers,
from
the east, 1 2th
May
1936.
4$&
8.
Head of Tongshyong
right,
Col leads over
to
glacier, Spur from south-east ridge of Kangchenjunga on head basin of Taking glacier. Is this Boustead's Zemu Gap?
•
,
«r
*
*W
.
-
9.
/V.
£.
Fare ofJonsong Peak from Camp
I.
10.
Composite photograph of North face of Chombu.
11.
N.W. face of Chombu from Tha Chu
Valley.
NOSTALGIA
33
once by a new route, the southern face, by Hunt and Brotherhood In the Pir Panjal range, Tatticooti, 15,560 feet,
Barton and the writer made the at
12,850
feet,
we descended
first
to the
we followed
the highest peak. C. E.
and climbed a 600-foot
with occasional traverses
summit. The Brahma Sakal peaks, beyond Konsa Nag,
end of the Vale of Kashmir, are
still
Camp
at the south-
unclimbed. The highest of the
three, 15,523 feet, is the nearest to the lake.
from a base
3
ascent in 1901. Pitching a shelter tent
to the eastern glacier
couloir to the north-east arete, which
east
is
in 1935.
The
writer attempted this in
on the snow-field about a mile beyond Konsa Nag.
No
was encountered until within about 200 feet of the summit, which was formed by a smooth surface of up-tilted strata at an angle of about 60 degrees; this afforded no foothold. The north side is sheer precipice. Further exploration may reveal a possible route from the south-east. special difficulty
Various other summits were climbed by
my
brother and myself in the
decade before the Great War, 'Sunset Peak', Rajdain, Sachkach; but there are
many
(HJ
Vol.
others
12,
still left
to
our successors.
^A^
1940)
RECOLLECTIONS OF AN EDITOR MARGARET BODY
THERE'S NOTHING
LIKE
cutting your publishing milk teeth on
was given Eric Shipton's maps to sort out and that was my introduction to the literary climbing world. The Shipton title in question was Land of Tempest (1963) and the maps that exercised us, as well they might, were of the Patagonian leecap. And from that experience I learnt the first basic fact of publishing climbers: they don't usually know where an icon.
I
the hell they've been.
Working with Eric Shipton on
Land of Tempest and
Untravelled World was a somewhat unnerving experience.
young 3.
to act the
bossy old party which the job soon turned
Himalayan Journal,
vol. viii, 1936, pp. 103-6.
I
later
was
me
That
far too
into,
and
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
34 he
a distinct impression that publishers' offices
left
were not
his natural
So our encounters were vague, delightful but disconcerting. I remember him telling me the famous story of how he absentmindedly left habitat.
Mallory's ice axe
handed brought
round
it
outside his Chelsea house and
in the street
in to the police
it
how
a passerby
and how the very intelligent local constable because he knew he was a mountaineering
to Eric's
gentleman. Nowadays they'd be measuring the length of the blade and discussing whether or not
was an offensive weapon. Working with Eric
it
was on top of the job, but was so charmed by him that I hardly noticed. Shipton,
As
can't say
I
I
I,
like
every other lady,
mapping problems, I was blessed with a marvellous calming whose finest hour had been drawing maps for Monty in the war and was now architect to the headquarters premises of Midland Bank, not far away from Hodder's office at that time on the edge of the city. So whenever I needed him, he'd just declare a site meeting and for the
cartographer. Uncle Alec,
come ambling round
When
I
to sort
me
out.
got an interview for a job at Hodders in 1961
rummaged round
the house to see
which of
their
I
books we had
naturally at
home.
There were only two. One was the Moffat translation of the Bible. Hodders
was always a good religious house. The other was The Ascent of Everest which we were all given at our school in Coronation year, along with a royal blue propelling pencil with ER2 on it. The propelling pencil ceased propelling some time ago. ER2 is still going, but one could hardly describe it as like a train. The Ascent of Everest however, had an evergreen revival three years ago to mark its fortieth anniversary and who would have thought in 1953 that so many people since would have climbed it by so many routes, skied
down
it
and parapented off
The reason Hodders got
to publish
it
as well.
The Ascent of Everest was because
Hugh Ruttledge and the book of the Everest 1933 expedition, the one on which they found Mallory's ice axe which Eric Shipton did his best to lose again thirty years later. Hodders also supported financially the abortive 1936 expedition and as a they had served a prewar apprenticeship with
consolation (quite a good consolation) got to publish Shipton 's
Nanda
Tartary, and the
Map, Upon That Mountain, Mountains of Everest Reconnaissance 1951 book before I got my mits
on him a decade
later;
Devi, followed by Blank on the
they also published the Bonington of his day, Frank
Smythe, and the medical missionary/climber Howard Somervell.
somebody wrote
a novel or
made
a
It's
time
Chariots of Fire-type film about
Somervell.
So when
the 1953 Everest expedition
scene by the worthies of the
was being offered
Mount Everest Committee,
to the publishing
there
was Hodders
NOSTALGIA row waving
in the front
was heard was
cheque book. Some wag
at the Garrick Club Hodder and Stoughton £10 a foot to get to So you can work out the advance. The actual publication
to say that
the top of Everest.
their
cost
it
famously rushed job for those days of hot metal presses. They
a
climbed the mountain
at the
end of May, and John Hunt didn't
in Llanfairwaterdine to start writing the
of
my
Hodder
first
impressive for
The came
first
staff of
make
could
Ed
to
first
in the
shops
Northumbrian called
November
in
down
sit
August (with the help 1953, price 25
print
Hodders received a Christmas bonus of £10 a head.
who
hero of '53
be drawn. But by I
The
I
work with him was
to
until
was 80,000 copies, which was pretty 1953. But they ended up with 639,000 copies in circulation
shillings (£1.25).
and the entire
book
boss, a redoubtable chain-smoking
and the book was
Elsie Herron),
I
35
now
up as
it
I
into Antarctica
had the nerve for
went along, just
I
Cambridge once
who by
myself met was Ed Hillary
like they did.
for a literary lunch.
my
Trained by
it.
It
the time
more maps of nowhere
-
to
Uncle Alec,
remember taking
I
was February and the week
before his arrival the whole country was paralysed by the sort of heavy
snowfall everybody expects in February, everybody that
were stuck
Rail. Trains
Well,
I
thought,
if
I'm
in drifts for
to
except British
is
twenty-four hours. That sort of thing.
be stuck in a snowdrift with an author,
I
couldn't
have picked a better qualified one than Ed Hillary. For someone
who
pipped Fuchs to the Pole there can't be such a thing as the wrong sort of
know what
snow. He'll
However, thaw
set in
I
to do.
needn't have worried, the day
and East Anglia was now flooded.
two hours early
for Anglia
when push came
TV
to interview
to shove, the local floods
we
set out for
We
Ed
them
-
before the lunch began. But
High
Street. That's
what a nice man Ed Hillary was and also sat there drinking gin for
There
is
the
all
two hours and waiting
when
for his
no contest for the most venerable of
all
moment
we
to perform.
I
ever met
to find a
first
all
discovered legs, as
the climbers
Everest (never mind climbing the thing) before the
—
terriers to
I
he had hollow
that
which was Captain Noel. Captain Noel had been trying went along
cameras
were out photographing firemen carrying fox
safety through thigh deep Thetford
the
Cambridge
in
were more compulsive viewing
than the hero of Everest and the South Pole and three of
Cambridge
had arrived
way
to
world war and
as photographer with the first British Everest expedition in
1921 and the Mallory and Irvine expedition in 1924.
I
met him when he
was ninety-nine, stone deaf and addicted to the telephone. 'Is that Miss Body,' he would boom down the phone to whoever picked it up on the
Hodder switchboard.
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
36
was
I
trying to bring out a paperback reprint of his
Everest which
Through Tibet
to
had discovered languishing on the Edward Arnold backlist
I
when Hodder acquired the imprint in the late 'eighties. (Up until 1933, when Hodder took over, all the main Himalayan books were done by Edward Arnold, though today their reputation is as an academic press.) Doing business with Captain Noel was not
As
easy.
well as being
stone deaf, he was notoriously suspicious of anyone trying to do a deal
with him.
decided
I
Kent
part of
I
had better pay him a
up around him. He wore a woolly hat but he
He
lived in the flattest
like
Compo
and
silting
sat in a wheelchair,
had the massive shoulders of a man who had blacked up and
still
way
forged his
from
visit.
an ancient bungalow with the debris of a lifetime
in
across forbidden passes disguised as
'a
Mahommedan
India'.
After we'd done our business he wheeled himself into the kitchen
where he had put out some cheese sandwiches on a plate which, Smith, he had prepared earlier. I put on the kettle. I noticed
like Delia
a
few
cat
bowls about the really revolting floor and, trying to find an easy topic on which to communicate, I asked after the cat. A great grin crossed his face and he wheeled himself in
what
I
frame and
in
flying.
'Oh
editor.
And
who
it,
shouted something
and
dived straight for the sarnies on the table, sending
I
I
picked those disintegrating door stoppers up off the
two of them. But
my
show me maps and photographs and said to Younghusband...'
It's
most memorable author Author
visits
reward was
to
the
have Captain Noel
paintings and say things like 'As
occasions like that
on the back of the neck with a sense of
Maclnnes with
filthy
them down and put them together again and back on
ate
all
Captain Noel. 'Never mind,' said the determined
cripes,' said
floor and dusted -
opened
through the door and the open window hurtled no less than
three large cats
plate
to the kitchen door,
took to be Tibetan, rattled his stick back and fore across the door
history.
It
make was
I
the hair stand
up
one of
my
certainly
visits.
of quite another sort were up to Glencoe to see Hamish
whom
number of books on mountain rescues (for more lighthearted expeditions, notably in the company of such worthies as Joe Brown, and Don Whillans. The first time I went to see him we were trying to fix a date on the phone and I thought he said he couldn't do that week because he was building a bridge for Monty Python. I put it down to a bad line. But I
did a
years he led the Glencoe team) and also accounts of his
I'd
reckoned without the fact that
at that
time no star of large or small
screen could climb more than ten feet off the ground in Scotland without
Hamish superintending what appeared
to
the activity.
And what
he was doing was building
be an enormously rickety moss-trailing bridge across a
NOSTALGIA Monty Python
ravine for to
to reach the
Holy
37
Grail, but
be solid and tensioned and secure enough
one
to satisfy the
of John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam,
that in reality
combined
had
insurers
Graham Chapman and
Eric
Idle.
What
I
remember about that first book was that when he showed Whillans, whose famously laconic dialogue featured pages, Don's response was 'There's too much bloody swearing,
also
Don
the script to largely in
its
youth...'
Perhaps inspired by verbatim reporting of also wrote one novel.
Death Reel,
called
the hero (he in a
was
life
Not many people know
with
Don and was
that. It
Joe,
Hamish
a ripping yarn
West Highlands with at the crunch moment power but with the heroine
set in the
called Cliff) drifting without
small boat towards the anthrax-ridden Gruinard Island.
I
remember
at
moment we realised we had lost a day in the plot. So while Hamish sat down to write himself out of this problem, I braved the Highland the last
midgies to go out and pick
all his
raspberries for freezing and the next day
he was off on the 1975 South-West Face of Everest expedition, of which he was deputy leader. In best
Hodder
Bonington and
tradition
we
merrymen
his
first
published the book about
how
Chris
didn't quite get up the South-West Face of
we published the story of how they did knew my way round the maps and topos.
Everest and then three years later it
in 1975.
At
least
by then
I
Chapter 14 was the problem for Chris. This was the summit push, the
most important chapter
in the
book. Chris couldn't write
it
at first
hand
because of course he wasn't on the summit push, so he had asked both
Doug
Scott and Dougal Haston to write their accounts for inclusion in the
book. Without any colluding they both wrote exactly nine pages of typescript
about
how we
got to the top and dispatched them to their leader. Chris
took one horrified look and posted the two versions straight on to me, saying
I
was
to
choose which one
when apologising
to use
and then he could blame
me
to the other illustrious climber.
This seemed to be a spread out on the kitchen table job to compare, contrast and discuss, as they say in
exam
papers.
When
realised a very simple thing, they had each described their
length by rope-length, so alternately
and
it
all
all I
needed
fitted perfectly.
to I
who just happened Doug wrote back at length
to
did
this,
I
lead, rope-
do was scissors and paste them did what
cosmetic tidying round the edges, and then of them
I
own
I
I
thought was a
little
sent the chapter to the pair
be climbing together
in
Washington
State.
with his opinions on the expedition and
life
and whither mountaineering, but generously approving what I'd done with
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
38
the material. Elliptical as ever, Dougal scrawled one sentence around the
edge of Doug's
epistle: 'Please reinstate the third rope-length
above the Rock Band.'
I
of the traverse
did.
was much The team members had to sign an expedition deal was first access to the team diaries for use
In those dying days of siege-style expeditioning everything
more
structured than
it is
contract and part of the in the expedition
today.
book written by
the expedition leader or designated other.
One of the better diarists on Everest 75 proved to be the youngest climbing member of the party who observed: 'For a mountaineer surely a Bonington Everest Expedition
can
is
one of the
last great
imperial experiences that
This of course was the opinion of Pete Boardman
offer'.
life
whom we
signed up soon afterwards, largely on the strength of that sentence.
Hodders published both The Shining Mountain and Sacred Summits and I
T
think perhaps the best
learnt
f
hat Pete had
his first '->ook. This
and
is
won
is
moment
in
my
the John Llewelyn
a prize
which
given for writers of promise
in
is
publishing career was
Rhys Prize
when
for Literature for
not limited to climbing literature,
any
literary field, at that time,
under
remember Bernice Rubens who was chairman of
the age of thirty.
I
judges saying
her adjudication that they had given the prize to Pete
in
because he had written a very good book and probably didn't think he did
know
into sustained
George B.
it all
right.
He
the
know it. I He was
took his writing very seriously.
in a big way and liked to model himself on He could have become the Noyce, the Shipton of our
metaphors
Schaller.
time, had he lived.
After Everest 75 there was an avalanche of expedition books which the line
I
tended to pursue
else with a great deal
at
Hodders. Ken Wilson,
more umph, used
to describe
my
who
is
did everything
authors as 'Maggie's
Teenage Ninja Climbers'. Though teenage was giving the benefit of various doubts to the likes of Jim Curran and Kurt Diemberger, two, whose names
one usually
tries to
avoid uttering
in the
same
breath.
Expeditions were no longer siege-style, so they didn't need so
much
money. The days were past when Barclays International saw Bonington up Everest, or Jardine Matheson saw him into China, or the illstart-up
fated
K2
expedition was launched with coloured balloons in the press
pack which rather bemused everybody because the sponsors were the
London Rubber Company.
What
usually happened
now
with wannabe expeditions was they started
with the extravagantly headed notepaper, then
if
they were really keen,
they got on to the expedition tee-shirt, and the expedition postcard.
somewhere along
the line they wrote to Hodders. That's the
way
I
And
acquired
NOSTALGIA Stephen Venables arrived in
my
Saunders
who
who was
and a
was convinced was
I
tie.
And
the twin of
then there was Victor
Tony Saunders because It was quite a relief
Venables' book.
in
was only one of them. Because,
there
Mick Fowler who
the only climber before
office wearing a suit
what he was calling himself
that's
39
delightful as he
is,
one
is
confusing
who could declare a site meeting at the drop of a hard hat. And there was Andy Fanshawe. The last time I saw him he gave me a lift in a very small car which was full of muddy spaniels enough. Victor was another architect
who'd been left there for a couple of hours and were delighted to see us. 'What a good thing you like dogs, Maggie' he said. And Alison Hargreaves who used to come in to the office with her two very self-possessed small children who would draw mountains on the back of spare printout paper with mummy waving from the top of every one. And Mick Fowler who proposed writing his book after Hodders had been taken over and turned into
something quite
else.
don't do climbing books
new
Mick Fowler,
just couldn't say to
I
sorry
sold the idea to
we
my still
bits.
of them
all
I
Hodders any more. So
The Secret Life of a Taxman. They are probably
masters as
looking for the dirty
But of
But at
was with Mr. Bonington,
it
as he then was, that
had the longest working relationship and the most satisfying,
in that
I
Chris
has always had a professional journalist's attitude to his prose and was
happy
perfectly
to
crux of each book,
churn I
a shift system. Chris
get up and start
work
my
but get into
out a'nd see
it
would go up and is
best
at five
first
for the
scribbling
all
Row
Row
walk
in
evening and work
my
Though
if
So he'd
Wendy was
off in
late.
Everything
up High Pike with
case, run in his,
Industries) and then back to
vegi bean salads.
At the
it.
thing in the morning, I'm not.
the dogs and Louise and Alison and Frances (the heroic
of Nether
over
and we'd work
or six but knock off by three. I'd start by nine,
stride in the early
would stop midday
me
stay in Nether
component
Keswick
for the day,
we just
might nip down to the pub and have Cumberland sausages on the
Once ground take
was asked
I
in the
him
to Bristol, Cardiff
I
We
and Swansea', said
home and
quiet.
on the road. They were thin on the
promotion department and editors had
'and then you can go ho',
to take Chris
parts
one of Wendy Bonington's
see your
Gower
to chip in.
my managing
'You can director,
aunties afterwards'. 'Right
said.
where we called into George's book shop underwhelming experience and then Chris was
started off in Bristol
which waj
a fairly
interviewed over lunch by the original freeloading journalist everything on the menu, ending up with a liqueur.
I
had
to
who had
keep an eye on
the time because at 3 p.m. Chris had an appointment with the local intrepid
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
40
female reporter to take her climbing on the Avon Gorge. The week before she'd gone parachute jumping with the SAS or something. This week she was going climbing with Bonington. So I had ordered a taxi to pick us up at
the restaurant at ten to three.
The
The Avon
taxi arrived.
Gorge',
I
said,
and off we went corkscrewing
we ended up Avon Gorge.
round the one way system of the posh end of Bristol and outside a very discreet private hotel in Clifton
What
did he think
'No, no',
I
said.
we wanted
do there
to
'He wants
climb
to
corkscrew we swooped and out
at three it'.
he didn't leave
it
on the
o'clock in the afternoon? the one
train,
I
were awaiting
had been nursing
way
Gorge where
to the grass at the foot of the
passed Chris the day sack which
I
called the
So back down
the intrepid female reporter and her film crew
that
-
all
us.
the while so
or in the book shop, or in the restaurant
And Chris tipped the contents out on the grass. Out fell his mothy old red longjohns, his boots, a large quantity of climbing irons. But no rope. And he was leading a beginner. 'Oh gosh,' he said. 'Wendy packed the sack. Never mind, 1*11 just borrow one.' And off he loped with an ingratiating grin plastered between his whiskers. He was back in five minutes with a rope which he'd borrowed off some innocent lads along the Gorge 'for just half an hour'. I expressed amazement. 'The camaraderie of or in the taxi.
the crags,' he explained airily.
What
a splendid phrase.
So they roped up and put on their mikes and set off up the climb with cameraman and sound recordist in attendance at a respectful distance, and I settled down to wait at the bottom. After a while the two climbers disappeared up into some bushes and then the rope stopped twitching and the
even
to
my
untutored eye
it
looked
'Is
local
there a road at the top?' the
TV
team, but
I
supposed
And
less than riveting television.
sound recordist was muttering that they'd dislodged he couldn't hear what they were saying either.
their chest
cameraman asked me. So we piled all the
so.
I
the
mikes so
said he
was
the
surplus gear and
Chris's suit into two cars and corkscrewed up to the top, but not before I
had had
this fleeting vision
to the police station
as Chris
Bonington and then had
worry about them
To
of two
and reporting
little
this it
lads I'd not yet
met
setting off
chap who was passing himself off
away with
their rope.
But no time
a non-practitioner
it
is
disconcerting
how
different a climb looks
from the top looking down, compared with from the bottom looking Picture the scene on that nice polite grass at the top of the the
to
yet.
cameraman, the sound
recordist
and the
editor, tiptoeing
peering over and calling 'Chris, Chris, are you there?
Is
up.
Avon Gorge: along the rim
there
anybody
NOSTALGIA there
Rather like a somewhat unrewarding seance. Eventually,
?'
-
41
found them,
The camera
under the
sitting just
The
rolled.
lip
we
of the gorge interviewing each other.
intrepid female reporter climbed
up over the edge.
Everybody kissed everybody. Well nearly everybody. And Chris gave the genteel dog-walking ladies of Clifton a cheap thrill by changing out of his climbing longjohns and back into his suit there on the grass. The suit was because
we were scheduled
to
do an interview
in
Cardiff in an hour's
time. 'Just
time to catch the
'What about the
rope,'
'Oh gosh', he
said.
So back down
the one
train,'
he said, throwing
me
a pacifying glance.
said.
I
way system we corkscrewed and
there by the
gents loo at the bottom, looking distinctly foolish by now, and not talking to
each other, were the young lads off
two hours
earlier.
We
whom he'd conned the rope over We took them to the nearest pub.
restored their rope.
We
plied them with pints and a signed copy of the phoned Cardiff and rearranged the publicity schedule.
That was when
I
what
realised
I'd
sometimes a softer option than being a
latest
book, and
always suspected, that editing
publicist. I'd
I
is
had an early intimation
some years before when I had to lead Norman Croucher, the so named climber with no legs below the knees, into the trap for This is Your Life. The set up was at the Sobel Centre climbing wall in north London and I remember the occasion not so much for Eamonn Andrews (as it then was) sidling up on us with his Big Red Book as for it being the first time I encountered Ken Wilson in the flesh. You tend to remember moments like that. of this aptly
Some
ladies
when
they get to their mid-fifties go in for something
HRT, Hormone Replacement Therapy. I had my own special treatment prescribed for me which was AWK, Amalgamating With Ken. For a brief heady time after Hodders took over Diadem, and before Headline took over Hodders, we worked in harness very well. Ken did his thing, I did
called
mine,
we
for the
batted ideas between us.
And
occasionally
equivalent,
Himalayan Climber. The idea
Ken's, and the execution and the design.
knock the
text into
As
Ken
far as
is
pictures colliding.
pomp
we
collaborated, as
Bonington picture autobiography Mountaineer and the Doug Scott
shape to
fit
concerned
So
I
the spaces
in
each case was of course
My
job in proceedings was to
Ken had
occasionally
left for
it.
text is the black fuzzy stuff that stops the
went along with
a dustpan
and brush behind the
of the lord mayor's show, sweeping up the surplus bits and enjoying
the experience hugely.
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
42
Working with Chris on
this sort
of magazine format book was
fine.
He
could produce the words easily and didn't mind them being massacred to
Working with Doug was
Words do come he has weighed each one and understandably grown partial to it. We did not make progress. Doug's three expeditions a year schedule didn't help. At crunch time we congregated
fit
the length.
come
not
at the
easily with
Wilson
Doug and when
stately
a different kettle of fish.
they
pad outside Macclesfield
to force the last chapters
Doug and Ken are two people equally convinced of the their own thinking. Which of them was the irresistible force
out of Mr. Scott. Tightness of
and which the irremovable object
I
wasn't always too certain, but the
conjunction was what American climbers used to
call
awesome.
Doug is the only person I know who buys king-size duty frees at the many airports he travels through during his jetsetting year, and then untravels them and makes them up into twice as many roll-ups. By day three the strain
up
all
was
telling
and there were fragments of ex-Rothman
over the various boilings
down
of the
Ken he was properly who wouldn't have smoking in the house. So
prepared to stand up to
with his head stuck out of the French
and I
I
worked on
in
text.
awe of Ken's wife
to
claim
windows of
that, like
Gloria,
he had to smoke these things the
room
in
which he
the text in the lulls between the editorial storms.
have always been able
roll-
But while Doug was
some
sort of lady vet,
And I
so
edited
Himalayan Climber through the Scott backside. Editorially, it seemed to work just as well as addressing the shaggier end. But the whole experience was exhilarating and the book was remarkably good stuff. And that, as ever, was the object of the exercise.
(HJ
Vol. 53,
1997)
Sikkim Thirty Years Ago
J.
Destiny Himalaya
H. Paider
The Zemu Gap
H. W. Tilman
C. French
Picnic on a glacier -
A
Karakoram Journey
Whenever you
Stephen Venables
are tired of going 'high',
remember some of the Be it be
lovely trips like the one described here by Venables.
Tilman looking across the thirty years
a
further' that
little
Zemu Gap
or the French talking about
ago (and that was 50 years ago!),
Sikkim
the sport and
it is
human knowledge
'always
are taken.
the call of the wild. Paider was pulled by his destiny to the Himalaya from a prison, with tragic consequences - nothing can stop you when the call comes. It is
y^v SIKKIM THIRTY YEARS J.
C.
FRENCH
September 1908 rM had never before
had
I
my
glimpse of Sikkim and the Himalaya.
first
seen the eternal snows. Though, like most other
I
members of the Himalayan Club,
I
have travelled and camped north, south,
and within the Himalaya, and pitched shall
AGO
I
forget the rapture of that
of the mules which carried
my
my
tent near giant peaks,
impression.
first
modest
kit
And
sounded
sweet music. The was no railway to
like
jingle started at Siliguri railway station, for there
Kalimpong
in those
days and motor-cars were
though slow, were sure.
by the
terrific
monsoon
A
still
never
the jingle of the bells
curiosities; but mules,
huge tree-trunk across the
track,
brought
down
even a complete gap, caused by the same
rains, or
agency, in a hill-side road, occasioned only a few minutes, delay, while the
mules scrambled round or above the obstacle; and the two days on the road to Kalimpong were well spent. Birds, beasts, and flowers, a semitropical luxuriance in vegetation,
and the most wonderful butterflies
in the
world kept a new-comer's attention constantly engaged, while the crashing of a herd of wild elephants in the forest stirred the enthusiasm of a novice in shikar.
was warned to beware of a one-armed Bhutia robber He was said to inveigle unwary travellers into talk, and then suddenly stab them with a knife stuck in the end of his wooden arm- 'a horrid man', as my informants justly remarked. As I At Kalimpong
who haunted
I
the Jelap La.
proposed, however, to keep a the wild
game which
I
rifle
constantly in
innocently believed to
my
hands, in readiness for
swarm
in the forests
and
mountains of Sikkim, the idea of a one-armed knife-man did not disturb me. Off
I
went from Kalimpong
to the
merry music of the mule-bells, past
whose caretaker was a white-bearded little Sikkim town of Rhenok. I posted
the travellers' rest-house at Pedong,
veteran of the Mutiny war, to the a letter there, and to
send the
Then came to winter
was amused
letter off
to hear a local resident adjure the
promptly, and not keep
it
to see
postmaster
what was inside
it.
the long pull up to Gnatong, 12,000 feet up, an abrupt change
from the summer of the Sikkim 45
valleys,
and a most refreshing
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
46
one from the steamy heat of
my home
Bengal. Next day
in
rode to the
I
Jelap La, a principal pass into Tibet, through a scene reminiscent of a vast Inverness-shire moor.
A
British sergeant telegraphist, stationed at Gnatong,
came with me. He had been with what
is
known
in the
Near East
Lhasa
the Mission to
of stories and reminiscences. In particular
full
in
remember
I
1904, and was his
account of
as the 'Desert Telegraph', the mysterious
swiftness of the dispatch of news. Shortly before there had been a murder
Tibetan town of Phari, some 50 miles away. The people of Gnatong were talking about it before he got the news by telegraph. in the
I
was lucky
my
in
day
at
Jelap La. In a clear cloudless sky the giant
peaks of the Himalaya stood out like a row of mighty sentinels, and straight
ahead Chomolhari, the sacred mountain of Tibet, shimmered
the flawless beauty of
its
then virgin snows. In 1931
I
climbed 20,000
in
feet
mountain, to the frozen lake which
lies at the foot of the peak of hope no one will challenge the figure of this height, as I accomplished the climb in a way which would surprise the Alpine Clubon a pony. A stout little local animal took me right up to the frozen lake, much to the amusement of the Tibetans who came with me. After my first sight of Chomolhari in 1908 I returned to the plains of Bengal with my head full of the glories of the Himalaya and of the strange mysterious
up
this
eternal snow.
I
lands of Central Asia. But, as
was usual
in those days,
my
traveller's
ambitions were considerably coloured with aspirations to hunt and shoot
whose home was in those parts. Trips in the Himalaya, except for shikar, were still considered eccentric. The Frenchman's proverb about England still held good: 'It's fine to-day. Let's go out and kill something.' the great horned beasts
My
next
trip to
Sikkim was
in 1910.
Darjeeling to Gangtok, a journey which
Then
I
I
took three days to ride from
now
takes half a day by motor.
by way of the Tista Sikkim in those days. I
started for the northern frontier of Sikkim,
valley and
Gyagong. Food was cheap
in northern
bought a sheep for the equivalent of five shillings
good mountain mutton
it
a high rock overlooking the boiling Tista river.
execution for criminals.
I
These Bhutias,
It is
in the
in spite
Gyagong, there
is
a traditional place of
neighbourhood. The Bhutias,
of their alleged inclination to
They form
who
inhabit
from the execution rock.
thirteen thieves to death
all
English money, and to
heard that some years previously thirteenTibetan
beggars stole some things those parts, hurled
in
way
was. At Tangu, on the
summary
justice, are
which came from Bhutan three hundred years ago. Of fine physique and proud of their lineage, they despise their a very fine
lot.
a clan
Tibetan neighbours of the north. Though surly and independent
if
not
properly approached, they can at will assume fine and even elegant manners. I
noticed this
trait
particularly
for 'a small advance'
when they came
from the pay due
to
to
them
me, cap
in hand, to
ask
for the use of their yaks
EXPLORATIONS
my
for
47
baggage. In their local affairs they were ruled by a magistrate
called a Pepun, elected by them.
They
was a most serious
affront,
When
I
left
Tangu
for
To
to
meet
in
general assembly,
turn one's back on the
Pepun
and the delinquent could be called upon either take the Pepun's place and assume the duties
pay a penalty or else to and responsibilities of his office to
used
all
as in the ancient Athenian constitution.
— another resemblance
Gyagong, on
my way
to ancient Athens.
to the frontier,
I
was
preceded by a procession of Buddhist monks and worshippers blowing the long trumpets, some of them 6 feet in length, which are a feature of Tibet, to scare
was
away
evil spirits. In
my camp
gloomy gorge of Gyagong I more from wing-tip, and cook's fire. Next day I camped on the in the
struck by the huge mountain eagles, ten feet or
which circled round the tent Sikkim and Tibet, near the Cho Lhamo Lake, in a warm and sheltered spot where the temperature at night was only ten degrees below zero and the wind, though it cut like a knife, did not actually lift things from the ground. I nearly missed this delectable spot, for I had ridden ahead; my Bhutia 'guide' missed the way, and I had the bright prospect of sleeping out in one of 'the coldest and windiest places on earth'. Next morning a herd of ovis ammon, the great wild sheep of Central Asia, came and inspected my camp from a neighbouring bluff some 500 yards away. With glasses I enviously admired the fine horns of the leader of the herd, 'the father of all the flocks of earth'. I could do no more than admire, for I was recovering from a recent accident, a compound fracture of my left leg caused by the kick of a pony on the polo field. My leg, though all right for riding, could only hobble at a walk. The ovis ammon seemed to know all about this, an example of the mysterious sixth sense so often displayed by animals, which seems to show them unerringly the absence of danger. But what would General Kinlock and other classic exponents of Central Asian venery say to a story of ovis amon, shyest and most wary of beasts, the 'blue ribbon' of the Himalayan chase, paying a visit to a camp? frontier of
Nowadays, of course,
this
shooting talk
is
out of date.
The modern
photography or cinematography of wild life. But shikar is not inappropriate of old-world reminiscences such as these. Also, of course, the animals to which I have referred are not real ovis ammon they are sport
is
—
sportsman's ones. Zoologically their
name
is
ovis Hodgsonii. But their
horns are large. It was during this trip in Sikkim in 1910 that I heard about the 'Abominable Snowmen', the subject of so much journalistic attention nowadays. An entry in my diary kept during the trip describes them as 'men who live on the edge of the snows. Sometimes they catch (human) men, who live and hunt with them forever. They seem to be like our
fairies.'
The voluminous correspondence on this subject has not mentioned in his book on Sikkim published in 1898. He
Colonel Waddell's account
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
48
mentions seeing seeing tracks
Sikkim
east
in 1896.
He was
advanced the explanation that as far as
no bear
I
am aware
known
is
snow on
that
— and
who
When
in
Sikkim
The brown bear of
—
the
unknown
in
Sikkim. So the
their place in the
correspondence
Sea Serpent and the Loch Ness Monster.
at the
Magistrate
in north-
goes very high, and even the large black bear,
'Abominable Snowmen' need not yet yield to the
Donkhya La
have been a keen shikari
I
inhabits a rather lower range, are
columns
the
were made by Snowmen, and they were bear tracks. But the difficulty is
so high up in the mountains.
Western Himalaya,
who
in the
told that they
in the
end of October 1910
Midnapore
I
returned to
District in Bengal,
I
my
post as Joint
was consulted on
trips
Sikkim by two fellow members of the Indian Civil Service in Bengal, Messrs. Buchan and Cullis. Buchan was a younger brother of Lord in
Tweedsmuir, the present Governor-General of Canada. Next year they crossed the Guicha La to Tongshyong Pertam and the Talung glacier.
Blackwood's Magazine of 1912 contains an interesting account of trip.
Soon afterwards Buchan
died,
and
in
1915 Cullis was killed
this
in action
with the Rifle Brigade in France. Their premature deaths deprived the Indian Civil Service of two singularly brilliant and promising members. In Darjeeling before the
me many In
1912
amnion.
I
met Mr. Douglas Freshfield, and he
told
returned to the northern frontier of Sikkim and shot an ovis
I
On
this trip
I
met Captain Noel, who subsequently took cinema
pictures of the attempt on
me
War
things about his great reconnaissance of Kangchenjunga.
Mount
Everest. In
Upper Sikkim
in
1912 he told
of his hopes of an attack on that great peak. But mention of Captain
Noel and Mount Everest introduces the modern chapter of Himalayan activity,
and may serve as a
fitting
conclusion to these memories of bygone
days.
(HJ
Vol.
11,
^^^
1939)
DESTINY HIMALAYA H.
PAIDAR
ABOUT noon when we arrived at Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. ITWeWAS were coming down from glacier, the high mountains round the
Zemu
ignorant of what was happening in the wide world. Next day
—
it
was
the
EXPLORATIONS 3rd September
was
the
—we
learnt that Britain
was
49
at
war with Germany.
That
end of our second Sikkim Himalayan Expedition of 1939. Grob.
who was
of Swiss nationality, could leave for Europe and, because of the
kindliness and help of the Political Officer of Sikkim, Mr. B.
could take with him
J.
Gould,
our photos and films, but Schmaderer and myself,
all
being Germans, had to be interned.
we landed
After several changes of camp,
Dehra Dun,
at last at
Premnagar, near
of the Mussoorie Hills. That was in October 1941.
at the foot
was not until May 1943 that Schmaderer made his first escape, with Schuemmer. They made their way along the Jumna, but near Rajgarhi they were recaptured and brought back, after three weeks' absence from It
the
camp.
March 1945, twenty-three internees were ordered to be transferred to camp in Rajputana, among them Schmaderer. To be sent away from the mountains which meant so much to him was more than he could In
Deoli, a
stand,
and he escaped again, having arranged
him, three days
later.
A
away
to the refuse-ditches a mile
away on some
driver called
covered buffalo
down
with
The
little lazy.
and
as if there
but the driver noticed nothing a
I
should escape and join
camp
and, on 27th March, having had the
pretext or other,
tins, straw,
seemed uneasy
that
cart called daily to take the rubbish out of
boarded
I
by
filth
my
and was The water-
this vehicle
comrades.
were something unusual with
at all
—
it
was
gates were opened and
I
rumbled
out.
his load,
everybody
a very hot day and
Luck was with
me. Before the refuse-ditches were reached, the driver stopped, unharnessed his buffalo,
Two
The sun was
and disappeared!
no one was due
at the ditches until
hours later
I
met Schmaderer
in the
home was made for the
hot, his
4 o'clock.
I
Swarna Nulla, and
near,
and
jungle. that
same
we reached the Jumna by way of the Kara-su saddle. The first ten days we did our marching by night, in case of arrest. About what we took to be the 14th April we reached Nelang, a village high in the Jadhganga valley, and it was the end of April when we stood on the top of the Taganight
la (c.
18,000
feet), a
pass on the border of Tibet and India.
The winter
of 1944/5 was a hard one, and from 10,000 feet onwards paths and slopes
were snow-covered.
Our
tennis shoes
our rations were melting like snow of 16,000 feet to cross before
we
However, we reached Pulling and none too clean. unwilling to
we met
sell
were
in shreds,
in the sun,
we had no
boots,
and we had another pass
reached habitation.
at last, a
small village, typically Tibetan
The people were not very
friendly and at first
were
we needed so badly. But there and accompanied him down to Par, a more
us the fat and ghur (sugar)
the Raja of Tulling
congenial village where
we
stayed eight days, making the acquaintance of
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
50
Dzong-pen of Shang-tse, who travelled with a tea caravan to Shipki. put our few belongings on one of his yaks, and accepted his offer of
the
We
escort to Shipki, travelling through barren country to a pass leading to the
Ob, a tributary of the
On
Sutlej.
our march
we
visited Ri, a picturesque
place in an amphitheatre opening to the south on a wild and narrow gorge,
with a monastery and an old chorten with beautiful paintings on the walls.
From Ri we went
Chuse gompa down to Sarang, crossing the Sutlej feet) from where we marched down was the end of May when we reached Shipki, high
via
and climbing the Shiring-la (17,000 to
Mai-yang, and
above the
it
Sutlej with the rock
and ice-walls of Riwo Phargyul
in the
background.
On
1st
June
we
Nam-gya on
arrived at
that Aufschneiter
and Harrer had been,
We
decide between going
1944.
had
to
Indian territory again, to learn like us, escorted to Shipki, in
down
the Sutlej valley, with the
possibility of being interned again, or try Tibet a
have known different
was
war in Europe was and Schmaderer would still be that the
alive, but as
If
we
could
would have been was, our anxiety
it
we escaped down
away, and so that night
to get
second time.
over, our plans
the slopes to the
suspension bridge crossing the Sutlej, and in the early hours of the morning
we camped
in the
neighbourhood of Tashigang. Four days' forced marches
took us to Lari, the
had in
to carry
what
17,000
it
means
feet,
first
village in the upper Spiti valley.
we
our entire belongings so to take a load of
60
All the
way we
got plenty of first-hand experience
70
to
lb. at
and reminded us of our porters and
altitudes of 16,000
their
and
heavy packs on our
1937 and 1939 expeditions.
we
Schmaderer's idea was that
should follow the Spiti for some ten
days and then go eastwards to Gartok, but
this
proved
to
be wrong.
We
made up the Spiti valley as far as Dankhar, hanging like an eagle's nest among steep cliffs, and thence to Kibar, where the people told us the best way to Gartok would be via Sum-gyl. So we turned back to try this route, and bought a donkey
to relieve
At Sum-gyl we met
traders
Indus. Asking about the
way
our weary shoulders.
who were on
to the Bibi-la,
and dangerous, but our hearts were
set
their way to Trashigang on the we were told it was impassable
on trying
the mighty mountains of the Lidi valley, so
of the villagers' forebodings
to reach
we decided
—they even offered us
Nepal and see
to try
it,
in spite
rations for our return
journey!
Next morning when the waters of the Sum-gyl
We
crossed and four hours later pitched camp.
meal when from behind a small by another, and
later yet
hill
another
a
—
man
river
were low we
were preparing our evening
mysteriously appeared, followed
at last
twenty-seven
men
in all,
who
— EXPLORATIONS formed a
a half circle
around us
if
After an hour
told us that
and accordingly back we had
We
very ominous manner.
on no account could we proceed we did not return to Sum-gyl there would be trouble
spokesman came up and
Trashigang and
in a
51
to go.
next tried the road to Tibet without success, from Bartiok, and then
decided
to
abandon
objective
So up was our
plans for Nepal, and turn west for Kashmir.
all
we went again, by now the middle of July. where we found the inhabitants had all moved
Lari
the Spiti valley first
to
better grazing grounds,
to higher
and
and food was therefore not obtainable. However,
a farmer at the next village, Tabo, who had sold us cheese and tsampa before, and so Schmaderer decided to stop at Tabo and bargain for some food, while I continued to pitch our next camp, half-way between
we knew
Tabo and Poo. I went off about 11.30 and two hours later was climbing the little hill which leads to the camping-ground. From there I looked back over the route I had come, and about 2 miles off I could see three tiny dots moving, That must have been about the time Schmaderer was in my direction. murdered, because the three dots never materialized no one came to join me. After four or five hours of waiting I became very anxious, and went back to Tabo. I could find no trace of Schmaderer's footprints, his army
—
boots, heavily nailed, and everyone
had bought I
his provisions
and
left
questioned them, so often did Early next morning
again.
It
I
I
asked told
Tabo on
receive the
same
arose, loaded the donkey,
I
was not an easy path
to follow,
the
—
same story he As often as
reply.
and
disappearing as
and then
in the waters of the river, to the great
who had
to
place, there
me
the road for Poo.
it
set off for
Poo
does every
now
despondency of the donkey, in one
be forced through the flood. Under overhanging rocks, is
a steep bridge to ascend, dangling and
with the hungry waters of the Spiti rushing below, and
donkey over
swaying it
in the air,
was hard
to drive
However, at noon I reached Poo, to find that no one knew anything of Schmaderer he had not reached that village. A few women who overheard me sat down and started weeping, which alarmed me, as it is only customary in that land to weep for the dead, but I got no clue and had to return to Tabo. There I got the same replies as before, but with a new suggestion: could my companion have been drowned by the river while crossing it? It seemed incredible that a trained man like Schmaderer could have been drowned in water that was only knee-deep,
the frightened
this.
—
however
fiercely
reason to ford
it
it.
was flowing; moreover, there was a bridge and no However, I searched both banks widely, and the
neighbourhood generally, and investigation decided
done
after three
in this matter, and,
I
was
sure,
days of
fruitless inquiry
and
Something had to be the people knew what had happened.
had better return
I
to India.
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
52
time
In fourteen days'
The
trees
grazing on the heart;
I
whom we
were green and the apricots were
new
grass.
was beginning
to
set
I
up
a
had struck up a friendship on the
Tashigang was much nicer than
Pulling-Shipki march. June.
way
reached Tashigang, meeting on the
I
Tibetan from Sargong with
my
tent
ripe,
it
had been
in
and the sheep were
each evening with a heavy
doubt that Schmaderer would return and the
troubles and anxieties of the past fortnight be ended.
one day a Tibetan arrived
In the late afternoon
him
I
learnt the story of
fireside of the Tibetan
my
at
Tashigang, and from
we
friend's disappearance, as
sat
by the
from Sarong.
The informer was a resident of Lari and had picked up the tale on the way through Tabo. Schmaderer had been murdered in Tabo. He had let the natives see his money and valuables when he paid for his provisions, and they had then and there murdered him and robbed him.
names of the murderers,
demanded money,
When
I
asked
accompany me to Rampur and report the matter there. When I told him I had no money, as it had all been with Schmaderer, he disappeared and was not seen again. The friendly Tibetan from Sarong warned me not to trust this man and on no account to stay by myself at night, and one way and another I thought it would be best to push on to Poo' on the road back to for the
the Tibetan
to
India.
On
arrival there
I
told
my
story to the schoolmaster,
and the headman of Poo, Devi Chand. Tibetan as
Sonam
They
Neg Dharam Bag,
identified the suspicious
Chhering, a very bad character, a robber and a
were strongly of the opinion
that
Accordingly
possessions of value. Superintendent of Police
at
thief,
and
he was after any remaining money or I
placed a
Saharan, where
my
I
full
report with the
rested for a fortnight after
my
was up I was told that immediate action had been taken by the Deputy-Commissioner of Police, Kangra, while on inspection duty at Spiti. The culprits had been arrested, though two of them escaped afterwards, and one man, Raqzin Chherrup, was brought to Kangra, put into jail, and charged with the robbery and murder
journey there via Chini. Before
of Schmaderer. it
had been
By
A
rest
police-inspector of Rampur, Parshotam Dass, told
forty years since such an offence
the end of August
Camp Premnagar was
I
was
in
Rampur where
waiting for me, and
I
me
had been committed. the escort
from the
returned to Dehra
Simla, arriving on 6th September.
Nearly a month
Deoli, Rajputana, a sad blow, as
I
later
I
Dun
C.I.
via
was restored
to
missed the mountains, valleys, and
Premnagar camp so badly. During our internment we had monotony of seven years' imprisonment, and the greatest privilege was to be allowed excursions, as we were. In
woods of
many
the
privileges to relieve the
— EXPLORATIONS September 1946 when the
which
I
three
etc., in his
The
natives
saw
possession while he was
men followed him
repatriated,
to the steep
at
the
money, gold coins,
Tabo, and after he had
and narrow bridge on the way
There while he was talking they pushed him over into the
to Poo.
him with stones from above, and drowning him
killing
we Germans
got another light on Schmaderer's murder,
believe to be the true one.
I
and watch, left,
from Deoli were
Italians
returned to Dehra Dun. Here
53
in the Spiti,
river,
where
His valuables were found by the Inspector on the
they threw his body.
Tibetans at Tabo, and this story was told to a fellow internee while on
nomad he encountered who came down every
excursion, by a
year from
This story he had heard seems to record the ending of
the Sutlej valley.
Ludwig Schmaderer,
a fine mountaineer, and
my
friend and
comrade of
three expeditions. Peter Aufschnaiter and Harrer had escaped from Dehra to
Schmaderer and Paidar, vide
They
are
(HJ
Vol.
Lhasa.
still in
15,
H.T., vol. xiv, using
much
Dun the
to
Tibet just a year prior
same route
to the frontier.
Ed.
y^X
1949)
THE ZEMU GAP TILMAN
H. W.
WHEN
DARJEELING in April 1936 with some unexpected my hands I made a short journey to the glaciers south of Kangchenjunga, I had with me four Sherpas whom I was trying out with IN
time on
a view to taking
them
to
Pasang Phuta, Nuri, and
—
Pasang Kikule, Nanda Devi later in the year The first two were old hands and the others
Tilly.
complete novices with no experience of ice and snow. I
intended to try to cross the
and according
to
344-50, which
I
little
to prevent
article,
found by chance it.
In
May
19,276
feet,
from the south,
Geographical Journal,
vol. lxix, pp.
in the Darjeeling Club, there
seemed
1926 Captain Boustead, the author of the
crossed the Guicha La, went
Tongshyong, and crossed the gap
main
Zemu Gap,
an article in the
to the
down Zemu
the Talung glacier,
up the
glacier and back again.
The
were encountered on the two glaciers, which apparently resembled a road near the front line on one of the unquiet days on the difficulties
Western Front.
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
54 However, from
from the Guicha La
a photo taken
the ridge separating these
two
Zemu Gap,
between the Guicha La and the necessity to
come under
looked as though
it
glaciers could be crossed in a direct line
so that there
would be no
which was said
the barrage of stones and ice
to
play constantly on any party reckless enough to traverse these glaciers.
There seemed
to
be no insuperable
I
very nearly gave orders for
I
expected to return
by nature,
We
I
went
down
my
the
Zemu
gave no such hostage to the
difficulties
about crossing the gap, and
mail to be forwarded to Lachen, by which glacier. Fortunately,
being a pessimist
to fortune.
Guicha La by the valley
route, instead of the ridge-way
by Phalut, for the sake of the food which could be obtained thus lessening the
we were
since
amount we had
in a hurry,
made
to carry.
we
left
in the villages,
on the
1st
May, and,
march to Chakung, so avoiding This means rather a brutal first day,
a double
sleeping in the hot valley at Singla.
but
We
hired two ponies to carry our loads as far as Chakung.
We
left at
8.15 and arrived at 4.45 in the afternoon.
The
foot of the
Guicha La was reached on the 9th May, and we camped weeks and wood fuel for that night. Rice and atta
there with food for three
had I
to
be bought and carried from Pamionchi. In the afternoon of that day
left the
porters and
was fortunate
the Talung and
Tongshyong
the
Zemu gap
we
crossed next day,
is, I
went on up
to the
spy out the land, and
even
glaciers looked easy, but
is
at this
visited,
I
distance
and which
the lower col about a half-mile north-west of
On
it,
however, there
is
a cairn.
what
1
crossed the pass in an hour and a half from camp. The weather was
thick and
on the descent
it
began snowing heavily, but
snow slope down company with his
is
fairly steep,
load.
From
right
had taken the to cross.
The
and Nuri, one of the novices, parted
we
the foot of the slope
terrace of rock and grass covered by
moraine above the
I
we wanted
precaution of a compass-bearing to the saddle
the
to
The snow saddle between
roused misgivings. This Guicha La that
believe, the recognized pass.
We
Guicha La
to get there just before the mist.
snow of unequal
bank of the Talung
crossed a wide
depth, and reached
Here the clouds
glacier.
lifted,
momentarily revealing the opposite bank and our proposed col beyond
We
crossed in an hour, climbed the steep moraine, and toiled up a slope
it.
covered with grass and juniper, finally camping about 500 feet above the glacier at the highest water.
A
large herd of bharal
was
seen.
From what we saw of the Talung glacier it appeared wide and openroomy enough for us to avoid anything but an avalanche on a Kangchenjunga
scale,
had there been any slopes
avalanche, which, except
at the
to
head, there were not.
provide such an
EXPLORATIONS
55
The next morning the climb of 700 or 800 feet to the saddle in deep powder snow was tiring. The descent to the Tongshyong was over gently sloping neve, and we reached the glacier at 11 o'clock. As we crossed the perhaps half a mile wide,
glacier, here
it
started
snowing again, and we
steered for the foot of the ice-fall at the foot of the tributary glacier leading
up
to the
Zemu
maps represent is
Gap. Both Marcel Kurz's and the quarter-inch Survey
this as lying in a
bay
at the
not correct, for the tributary glacier
Tongshyong almost
head of the Tongshyong. This
coming from
the gap enters the
angles and half a mile or
at right
more
short of the
head.
This off
it
we were
steep and intricate, and
first ice-fall is
and take
to the left
to the rocks
—rocks
forced to traverse
which
had purposely
I
avoided on account of their slabby nature lower down. The easiest
would be up about 18,000
a scree slope feet,
still
time and trouble to find accommodation on a
The snow
men behind to the
fell
little
up
later
patch of rock
still
was very soon
all
middle of the glacier
and pushed on alone I
second one, and waited for the
clear
under
was
fine,
I
to reconnoitre.
left
the
Taking
worked up through an easy ice-fall, the men on the lip of a very bad crevasse.
of powder snow to break through, the going was heavy,
and they did not join
We
it
froze on the tents, so next morning, which
lot
at
throughout the night.
to follow
There was a
way
camped
nearly level with the top of the ice-fall, taking a lot of
of snow-trouble that was rather wasted because
snow, which
We
further to the left or north.
me
until eleven
o'clock.
roped up and crossed the crevasse and camped a
little
higher
at the
The heat and glare on this new snow, shut in between two high rock walls, was terrific, and it was essential to get some drink and some shade before having a look at this formidable obstacle. Owing to the nature of the ground and crevasses there was not much room for the two small tents, which were too close under the Simvu slope for comfort. Small avalanches kept hissing down, but all seemed to come to a respectful halt about ten yards from the tents. At an occasional foot of the last and steepest ice-fall.
louder roar the Sherpas would leap panic-stricken from their frightening
me
that
I
did the same.
It
reminded
me
tent,
so
of people popping their
heads out of a dug-out to ask, 'Where did that one go?'
These alarms ceased about three o'clock, and now, feeling stronger, kicked and cut up the
ice-fall for
about 100
feet.
Here
I
came upon
I
a
doubtful bridge over a large crevasse leading to an amazingly steep icewall which would obviously take a long time to climb, and, after casting
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
56
about vainly for an easier alternative,
bad
was
bit there
we had caught
me
we could
ice, a
when
work
the sun got to
was doubtful whether
snow
final wall
it
frail
this
a big staircase
Above
that
From
— and here
it
it
we
could see the It
was
this top plateau,
was beyond
the strength
got safety over the two bad crevasses, so
down while
turned and hurried
I
However,
cut.
—
a short slope of
perhaps 200 or 300 yards away up a gentle snow slope.
way could have been weak party, even had we
we
not hold.
bridge over a deep crevasse
led to yet another bridged crevasse.
Pasang and
We
beyond
snow covering would
would support a laden man
expect a
lower
the
100 feet high and very steep, but, from a camp on
at least I
we hacked
job which took us two hours.
Followed the crossing of a horribly
of our
that
kick steps, but there only a few inches of snow over ice and
realized that
soft
knew
appeared impregnable.
it,
next morning and together
of steep
thirty feet
I
top of the gap a final ice-wall which, whenever
a glimpse of
Pasang joined
up the
at the
morrow. Though
this for the
I left
seemed imminent, because
loath to give in, defeat
the going
was good.
packed up and went down, taking the rocks on the north side of the ice-fall
which we had funked on the way up
—
because to get off the rocks on to the Tongshyong glacier
justifiably, too,
we had
to
rope
down.
Camp was
pitched on the glacier, and in the evening
towards the head of I
had read
that
The Zemu Gap
it.
half believed a mistake had been
I
I
walked up
differed so widely from the account
made and
that the
genuine gap lay concealed behind some corner near the head of the
Tongshyong. There was, however, no other break
in the
mighty south-east
ridge of Kangchenjunga, and the low, easy col at the head of the glacier
obviously led over into the wide bay
at the
head of the Talung.
Is
it
when Captain Boustead was Zemu Gap?
possible that, in the thick weather prevailing
had been mistaken for the
here, this It
was
a glorious
morning on the 14th when we walked down the
Tongshyong. The rough surface of the glacier was now buried under a
smooth carpet of frozen snow, and we walk
glacier
I
the Talung and perhaps stones
(though course
We
we
it
strolled
down
have ever had. The Tongshyong
neither
would be impossible
proceeded
fall
to get
to get hit.
down
down
from
any), but
to the junction of the
having some trouble bank, and went
do
saw nor heard
it
enjoying the easiest
is
probably narrower than
its
steep containing walls
by steering a reasonably central
It is
not less than 500 yards wide.
Tongshyong and Talung streams,
an exceedingly high and steep moraine
the Talung
Chu
to
Mangen,
in the Tista valley,
EXPLORATIONS where we arrived on the
There
19th.
57
not space, nor would
is
value, to describe the route in great detail, for the country
one who goes there
Passanram
—
at
seems good
will take the line that
the line of least resistance. valley, but
The
forest
is
is
much
such that any
— probably
him
to
be of
it
very dense until opposite the
one repeatedly comes upon traces of native hunters
times a faint path, marks of a kukri, a snare, bridges. The bridges
are the key, because at
many
points one
becomes
bank or the other
impassable, and the river cannot be crossed without a bridge.
We
started going
down
we found
a snare and a dead
were driven off bridge.
buck
in
left
path, but late that
we camped. Here
At midday of the second day we
it.
bank and found both a snow bridge and a natural rock
this
We camped
Pandim stream,
was no
bank, where
the right bank. There
evening a single pine-log took us to the
that night
called
two miles
(it
took four hours) short of the
on Kurz's map the Ranghep Chu. The
gave us a ten-hour bush crawl along the right bank, midges, and leeches doing
On to
picked up a track which took us to rickety three-span
where an hour was spent roping the loads
be atrocious until
the right built,
bank
until
we
over.
The going continued it, and went down
spotted another bridge, crossed
4 p.m. Here there was another bridge, only recently
and we crossed and camped. Only a mile had been made good.
Crossing
we
day
their best to enliven the proceedings.
we
the 17th
bridge,
third
tree-ticks,
this
bridge was a false move, as no progress was possible, so
recrossed and picked up a path. At 10 a.m.
we came
to
what
is
probably Bontong on the map, a maize-field but no dwelling-place. Sakyong, the first village,
was reached an hour
later.
From here there is a we camped by the
indescribably poor one}\ and after a long day
about 4,000 this
low
feet, in a
Vol.
9,
1937)
at
were higher up. Passing through Laben and
Ranglu, after which the path improves,
(HJ
river, at
cardamom-field. There seemed to be fewer pests
level than there
the 19th.
path, an
we
reached
Mangen
at 3
p.m. on
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
58
^^>x ON A GLACIER — A KARAKORAM JOURNEY PICNIC
STEPHEN VENABLES
DICK RENSHAW and visited the Malangutti glacier in IN:he 1984 Shimshal valley. Bad weather prevented any really significant I
climbing and our stockpile of heavy, unused equipment ruled out the kind of long distance wandering which would have compensated for the lack of
good summits.
In
1987
I
hoped
to rectify these mistakes, travelling light,
covering long distances, whatever the weather, and seeing some of
immense
this
glacier wilderness to the southwest of Shimshal, right at the
heart of the Karakoram.
from Skardu, head for Snow Lake and walk out Of course the idea was not original. In 1937, at the end of the historic Shaksgam expedition, Shipton had crossed the Lupke la and walked out down the Braldu glacier and out over the Shimshal pass. Two years later, with Scott Russell, he discovered a new pass on the northern Karakoram axis, the Khurdopin, but they had reluctantly to forego the descent on the far side and return quickly by the well trodden Hispar, after hearing the devastating news that Europe was at war. Forty-seven years passed before two Canadians, helped by Shimshali porters, made the first actual crossing of the pass, finding a way down the wild Khurdopin glacier to the Shimshal valley. I had not heard about this journey when we set off the following year and we only knew about Ian Haig's ill-fated 1986 attempt from Shimshal. After a series of illnesses and accidents, he collapsed on the descent to Snow Lake. Two of his porters made an incredible journey without maps, equipment or food to Skardu to seek help, put by the time a rescue party reached Snow Lake Ian had disappeared in an avalanche. His death, a year after two Cardiff climbers disappeared in the same area, was a salutary reminder that Snow Lake is a very remote
The plan was
northwards
to
to start
Shimshal.
serious place. In 1987 Dick was busy guiding in Sinkiang. However, an old friend and prodigious load carrier, Phil Bartlett, was keen on a Karakoram journey. Rumour had it that Jerry Gore and Duncan Tunstall were going to have a
snoop round the back of the Ogre, so we asked if we could team up, whereupon Jerry announced that he would give the trip a miss as it all
EXPLORATIONS
59
looked far too impromptu and disorganised. Duncan bravely threw in his lot with Venables and Bartlett, and met me for an 'expedition meeting'. After two hours he left with a list of things to do and we sent a similar to Phil.
list
We
We
all
met a month
later,
on 5
July,
and flew
to Pakistan.
were an incongruous team. Phil these days usually eschews hard
technical climbing, preferring the big Shiptonesque journey with the big
Shiptonesque rucksack. As middle age approaches apace, he loves to scorn the young, overdressed, over-equipped technocrats and clings obstinately
and cast-off clothes that give the appearance Worzel Gummidge. Duncan, a brash young yuppie from Shell, sees himself, in an ideal world, pulling his portaledge up some Himalayan big wall, dynoing up immaculate granite, dressed in designer pastel co-ordinates and plugged into the latest graphic equalizer Walkman. I, being an exceptionally tolerant, broadminded, balanced sort of person, fell somewhere between these extremes; also being a greedy sort of person, I hoped that on this Karakoram trip we could complete a long, ambitious to his old
of
home-bent
some high
ice axe
altitude
and do some reasonably technical climbing on
trek
the way.
With
that in
mind, Tunstall and Venables insisted that the expedition baggage included a modest quantity of titanium and alloy gadgetry. the
main
the gear
objective, but
on some suitably
The journey remained
we might have the chance to sacrifice imposing lump near Snow Lake, before starting
we hoped
that
the 'big push' north to Shimshal.
We
left Skardu on one of those wonderful (and last July, rare) cool, mountain mornings. Our jeep was piled high with luggage and eight porters who would carry to our base camp at the junction of the Biafo and Sim Gang glaciers. They were the nicest bunch of Karakoram porters I have had and we felt that the inevitable little labour disputes were a mere formality, carried out in a spirit of fun. My abiding memory is of one particularly clownish Balti sitting in the sun, with pink roses stuck behind
blue,
his ears, joyfully singing his
The
head
off.
up the Biafo is a wellWe had odd showers of rain and snow, but nothing drastic at our low altitude. Some days it was even sunny with fantastic views of the great granite towers of the Ogre and Latok group. We camped one night at Baintha, just below the Latoks. Higher up the Biafo, Duncan and I did a little HVS rock climb one evening above our camp. It kept the porters amused, so we called it 'Biafo Sideshow'. The following day, racing the snowfall, we coaxed the men up route up the Braldu river to Askole and
trodden classic, but for us
to the
we
Biafo
paid the
first
-
it
was
all
left
completely new.
Sim Gang junction. The approach had taken
men
for the traditional 9 stages plus
7 easy days but
one day's
rest.
For the
time there was no comfortable grassy ablation valley, but just above
we did find a home for the next
the glacier
boulder
be our
ten days.
with running water, which was to At about the height of Mont Blanc, it
site
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
60
was a pass
perfect place for acclimatizing before setting off for the Khurdopin
(c.
5750 m).
Martin
Conway was
in
1892 the
first
European
to cross the
and see the huge snow basin which feeds the Biafo
glacier.
Hispar pass
He gave
it
the
name Snow Lake (Lupke Lawa). Subsequent expeditions by the Bullock Workmans (approaching from Hispar) and the Vissers (approaching from Shimshal) failed to sort out accurately the enormously complex topography of the
snow basin and
the peaks to the north
which form the watersheds
between the Hispar, Braldu, Shimshal and Shaksgam
river systems.
was
It
only as recently as 1937 that Shipton's Shaksgam expedition started to unravel the complexities of the area.
The job was completed during
1939 expedition, when two Indian surveyors produced a remarkable
the
map
of the Biafo-Hispar systems, which has never been bettered. The expedition
— Sim Gang — covers nearly 200 square Forty eight
discovered that the catchment area of the Biafo
and the bowl of Snow Lake years until
later,
we
we found
miles.
hard to appreciate the immensity of that ice desert
it
started actually to
walk across
it
slowness landmarks moved closer. Our
Snow
food and fuel on
which we had now
glacier
the
was
to leave a
cache of
Lake, ready for the journey to Khurdopin pass,
identified.
the Biafo and climbed
and realize with what depressing
first trip
up
to
On
another grey snowing morning
we crossed
an improbable notch in the West Wall, the
Sokha la, which Tilman had crossed in 1937 on his way back to Skardu. The next day Duncan and I climbed up an icefall into another cwm on the West Wall, to check out the route onto a particularly fine granite tower. It was very gratifying to discover that, as we had suspected, there was a hidden glacier ramp leading to the upper part of the tower, promising a quick route ideal for our limited resources.
We
returned the following
afternoon. Panting up soft collapsing steps through the icefall,
not look happy and even his jaunty little.
fell
At the top of the
asleep to
Pk. 5979
— almost. We
m
was
left at
progress up the hidden ramp. traverse out left onto the
hat
seemed
where we stopped
icefall,
dream of favourite roadside
The ascent of execution
Panama
a
to
Duncan
to bivouac,
crags.
model of
huge
was
still
a
he quickly
tactical
planning and smooth
midnight, dead on schedule, and It
did
have wilted
dark as
central ice-field,
we
made
fast
pitched the short
which hung Eiger-like
As we soloed diagonally across this the sun brought our east face to life. At 7 a.m., when we stopped for a brew, the proposed route up the head-wall was starting to make noises. By 9 a.m. the whole headwall was dripping and throwing down troublesome blocks of ice, so we dug into the top lip of the icefield and settled down in comparative between rock
walls.
shelter for a leisurely
day of eating and drinking and marvelling
stupendous view out over the Sim Gang.
at the
EXPLORATIONS
61
We had been forced by bombardment to delay the attempt on the headwall but the weather was fine and we planned to start at very first light the next day, climbing fast up the depression in the headwall to a col on the ridge between the south and main summits, continuing up the ridge and returning to the bivouac by nightfall. Unfortunately the lightweight approach did not quite work out. The mixed climbing up the headwall was and time-consuming, and the line Scottish IV and V quite hard
—
—
pushed us too climbing
it
far left. After 9 pitches of wonderful, absorbing, intriguing
was already mid-afternoon, when we reached the ridge far too The connection to the main summit was a
close to the lower summit.
knife-edged horror, bedecked with dripping cornices. Duncan's style of climbing, which maximizes body contact with soggy dripping runnels, had
left
him with sodden
meant an unplanned bivouac and probable descend
to
feet.
snow
flutings
and
Continuing would have
frostbite, so
we had
sadly to
our prepared bivouac, leaving the unclimbed main summit for
another day.
At dawn the next day ominous cirrus clouds massed in the south. Later morning the first silver jellyfish floated out across the Biafo and by the time we rejoined Phil at base camp thick grey cloud was enveloping the Karakoram. that
The storm our tent
we
lasted nearly three days, putting
read
Don Quixote and
popular, but the highlight
ate
many
down
a lot of
new snow.
In
meals. Dal samosas were very
was 'Greasy Dune's' chip shop. Gastronomic
preoccupations became so intense that Phil almost
won
his bet that a time
would come when we stopped thinking and talking about sex. We also tried to raise the tone a bit by discussing philosophy and inevitably we talked over the imminent journey to Shimshal, deciding exactly how much to take and how much we could leave. When the weather cleared slightly and we packed up, a considerable dump was cached. Phil wrote a note offering the contents to any passers by, but I half hoped that I might come back this way myself in August to make another attempt on Pk. 5979 m.
We
left
our
camp
at the
Biafo-Sim Gang junction on 28 July and later. Much of the time the weather was
arrived in Shimshal nine days
bad, but by incredible luck crucial sections of route finding always coincided
with cloud clearings. After collecting the cache on
Snow Lake, our
sacks
weighed 29 kg and on the second day we only managed six hours, shuffling along in snow shoes and leaning heavily on ski sticks. After all the new snow, snow shoes were essential, but I thought that skis would have been much better. Phil disagreed and, true to form, was happy with a faulty pair of snow shoes which regularly discarded bits, shrinking drastically during the journey; and instead of ski sticks he brandished two seven foot poles from the Skardu bazaar. Our Balti porters would have been proud to see him on Day 3 poling his way up the 50 degree ice-wall to the Khurdopin
A PASSAGE TO
62 pass
—
HIMALAYA
a corniced saddle on the watershed separating the Braldu and
Shimshal river systems.
Because
it
was such
the pass and for the
we had decided on two carries to dumped food and spare gear at the the tent on the south side. That night it snowed agonies of concern that we might become separated a steep climb,
moment we
top, before returning to
heavily and Phil suffered
just
from our food up on the pass. Luckily the 300 m slope on our side was too steep to accumulate deep new snow, nevertheless the climb back up on Day Four entailed swimming through some alarming spindrift avalanches.
We camped
right on the pass at c. 5750 m. Snow drifted up against the and inside the fog thickened. Our recalcitrant primus stove went on strike and tempers flared while matches fizzled out in the humid oxygen-
tent
air. Eventually we resorted to priming Don Quixote pages soaked in paraffin.
drained
the stove with a bonfire of
Day Five dawned fine and very cold and the morning struggle with tent snow shoes was particularly character-building. So was the
poles and
descent onto the upper Khurdopin glacier
— only
a short slope but classic
windslap territory on the lee side below big cornices. Phil steered a
skilful
course; even so avalanches erupted menacingly either side of our track and
we were
very thankful to reach the big snow basin unscathed.
Duncan had now
forgotten
all
about designer climbing and was
thoroughly relishing our 'picnic on a glacier'. The descent to Shimshal
had
all
the excitement of a multi-day technical climb.
we
We
were committed
know and every day brought new vistas, new surprises, new problems to solve, new decisions to make. The upper snow basin led us towards a great icefall and that afternoon, on Day Five, we felt as though we were being sucked inexorably towards the brink of Niagara, to tumble down to the lower Khurdopin far below. After stepping in numerous crevasses on the brink, we escaped to the right bank to discover rocks and gullies bypassing the icefall. In the morning we continued, profoundly thankful for good visibility, to find our way over complex, loose cliffs and another gully down to the main glacier. The right bank was impassable, so we climbed through a fantastic jumble of tottering ice-blocks out onto the centre of the glacier. All that afternoon we climbed up and down over the great striated waves of ice that characterise the northern Karakoram glaciers, and it was only in the evening that we could to five
days through territory
did not
escape with relief to the
first ablation valley on the right bank, with its delphiniums and potentilla, and a solitary rusting cheese tin a poignant reminder of Ian Haig's journey the previous year. We camped at the first
hunters' huts, which suggested that there to
Shimshal.
—
would now be
a path
all
the
way
EXPLORATIONS There was a path
Day Seven
the
way
to Shimshal, but
had many gaps.
it
On
the ablation valley frequently petered out, leaving us to slither
across lethal to go.
all
63
mud
slopes, peering through
The next morning was
fine, so
we
murky
drizzle,
wondering where
lingered at the camp, waiting for
the sun to dry out and lighten the tent, before packing
up and suspiciously
We
had now reached the main Shimshal valley and were on the home run, eking out the last remnants of food, cutting up the final Mars bars into three with studied precision. After crossing the monstrous rubble of the Khurdopin and Yukshin glacier snouts,
weighing each other's loads.
we climbed up into another ablation valley that seemed to lead to the Promised Land of Shimshal. Suddenly the path and cairns stopped dead at a 100 m cliff of conglomerate. Apparently erosion had made this route obsolete. 'At last grade 4 at Dover', Duncan grumbled, as we stopped to put on crampons for the descent. An hour later the rope came out again for an excruciating, thigh deep river crossing to avoid rock bombardment on the left bank. On the morning of Day Nine we crossed back beyond the lethal scree slope by a wire cable and from there it was plain sailing to the green fields and 'Dastoghil Cottage' hotel in Shimshal, which we reached
Two
at
midday.
days
later,
incredible marble
four weeks after leaving Skardu, we walked out of the chasm of the Shimshal gorge to Pasu, where they grow
I said good-bye to Phil and Duncan, had completed a fantastic journey and, while friends on Spantik had been sitting out mediocre weather, waiting to start a huge technical climb, we had been continually on the move. However, I did have one niggling regret about the main summit of Pk. 5979 m, so in August I went back for another attempt. Steve Razzetti, a
the best apples in
Hunza. At Gilgit
who were due back
in
England.
We
to join me on a up the Hispar to Snow Lake, then out over the Basha valley, and so back to Shigar and Skardu.
compulsive Karakoram wanderer, was free and agreed return journey to Skardu, going
Tilman's Sokha
On
la to
August we drove up
Karimabad, en route for Nagar and the few days had been more settled, but there had obviously still been perturbation higher up. Reasonable weather developed into brilliant weather, with only one day's rain for over three weeks. With two men from Nagar to help with the luggage, we enjoyed an idyllic week's walking up the flower spangled ablation valleys of the 1 1
to
Hispar valley. The weather these
last
Hispar. Razzetti had secured a plentiful supply of narcotic combustibles for the trip, so he
was
heaven and was happy,
in sixth
porters and crossing the Hispar pass, to at
our old Biafo
Tower' as
We all
I
Dump, while
had decided
arrived at the
the food
still
I
the
after leaving our
for a couple of days
settled the score with Pk.
to call
dump on
intact.
I
mellow out
5979
m
or 'Solu
it.
morning of 23 August, overjoyed
spent the day doing
some
to find
serious eating and
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
64
preparing for the climb and set off in the afternoon. Because
one stove, which
was only
it
fair to leave
with Steve,
I
had
we
of bottled water for the climb. The icefall below the
litres
only had
to carry four
cwm
was
transformed. Fifty degree slopes had been tipped up to 60 degrees and the
monster crevasse which Duncan and
month at
was now
earlier
15
m
I
had just managed
wide, forcing a big detour.
ramp
11.15 p.m. and this time followed the hidden
hoping
to follow a line of ledges diagonally
main summit. I had was light enough
to the until
it
dark,
I
felt
to wait a
back
I
left the
right to
bivouac top,
its
across the headwall
left
couple of hours
to step across a
at the
top of the
ramp
to start the real climbing. Sitting alone in the
a bit apprehensive about the steep rock leading to the ledges
and wondered how well
I
would be able
to protect
—
it
(and get
down
the
five little wire nuts, one peg mountain) with only our remnants of gear and two ice-screws. But the rock was beautiful, I learnt how to backrope to be doing some real climbing again ... wonderful on a ledge, while a kite which had flown over from the Ogre hovered a few feet away, staring curiously at the strange intruder. The ledge system above did not require a backrope and linked up nicely in a series of enjoyable but wet snow and mixed pitches, leading to a hot, tedious, frightening snowfield and at last, a month later than planned, the summit. On the way down I used up all the gear on diagonal abseils, to minimise the unpleasant down climbing. At dusk, twenty hours after setting out, I arrived back down at my sleeping bag in the cwm and fell fast
and
was wonderful
it
also to
sit in
the sun
asleep.
Two
days
later
Steve and
I
left for
the
Sokha
la.
For a
man who had
never done any ice-climbing, Steve moved remarkably competently up a
50 degree hard ice slope, above 5000 m, in enervating heat, with a 27 kg sack on his back pretty good for a beginner! Then we descended the far side of Tilman's remarkable pass, winding down the Sokha glacier, enclosed between the daunting rock walls of Sosbun Brakk and other, unnamed, peaks. The Bullock Workmans suggested that this glacier defied nature and had no outlet, but in 1937 Tilman was a bit disappointed to discover that of course it flowed out into a river like any normal self-
—
respecting glacier.
On
the second night
we reached
that river
and camped
in a luxuriant
green valley, reminiscent of southern Kashmir, cooking the evening vegyburgers on a birch and juniper fire. In the morning we hurried on
down
to the
Basha
shady walnut
valley, to exquisite timber houses, hot springs, ancient
trees,
and fresh
fruit
prices by charming rogues. Another
and eggs, sold to us for ridiculous two days walking brought us to the
main Dassu-Skardu road and that night our jeep rum'jled across the Indus bridge and back to the bright lights of Skardu. The journey was over.
(HJ
Vol. 44,
1987)
Moderate mountains for R. L. Holdsworth
middle-aged mountaineers
The most spectacular
flight
Romesh
in India
Bhattacharji
Baber's Crossing of the Zirrin A. D. Moddie
Pass, 1506
Hidden Himalaya
Mavis Heath
Very few would have seen a complete vista of the Himalaya as
the range.
He
describes the various pleasures in different parts of
the Himalaya.
He
calls
it
suggestions for the 'middle-aged
mountaineers'. But beware! These pioneers were stern stuff.
-
roamed through much of
Holdsworth certainly has, having
For the more leisurely inclined, there
than observing the range from a flight
here from the air by
-
what
is
made of very nothing better
brilliant observations
a bureaucrat, Bhattacharjee!
^^x MODERATE MOUNTAINS FOR MIDDLE-AGED MOUNTAINEERS R. L.
HOLDSWORTH COMES A TIME
THERE when
for dwellers in the Indian subcontinent,
they have climbed their
own
particular Everests and are
no
longer young enough, or perhaps wealthy enough, to take part in a largescale expedition to
one of the few remaining 8,000-metre peaks, but when
the urge to spend their holiday in the high places
such as these there are
and 22,000
feet
still literally
is still insistent.
For
hundreds of mountains between 18,000
which are accessible without grandiose arrangements for equipment. I have long since reached this age and
stores, porters or
perhaps a few memories of such moderate mountains will be of interest to
some
readers of the Himalayan Journal
who
are approaching this stage in
their life. I
shall mention, in addition to the
climbing possibilities, the wild
the fishing, the Alpine flowers and the skiing,
me and may
additional attractions to
be also
to others.
In 1940, in the very worst days of the war,
possible that return,
we
—
we might
that
is, J.
find
Adolf Hitler
in
life,
which have always been
when
was more than
it
command
of India on our
M. Gibson, J. A. K. Martyn and myself, all at Doon School, Dehra Dun, thought it a good idea
T.
that time masters at the
have one more climbing holiday. We selected as our aim Mankial, an unclimbed mountain of nearly 19,000 feet in Upper Swat, where three of
to
our students had their stately that, if the
to
wage It
home
worst came to the worst,
guerrilla warfare
was an
Saidu Sharif.
at it
would not be
I
remember thinking
a bad base
from which
on the minions of awful Adolf.
entirely successful expedition
the battle of Britain had been fought and
Admitting the princely hospitality that
and on our return we found
that
won, and things were not so bad.
we
received
at
our host, the present Ruler, Aurangzeb Khan, both
Saidu Sharif from at the
start
of the
we reached the end of the motor-road with no more equipment than three Meade tents and a porter tent, ice-axes, crampons and a climbing rope, and made our way to a delightful marg
expedition and on our return,
67
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
68 just
below
From here, reinforced by we made a reconnaissance, to
the tree-line at about 9,500 feet.
very good young Sherpa called Rinsing,
point well above the glacier at about 15,000
we could
good close-up view of
get a
Easy slopes of neve would take us South ridge, the
first
part of
feet.
Here, for the
first
a a
time,
the upper part of one mountain.
to a pass,
which gave access
to a
rocky
which contained some gendarmes which
might well be beyond our capacity. To the west lay two wide couloirs by
which the South ridge could be reached by subsidiary rock ridges above
We
the last difficulty. 'go'.
We
decided that the
first
—
i.e.
water, at about 11,500 feet, and to use a bivouac
we
point where
soon as
the westernmost
— would
decided to place a comfortable camp, with cook and running
we had
camp
15,000 feet
at the
stood and which two Swati porters would evacuate as left
use the 11,500 feet
it.
We
thought that after climbing the peak
camp on our
climb went easily enough
return, as well as
we should
on the way up.
The
misty weather; this
in dry but, unfortunately,
precluded the view over Indus Kohistan to the Hindu Kush and Karakoram
which must be superb. We gave the first couloir a miss. It was strewn with blocks of ice and stones and looked most forbidding. The second couloir was steeper, but free of these danger signals. We cramponed up it,
finding the
snow
well consolidated on the ice both on the
on the descent, when owing
to
melting
it
way up and
might have been dangerous. The
subsidiary and the main South rock ridge gave us a pleasant but easy
scramble, which, in spite of having
left
the plains only six days ago,
we
enough to enjoy. Finding ourselves back at the 11,500 feet camp with more than an hour's daylight left, we packed it up and returned to the were
fit
marg, much
to
the disappointment of the
cook who had prepared a
magnificent supper.
A
week might very easily be spent climbing some of the peaks adjoining all of them in the neighbourhood of 18,000 feet and giving some more difficult climbs than we had achieved. After a day's rest at the marg
Mankial,
we walked up
to another pass into Indus
Kohistan before returning to the
fleshpots of Saidu. It
remains
summer, so
to
add
that there ^are
that milk, butter
always Gujars on the marg
in
high
and curds are available.
The wild life of Upper Swat includes markhor and Monal pheasant which we saw, and black bear, gorhal and, lower down, chukor and probably koklas, chir and kaleej pheasant. The flora
and
differs very little
below Saidu
Sharif,
from
that of
Kashmir.
is
There
only fairly abundant is
introduced, though the Swat River above 5,000 feet would trout water.
mahseer fishing trip, been
but trout had not, at the time of our
make an
excellent
THE RANGE Climbing to cross
in the Central
who
for those
69
Himalaya, west of Nepal, depends nowadays,
are not Indian citizens, on the vagaries of the inner line',
which you have
to obtain a pass,
the actual frontier with Tibet will
now
which
not
is
that easy,
and
cannot say
how
all
be a military area.
I
and passholders will be allowed to go. But starting from the east the following areas are full of climbs which can be done far Indian citizens
with no more 'bandobast' than that mentioned above. First
of
all,
my
in
opinion,
come
Arwa
the mountains of the
Valley,
above Badrinath and Mana. Here there are many peaks between 20,000 feet and 22,000 feet, which would now come under the category of 'an easy day for a lady'. Moreover, there at
19,000 feet which
'Kamet Conquered'
is
first visited in
I
for
its
camp Kamet expedition {see
an admirable place for a high 1931 on the
exact position) and again
in
1942 with
J.
A. K.
Marty n and three very young Doon School boys and from which in 1931 I climbed four of the peaks, none of them dignified with a name, but all of them providing delightful climbing, snow, rock and of this
camp
is
porter of a load of
The Arwa
ice.
The
accessibility
Mana
proved by the delivery by a new route by a solitary
two hens and no
less than
100 eggs.
glaciers give excellent and safe skiing, and,
if
you are a
fisherman, there are trout to be caught on your return in the
Gona Lake,
below and Kuari Pass, or above Chamoli, whichever way you
like to look
at
it.
There are no barhal
plentiful
in the
Arwa
Valley, though they used to be
on the Gangotri side of the range.
Further west we come to a fine group of mountains surrounding Bandarpunch and the Black Peak, both well over 20,000 feet which can be approached from three directions. One is from Rishikesh or Mussoorie, Uttarkashi and the Dodital Lake, which is stocked with brown trout-or rather over-stocked, since they have bred prolifically and there is not enough
food to support them. hours.
From
T.
J.
M. Gibson and
I
once caught over 50
Dodital you cross an easy pass
black and red
—
into the
comfortable Base
Camp
Hanuman Ganga
in the
upper Alps
— look
Valley and from there at
in
two
out for bears, both
about 12,000
feet.
make
a
Here the
flowers are both abundant and interesting, five or six species of primula, asters,
anemone and
party of 1946, Jayal,
we made
a fine rose-coloured cypripedium. In J.T.M. Gibson's
which included both Tenzing and
the late
Narendra Dhar
an attempt on the summit during the monsoon months and
got to within 1,000 feet of our objective before snow, mist and lack of time
prevented
us.
The peak was climbed
parties; in fact,
snow up
it
is
a
few years
virtually his peak.
the South ridge, with about
400
later
by another of Gibson's
The climbing
is
feet of easy rock.
mainly ice and
Above
the last
rocks there are two steep ice-slopes which are very exposed. The same
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
70 base
Camp would
feet,
and a
enable you to climb the
neve slopes below Chakrata, the
Camp The
skiing.
From
Valley and Jumnotri.
two higher camps
approach
third
peak give glorious
this
Jumna
at least
is
Peak, over 18,000
Bandarpunch, and the
Another approach
the
is
via
Hanuman-Ganga Base
are needed, possibly three.
Bandarpunch range, and
to the
route to the Black Peak, which itself, is
Hanuman
fine twenty thousander to the west of
in point
particularly the easiest
of fact higher than Bandarpunch
via Chakrata, the valley of the Tons, the Jumna's biggest tributary,
and the Harkidun, a high pasture just beneath the three or four glaciers
which feed the Tons. Here, in addition to the Black Peak, there are unclimbed peaks galore between 18,000 and 21,000 feet, some of them far from
easy.
The Harkidun, has been
made
a
like the
game
Hanuman Ganga,
has a wealth of flowers and
my
only barhal there, and there
sanctuary.
I
shot
snow leopard
are red bear and probably
as well, while
Monal pheasant
and snowcock abound. In the rich forest below there are black bear muskdeer, thar
An
and koklas and probably Tragopan pheasant.
interesting round trip
the Harkidun to the
and
which
I
Borasu Pass over 17,000
to cross the
Baspa
year there
late in the
the 15,000 feet
have done with Chakrata porters feet
Valley, descend the latter to Sangla,
where early
trout-fishing for fabulously large trout, cross
is
Buran Pass
is
and an easy glacier pass, from
—glorious flowers near
the top, including the
'blue poppy'
(Meconopsis aculeata), descend the Pabbar Valley (excellent
trout-fishing
above and below Rohru) and, recrossing the Tons River
at
The Chakrata coolies, excellent men on steep grass, scree and rocks, have an uncanny fear of snow, which they will meet both on the Borasu and the Buran in some quantity, though without any danger at all, and require some persuasion.
Tiuni, return to Chakrata.
Proceeding
further west
still
Kailash which contains virtually unexplored. is
best approached
It
we
jeep
are
I
—up
now
group of the Kinnaur feet
and which
from the east bank of the
from Simla and a road which
my own
Chini (which
to the fine
one peak of 21,000
rises abruptly
as far as the Tibetan frontier.
not driving
we come
at least
have been motored
is
now
—
I
Sutlej,
is
and
jeepable almost
was glad
that
I
was
the fantastically sensational road as far as
instructed to call Kalpa, presumably in case
Mr. Chou En-lai gets to hear of
it
and claims
it
as part of the People's
would advise any party of climbers destined for the Kinnaur Kailash range to spend a day or two at Chini-Kalpa, not only because it is a beautiful village in itself, perched on the west bank of the Sutlej, amidst deodars at 9,200 feet but because the present Deputy Commissioner is himself a keen and experienced mountaineer, Nalni Dhar Jayal (cousin Republic).
I
THE RANGE of the late
Nandu Dhar),
a
member
71
He
of our club.
will give
any climbing
accommodation and porters. Moreover, Chini-Kalpa is an admirable place from which to do bungalow-veranda mountaineering. The Kailash group rises abruptly, apparently within a
party valuable advice and arrange for
stone's throw, across the invisible depths of the Sutlej Valley.
from here
to plan routes to the various peaks,
It is
none of them
possible
easy. This
most worthwhile because, thanks to present-day variation of the known to Rudyard Kipling, you may be well on your way three days from Simla. An 'inner line' pass is most decidedly group
is
Hindustan-Tibet Road,
necessary.
A
further advantage of the Kinnaur Kailash group
monsoon, which more or
less
Immediately west of Kinnaur
Kalpa into
up
am assuming
I
possible to walk from Chini-
is Spiti. It is
that
Kashmir-^by more or
to
my
readers will have three
may be
linked
high level routes. But
less
I
weeks rather than three
at their disposal.
have entered and penetrated a short distance
direction
some
who
is
it
Spiti via the Spiti River. In fact, all these regions
—from Kumaon
months
for those
is,
beyond the reach of the peters out beyond Rampur Bushahr.
cannot get their holiday before July, that
—Lahul and
the
Kunzam
La.
into Spiti
To be absolutely
on the
fine cliffs, apparently of dolomite limestone
Spiti River, the
me much.
mountains did not impress
an apparently bogus peak of 23,000 feet
by the Survey of India. quite close quarters at
I
— admitted
have forgotten
where
it
is
its
to
from the other
frank, except for left
Spiti
bank of the
does contain
be bogus,
I
believe,
name' but have looked from
marked on
the
map. There are genuine
twenty-one thousanders on the Spiti-Kulu frontier but these are better reached from the Kulu side and, anyhow, do not look impressive.
What impressed me was
— about
the great height
the long, grim winters
13,000 feet
must be absolutely staggering, since
reaches of the Spiti River there
is
no
—of
the
The problem of keeping warm
highest permanently occupied villages.
tree
in the
in
upper
growth except for some scrub
willow, wild rose and shrubby potentilla. Spiti
snow ovis
used to have a great reputation for wild
leopard, and towards the Tso-Morari
ammon
and wild yak; but now
rifles are plentiful
it is
that
it is
probably a different
life,
including ibex, barhal,
Lake and
the Tibetan frontier,
a military area and that 0.303 story.
I
saw a herd of barhal,
with three or four magnificent heads, but no ibex.
not
Owing to the make a great
there are one or
excessive dryness of the country the Alpine flowers do display except near the very few running streams, though
two
interesting species.
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
72
I
Next comes Lahul, and though you can connect Spiti with Lahul, as by the Kunzam La and Bara Lacha La, access is far easier via Kulu
did,
and the well-known Rohtang Pass.
The Lahul peaks have now been
pretty thoroughly explored, both north
of the Chandra River (soon to become the Chenab) and south, where they
belong
strictly to the Pir Panjal,
from Lahul and Kulu. So I
I
not the Himalaya, and are accessible both
do not propose
to
go
do, however, wish to point out one mountain
the attention of previous parties. Go, capital,
Keylang,
if
feet.
From
in great detail.
think has escaped
you possess or do not require an 'inner
line'
pass to
bazaar and camping place with a rest-house,
Patseo, a considerable
12,400
I
marches beyond Lahul's
think, three
I
them
into
which
at
here turn east up the Patseo nullah, and, after rounding
mountain
a corner, a really splendid
the end of one branch of the
fills
comes down to about 13,500 feet and it is all steep above this. The map marks the culminating point as something
nullah. Its glacier
snow and ice more than 21,000
feet but
I
believe that
is
it
much
higher, since only those
peaks were triangulated which were visible from the road along the Bhaga
on the west and the infant Chandra on the
east.
This fine peak
from both roads. The mountain from the Patseo side should just 'go' provided that there
West of Patseo and of about 18,000
feet,
not too
is
much
view of the rest-house
in full
which are
is
is
invisible
very steep, but
bare
it
ice.
rise three fine
peaks
and would give a very
easily accessible
suitable training run before tackling the big peak.
The Patseo nullah
is
also
by Lahul standards. Like flora,
famous
Spiti,
for containing ibex with big heads,
Lahul
too dry to contain a rich Alpine
is
though here again near springs and the sparse streamsides some
interesting species are
on view, and the Rohtang Pass, more open
monsoon, has a splendid
display.
Snow
to the
leopards are reported and, only in
the south of Lahul, the red bears are said to have a beautiful golden coat,
though
I
never saw bear or leopard on
my two
visits.
Kulu has been very adequately written up, but I should like to a trip which I have never heard has been attempted. 2 West of Manali, peaks rise to over 18,000 feet and two or three passes lead to the
recommend
romantically
named
district
of Bara Bangahal. These passes lead to the
neighbourhood of Dharamsala
in the Kangra Valley and must be used by Kangra shepherds. It would be an interesting trip to traverse them. I once saw from a camp at only 9,000 feet, on the Manali side of these passes,
no
2.
less than ten red bears, of
which
I
shot one, and two black.
See 'Kulu Notes, 1963-64' and 'Odd Corners
in
Kulu'
in this
Journal.
The nullah
— Ed.
THE RANGE was subsequently created
73
a 'sanctuary' though
a sanctuary for poachers, since there
is little
it
will
never be more than
supervision.
Kulu also has its trout-fishing in the Beas and owing first to snow water and then to monsoon
its
tributaries, though,
rain,
May
April,
and
October are the best months.
Our next is
area of mountains separating Kulu from
Chamba
about
it
State, but since
except that
stag and,
I
it
is
I
Jammu
and Kashmir
have never been there and know nothing
reported to
mark
believe, also the markhor,
Kashmir
the eastern limit of the
we
will pass
it
by.
Kashmir is, for mountaineers, associated with the names of Karakoram, Nanga Parbat and the Nun Kun group. These are all big mountains and possibly beyond the reach of the middle-aged. But perhaps some people do not realize that above the Kashmir Valley proper the Great Himalaya comes down to heights of no more than 18,000 feet. In the east, easily accessible from Pahalgam and the Liddar Valley there 17,800
been climbed two or three times,
New
Doctor Neve. 3
Lake
is
the fine peak of Kolahoi,
looking remarkably like a minor Matterhorn.
feet,
first, in
It
has,
I
believe,
by Wular
the first decade of the century
routes might be invented. Overlooking the
Haramukh, which is under 17,000 feet snow mountain. It must have been climbed several times and may be approached by the Erin or Madmutti nullahs and by the Wangat trout stream and the Gangabal Lake. From a lake-side camp I once, with a well-known Kashmir fishing shikari, achieved what I still think must be a record. I climbed Haramukh in the morning by the rises the friendly bulk of
high, but
which
easiest route
is
a genuine
and caught a dozen sacred
trout in the evening, for
which
act
was promptly punished by a sharp attack of malaria. The history of these trout in the Gangabal Lake is interesting. It was stocked with brown trout about the turn of the century by a British Forest Officer, I believe. But then the Pandits of Kashmir decided, rather quaintly, that the lake was one of the sources of the Ganga and it was put out of bounds. of sacrilege
I
Fortunately for
all,
the trout not only thrive in the lake, but bred in the
Wangat stream which flows out of it and so made their way into the Sind River, which became one of Kashmir's first trout waters. The task of keeping anglers from the lake, owing to its formidable height of nearly 12,000 feet, had to be allotted to a Muslim shepherd, who, at the time of my sinful exploit, was a bit of a racketeer and made quite a bit by purveying very easy trout-fishing to unbelievers.
South of the Kashmir Valley 15,000 feet 3.
at
some
rises the Pir Panjal range, rising to
over
points and dropping to 9,000 feet at the Banihal Pass
H.J., Vol. VIII, p. 103.
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
74 and to
between 7,000 and 8,000
to
which used
feet at the Pir Panjal Pass,
be on the main route of the Moghul
rulers.
I
recommend
should like to
range as skiing or rather ski-mountaineering terrain of the very highest
this
Nowadays, of course, very few skiers will ski at all unless conveyed by funiculars or ski-lifts; but in case there are any so old-fashioned as not to object to climbing I will repeat that the Kashmir Pir Panjal is a 'ski-paradise', and there are some amusing little scrambles
quality.
to the top of their runs
and one formidable rockmass, the 'Pir Panjal Brahma would yield rock-climbing of severe standard and which is completely unclimbed. The Ski Club of India used to ski from Gulmarg on the slopes of Alpathar or Apharwat between the years 1919 and 1941, both at Christmas and Easter. Now, alas, only the Army uses it for Alpine warfare training, though the Khillan Hut is still, I believe, the property of the club and civilians have been and still are welcomed by the Army. I have myself not only ski'd all over Alpathar, but one Easter spent a week
to its highest points,
Peaks', which
in a tent at the
head of the Ferozepur nullah, skiing alone.
really splendid runs
one of the 15,000
What
I
my
took
I
and completed the
feet peaks,
suggest
that
is
month of May, when
some enterprising party should, preferably would still be snow in abundance down
whole range from Khillanmarg
to take a
coolies and to place
it
at
camp along
might remain
in the
foot.
in the
to the
to the Banihal.
It
cook and a few
the range with a
convenient points just below the tree-line. The
camp would move each day sideways and eastward it
100 feet or so on
there
tree-line, traverse the
would be possible
last
Among some
Shin Mahinyoo,
skis nearly to the top of
same place
for
—or
two or three days
at certain
—while
points
the ski-
ing party climbed various heights and descended over magnificent runs to
way one might start with Alpathar and The next two or three days might be spent
an agreed rendezvous. In this
descend
to the Khillan Hut.
where I camped in the Ferozepur nullah, and the Ferozepur peak climbed, and Shin Mahinyoo. The next day the camp might be changed via the Yesh Maidan and the Tosh Maidan, and the highest point of the
Pir Panjal,
the so-called 'Sunset Peak' collected, giving a magnificent run
Beyond that it is all, to me, good map-reading the whole real bit
traverse should be possible, and
of pioneering, since the whole area
is
in
charge of the
survive.
It
camp
—preferably
would be too awful
would be
man
is
found
a Pir Panjal shikari, if any
for skiers to
a
right off the tourist track.
Great care should, of course, be taken that a suitable
be
down.
'blank on the map', but with enterprise and
come down, to
to
still
the rendezvous
and find no camp awaiting them. I
It
is
need not mention the trout-fishing of Kashmir, which as
good now
as
it
was when
I
first tried
it
in
is
well known.
1935, and not so
THE RANGE
75
expensive as trout-fishing of a similar quality flowers of Kashmir are equally well known.
the variety of species
not so great as in Sikkim or Bhutan, the general display or
is
anemone, gentian, columbine and many others
May, June and
in
Before
one
just
we
is
iris,
primula,
magnificent, particularly
July.
get round again to
district
The
in the British Isles.
Though
of which
I
Swat Kohistan where we
started, there is
have the pleasantest memories. This
is in
West
Pakistan, the N.W.F.P., and marches with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. is
the
fine
Kagan
little
It
Valley. In the upper part of this valley there stands a really
mountain called Malika Parbat, over 17,000
and
feet high
involving some quite formidable ice-work. In an attempt with two 'Gujars' I
got within 500 feet of the summit, but gave up as
was a dangerous
not suitably shod for what
once before from another and, slope by a
Gurkha
had been climbed
believe, easier approach
My own approach was from small lake. A year or two later
route by three British officers from Peshawar.
to the
companions were
It
officer.
the Safr-Maluk Sar, a
my
I
my
slope.
Babusar Pass of something over 13,000
on
its
northern
Naran village and
it was climbed by The Kagan Valley leads
feet,
an easy pass for mules
or ponies, giving access to the Gilgit Agency.
The upper Kagan Valley has a rich flora, with some rare and interesting what attracted me most, year after year, was the trout-fishing. The upper waters of the Kunhar River are not unlike a Scottish salmon river in size and character. In the early years of the century it was stocked with brown trout by the Forest Department, but for some years it was not known with what success. The fish did not breed very freely, very few small fish were seen, and very few anglers made the four days' journey to species, but
fish for
was fish,
them. But by 1936
better than in
at least they
were established and the fishing
most of the Kashmir streams. You did not catch many
but what you did catch were usually over two pounds.
present situation the Pakistan
is I
Army
What
the
have no idea, since the valley has been occupied by since
1947 and military occupation usually has a
deplorable effect on the fishing.
And now to all the
it is
high time that
Himalayan ranges
enough moderate mountains of decrepitude as
(HJ
Vol. 25,
I
1964)
I
I
took leave of you.
am
to last
I
have conducted you
familiar with and introduced you to
you from middle-age
have unhappily arrived
at.
to the
same
state
•
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
76
^A^ THE MOST SPECTACULAR FLIGHT IN INDIA ROMESH
BEING air to
D.
BHATTACHARJI
A
CIVIL SERVANT
stationed at Shillong
the plane at Delhi can literally be gained
window.
the
Fit
have
I
by
to travel
and from Delhi often. What one misses by closing the door of
On
489 from Delhi
Airlines flight
I
Bagdogra
to
always
to
Guwahati
going on.
like
by watching the Himalaya through
o'clock that must be Everest!
this flight; if it's 8
It
Dibrugarh
to
is
one Indian
actually leaves at 6.20 hrs every
day and the moment the plane turns east over Palam
a wall of white rises
to the north.
That's the Himalaya. That's also the reason
crowded
usually
the last five years but
favourite seat
Time
must have done the
flight. I
4A
or
I
wonder whether
south of Delhi airport mercifully it
levels off
it is
snow
way down
line has crept
it
I
can have
hazy or
will be
become
clear.
My
low.
rain.
It's late
I
is
the limit of the
know, the peaks
spot,
and those
The sky
indicator
is
is
washed, and
a barely noticeable
The game
starts. It's
Towards the but
I
A
be there but
I
Trisul.
search for the peaks
have not yet been able
a
smooth
fantastic
flight.
way
to
Miles of peaks stretching
first
till
the
me,
recognisable peaks are Bandarpunch. Gangotri,
Kedamath followed by
wide southeast face
to
have breakfast.
distant northwest a host of indistinct peaks tantalise
ignore them. The
Jaonli and
to
I
don't know.
I
horizon and beyond.
permanent snow-line.
ought
that
that
The
to the
9000 December
Chandnikot (5500 m) peak and the bowl on the southeast ridge of This ridge
in
my
dots as the plane rises to
greeted by a blaze of sunlight.
and Delhi has just had a couple of days of the
to this
and country houses with swimming pools
dry, dusty fields, factories,
m and as
on
without any fuss.
and
for take off,
try to get
I
about once a month
get to the airport early so that
still I
5A
why
trip
brilliantly
lit
the
Chaukhamba
up by the
rising sun.
peaks' domineering
Then
like the build
THE RANGE
77
up of a raga more and more peaks come tumbling out of the expanding not niggardly at this height. Strangely enough
I
am
looking for the Bhagirathi peaks and the imposing Shivling, but
I
can see
horizon. Nature
is
the Ghori and Hathi Parbats both living upto their names.
Behind
still
this
Garhwal Himalaya rises another. The Zaskar range peaks of Chirbas, Sri Kailash, Kamet, Mana and Nilkanth. Then this high and serrated range is blotted out by the haughty flanks of the Nanda Devi massif and its lesser attendants, which are equally awesome but from terra firma. The sharp tooth shaped Changabang's summit can be seen when the plane is in line with the main summit of Nanda Devi. Rank on serried front of the
rank rise these magnificent snow peaks from the ground. There
speck of cloud. Below, the plains are speckled with
and
I
tufts
is
not a
of lifting mists,
spot Aligarh's masjid, Narora's Atomic Energy Complex, and the
120 year old Ganga canal.
can see both the Ganga and Jamuna, and to
I
the north the land of their birth.
From
Nanda Devis
the
the ridge tapers to the Panchchuli, the five fires
of the gods, a striking array of five needle sharp peaks. Behind them are
numerous peaks but
my
eyes strain to see Tibet's Gurla Mandhata (7730 m)
and the fabled Kailash (6720 m) which in the
more than 50
Today too
warm
the
I
flights
I
I
have been able
to see only twice
have made.
have not been able
A
to see Kailash.
thin mist
formed by
from the plains colliding with the cold mountain
air currents
air
has curtained off the trans-Himalayan peaks. This disappointment does
come Api and Nampa
not last long, for in quick succession
of Nepal,
behind them can be seen the Tibetan peak of Nal Kankar, and then the of the eight thousanders Dhaulagiri and
me
conditioned in line its
and
to
observing
in hurry to
five juniors,
this
its
first
five satellites. Experience has
mass quickly
in ten
minutes, for waiting
appear are other eight thousanders. Annapurna and
and Manaslu attended upon by the enticing Himalchuli.
Also slipping by
the beautiful
is
Machhapuchhare
the
dominant deity of
Pokhara plain put here unnoticed amongst so many frosty eminences.
These eight thousanders look immense even from a high flying plane.
At
from the west they merely look
first
their south
and east
their
of course they have. to
name
that
all
Up
mere mortals
give, as if they
in
imagine or describe.
little
You
And won.
It
will
can't parcel out majesty
were so many sign
be dull
by names
posts. Their frozen
shapes that even the most unfettered fancy can never
A finger shaped peak becomes
direction, while a long
After a
these very south faces.
the identifiable peaks.
rocky bulks are
big, but as the plane is directly to
huge walls are fearsome. Can any man dare? But
a
pyramid from another
snow-bound ridge reveals four exciting peaks.
while the urge to be
in
one of the mysterious valleys leading
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
78
upto these peaks becomes so overpowering, one's mind so ventures and wishes.
I
way from
tributaries snaking their
of ambitious
numerous The southern ones take a from World War II days can its
the north.
abandoned airstrips and then the one near Kathihar from which the
straighter course. Old,
also seen,
full
can see the broad, sluggish Ganga and
flight in
first
rickety Wapitis to photograph Everest took off in early 1933. This airstrip is
in line
with Everest and just about
opposite Gauri Shankar
this point,
the plane swings to take a 90° turn straight into the
of eight thousanders
We
jaws of another brace
— Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Kangchenjunga.
have flown past many peaks, but
this
incomparable knot reigns
supreme. Everest for a while looks unimpressive though easily recognisable
famed plume of wind blown powdered snow and its guardian wall along which expeditions from the south must go. As the plane approaches Everest (8848 m) it becomes bigger, and more than its neighbours commanding as it towers above them, impressive and awesome. The black snowless west face can be seen, even the diminutive Lho la, the by
its
of the
Cwm
pass leading to Tibet
is visible. Its
in a bit of reflected glory.
plane's
commander whom
neighbour Lhotse (8511 m) also basks
one of these
flights a
me
knew, called
I
Everest and the peaks around
to point out
for
On
from here
it.
couple of years ago the
and asked
to the cockpit
not as silly as
It's
it
me
sounds
jumble of peaks can be confusing. The Captain
this highest
Once while flying to Bagdogra he was glibly manner he thought best. Soon he got a note saying that he had called the wrong one Everest. He sent word back to this interfering passenger saying that he knew what he was talking about, only
had an interesting
tale to tell.
identifying the peaks in the
to find that
he had been corrected by Sir
Edmund
Hillary.
About 40-50 km east from Everest can be seen the Makalu twins and Kumbhakarna, and of a man sleeping with his hands on his breast, which is the great massif of Kangchenjunga (8598 m). The plane the head of
dips to land and the dark green of tea estates with just a semblance of
cover of light green acasia trees come into view. In early winter golden
paddy
fields
hem them
in colourful contrast.
The
airfield is in a north-
south alignment and the plane seems to head straight into the
mass of the blue mountain of Kurseong, which these lowly hills were not even noticeable. At Bagdogra the wait
The reason
often
is
is
is all
clouds and haze, as the
The plane climbs it
this point
have been
we meet
a
few
morning's increasing warmth creates mild
late
Bridge over the Tista. As
towering
always longer than the promised 25 minutes.
that fighter aircraft practising take-offs
given priority over 150 passengers. Usually from disturbances.
now
of 2000 m. Earlier
rapidly
now
from near the 70 year old Coronation
flies in a
closer and distinct. Sikkim's Siniolchu
(it
narrow
really
is
valley, the
peaks are
the prettiest peak in this
THE RANGE Nathu
range), Pauhunri (7125 m), and
Chumbi
la,
79 which look down onto the
valley of Tibet are very close and very clear.
As
the west of
Chumbi
one
for this valley
can see as far as the peaks that gird the Lhasa plateau's southern
part.
To
soar the three attractive, almost symmetrical peaks of
west Bhutan's Chomolhari, the stern Jitchu Drake and the Takaphu (6532 m). After a few more peaks that are
two 4-5
km
have not been able
I
along ridges about 6500
m
to identify accurately
As
high.
the plane flies
from
west to east several peaks emerge, each with fearsome rock faces.
The
northern faces appear to be very gentle. Just next door are Kula Kangri's
pyramidical mass (7554 m) and two others of about the same height. All
m
tower about a 1000
above
numerous smaller companions, which
their
look like waves frozen in homage. The plane
Phamojula, a few 6000
For a while
The Assam
we
is
air the river's
entire valley, especially during the tributaries are
becoming
its
numerous
lush green and dotted by
and lakes (bheels). From the
(jans)
descending near
starts
high summits of easternmost Bhutan are seen.
over the wide Brahmaputra and
fly
valley
m
numerous
bed appears
to
monsoon. The S-bends of
straighter after every flood.
A
rice fields
If this airport stops
unbelievably green
flight. It's
functioning for three days, as
it
rushing
Hills, then
bordered by bamboo thickets
Borjhar airport after a 45 minute
cover the
its
turn to the right
and south and again turn north over an outlier of the Khasi
skimming low over
islands.
channels
tributaries,
once did
we
land at
all
around.
in the flood
of September 1988, grass sprouts from the tarmac.
From Guwahati
the plane levels off opposite Gorichen (6858
Kangsang (7047 m) and Kangto (7090 m)
m) Nyegyi
the three peaks of west Arunachal
Pradesh, which in winter can been seen from Kaziranga National Park.
For the next 20 minutes there are uninteresting ridges, so
down,
deforestation to feed the 60
Arunachal within the
plywood
last five years.
Kalibhamora bridge near Tezpur
factories that
Below
I
there
built over the
by wicked
have come up
Brahmaputra
km
in
long
at the site
in 1668. (In
1672 the
decisively defeated the invaders at Saraighat near Guwahati, where the only other bridge over the Brahmaputra).
is
Majuli, the largest river island in the world. a vast prosperous tea estate on airport
look straight
can see the 3
where the Ahoms were defeated by the Mughals
Ahoms
I
briefly pausing over the scarred hillsides caused
I
it.
As
It
Soon we
the plane begins to land at
look up again. The twin peaks of
are over
has several settlements and
Mohanbari
Namcha Barwa and Gyala
Peri
(around 7000 m) can be seen just across the Indian border with Tibet.
Between these peaks
the
Brahmaputra takes
unexplored gorge into Siang
district
a 300° turn to flow
down an
when
the plane
of Arunachal, and just
Mohanbari near Dibrugarh far to the NE can be seen Ka Karpo Razi the 6000 m peaks of the tri-junction of India, Burma and
circles to land at
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
gO
China, and below, numerous million cubic metres of gas
—
If
one
oil
derricks and several wells where
lucky with connections,
is
an Indian Air Force
100
flared daily.
is
possible to take on the
it is
flight,
open
map
that little finger jutting into
to the public,
same day
from Mohanbari
to
Burma. The plane first flies low over the vast beds of the Brahmaputra and the Lohit, and then climbs to about 3500 m above the flats of the Namdapha sanctuary Vijaynagar which on the
we come
till
peaks,
all
to this
is
peak of the North East. From
m
around 4500
WNW to NNE granite
with a dusting of fresh snow, sheer rock faces,
and numerous passes of the
Kumon Bum
range
drift close
by the window.
Mugaphi pass (3100 m) with an easy snowy peak as a sentinel looks very inviting. From this pass the north Burmese Kachin town of Putao can be seen. The plane descends suddenly on to a dusty tin sheet covered runway, and we are
in India's
easternmost
wheels that are seen are an
tip.
There
aircraft's.
is
no road here, and the only
Vijayanagar (1372 m)
centre of a beautiful verdant valley inhabited by Lisus
more common in the Golden but was re-named Vijaynagar Rifles
who
'discovered'
it
in
after
is
in
the
a tribe that
is
name was Jaha-Natu the son of a Major General of Assam On this misnomer we are back to the
Triangle.
1962.
—
Its
original
ground.
(HJ
Vol. 47,
yAv
1990)
BABER'S CROSSING OF THE ZIRRIN PASS, 1506 A. D.
MODDIE
CROSSING THE always been
of mountain passes by kings and armies has
a laborious affair.
The most famous crossings
in history
are those of the Alps by Hannibal and Napoleon, but the record of Baber's
winter crossing of the Afghan historic exploit,
is
yet one
hills
between Khorasan and Kabul, a
which exhibits the
qualities of a
less
modern
mountaineering party. It
was
in
December 1506. He
The winter was come, and separated
me from my
the
writes in his
snow began
memorable memoirs:
to fall in the
mountains
that
dominions.... Leaving Langer-Mir-Ghias, and passing
THE RANGE
81
we reached Chakeheran. The was the snow. Two or three days after we snow became excessively deep: it reached up
the villages on the border of Gharjestam, farther
we advanced
the deeper
had passed Chakeheran the
above the
snow
the
many
stirrups. In
ground, and the snow
places the horses hoofs did not reach the
continued to
still
not only continued deep, but
fall.
we
When we
passed Chiraghdan,
know
did not
the road.
—One
Sultan Pashai was our guide... having once lost the road, he never found it again.... The road was not to be found with all our exertions, and we were brought to a complete stand. Seeing no remedy left, we returned back to a place where there was abundance of fire wood, and despatched sixty
or seventy chosen
men
to return
by the road we had come, and retracing
our footsteps to find, under the high grounds, any Hazaras or other people
who might be out the way.
come
wintering there, and to bring a guide
We
who was
halted at this spot for three or four days.
able to point
They did indeed
back, but without having been able to find a proper guide. Placing
our reliance on
God
therefore,
us, we we had been stopped followed many were the difficulties
and sending our Sultan Pashai before
again advanced by that very road in which formerly
and forced
to return. In he
few days
that
and hardships which we endured; indeed, such hardships and sufferings as
have scarcely undergone
I
time that
I
composed
(Turki)
:
at
any other period of
my
life. It
was
at this
the following verses:
'There that
I
is
no violence or injury of fortune
have not experienced;
This broken heart has endured them Alas!
is
there one left that
all,
have
I
not encountered?'
And that from a hardy prince who, since the age of thirteen, had lost won kingdoms in Central Asia in scores of battles and skirmishes. He
and
writes on.
For about a week able to advance
we
continued pressing
more than
a
Kos
assisted in depressing the snow.
we
down
the snow. Every step
the snow, without being
Kos and
Accompanied by
household and two or three servants, beating
down
(2 miles) or a
we
all
a half.
I
myself
ten or fifteen of
my
dismounted and worked
we sank up
to the
in
middle or breast, but
went on trampling it down. As the vigour of the person who went was generally expended after he had advanced a few paces, he stood while another advanced and took his place.
still
first still,
The
future
emperor of Hindustan thus
of stamping out a snow-path in the high
The
rest
learnt hills
and noted the
difficulties
450 years ago.
of the troops, even our best men, and
many
that bore the Title
of Beg, without dismounting, advanced along the road that had been beaten
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
82
down
for them, hanging
their heads. This
or employing authority. Every to
man who
was no time
possesses
for plaguing
them
or emulation hastens
spirit
such works of himself.
Here was the understanding of a born leader of men of Continuing
manner,
this
to
advance by a track which we had beaten
we proceeded by
named Anjukan, and
a place
days reached a Khawal, or cave, called Khawal-Kuti, Zirrin Pass. That
action.
snow
in the
at the
foot of the
day the storm of wind was dreadful. The snow
such quantities that
we
all
in
in three or four
expected to meet death together.
fell in
When we
this Khawal the storm was terribly violent. We halted at the mouth The first of the troops reached the Khawal while it was yet daylight. About evening and night prayers the troops ceased coming in; after which every man was obliged to halt where he happened to be. Many men waited for morning on horseback. The Khawal seemed to be small. I took a hoe, and having swept away the snow, made for myself at the mouth of the
reached of
it.
cave, a resting place about the size of a prayer-carpet.... This hole afforded
me some go
shelter
from the wind, and
into the cavern, but
I
dwelling, and in comfort, while
—
drift
were
for
me
right that
and
my men
in
Some desired me to me to be in a warm
it.
that for
were
in the
midst of snow and
my
followers
distress,
whatever
and
their sufferings I
out for myself,
till
sitting
sit in
difficulties
company of
friends
down on my
feet, I
fell
is
which
the drift, in the sort of hole
bedtime prayers, when the snow
crouching
were and whatever
should be a sharer with them. There
a Persian proverb, that 'Death in the
continued, therefore, to
remained
down
I felt,
be within, enjoying sleep and ease, while
they might be obliged to undergo, is
sat
would be inconsistent with what I owed deviation from that society in suffering that was their due. It
in trouble
them, and a
was
to
I
would not go.
so
now found
a feast'. I
I
had dug
fast, that as I
that four inches
snow had settled on my head. That night I caught a cold in my car. About bedtime prayers a party, after having surveyed the cave, reported that the Khawal was very extensive, and was sufficiently large to receive all our people. As soon as I learnt this, I shook off the snow that was on my head and face, and went into the cave. I sent to call in all such of the people as were at hand. A comfortable place was found within for about 50 or 60 people,. ...and thus we escaped from the terrible cold, and snow, and drift, into a wonderfully safe, warm and comfortable place, where we of
could refresh ourselves.
Next morning the snow and tempest ceased. Moving
down
the
Before
snow
in the old
we reached
way, and made a road.
early,
We reached
the Parjan-daban, the day closed on us.
the defiles of the valley.
The cold was
dreadful, and
we
we trampled
the Baladaban.
We
halted in
passed that night
THE RANGE in great distress
Kupek
and misery.
lost his feet,
from the cold of the Although we knew in
Many
lost their
Siyunduk Turkoman night. Early next
that this
was not
83 hands and
his hands,
feet
from the
and Akbu
frost.
his feet,
morning we moved down the
glen.
the usual road, yet, placing our trust
God, we advanced down the valley, and descended by difficult and It was evening prayer before we extricated ourselves
precipitous places.
from the mouth of the that this pass
the ground; nay,
passing
Then
it
at
valley.
It is
not in the
memory
of the oldest man,
had ever been descended, when there was so much snow on it
was never known
that
anybody even conceived of
such a season.
to the flesh-pots, as with
most of
us.
was bed-time prayers when we reached Yake-anleng and halted.... To snow into such a village and its warm houses, on escaping from want and suffering, to find such plenty of good bread and fat sheep as we did, is in enjoyment that can be conceived only by such It
pass from the cold and
as
have suffered similar hardships or endured such heavy
distress.
The foregoing account strikes one as an interesting episode in the intrepid of a prince who was a joyous adventurer, one who lived and fought in the mountain kingdoms beyond the Hindu Kush, which he loved, yet ended his days by establishing a great empire in the plains of Hindustan which he detested 'for three reasons, its heat, its hot winds and its dust'. life
All that
is
now
old history, but Baber's crossing of the Zirrin Pass surely
rouses the admiring interest of contemporary mountaineers.
made (HJ
He would have
a grand leader of a Himalayan expedition in our times.
Vol.
18,
1954)
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
g4
^**V HIDDEN HIMALAYA MAVIS HEATH
No
paradise
gained
is
Easily:
In the
Hidden Himalaya
There are many
Rock
faces, glaciers, Icefalls, crevasses,
Ice-plateaux, ice-pinnacles,
Fine snow summits
And none None
are reached
are climbed
Without hardship Risk, sometimes
The So
final sacrifice is
it
—
in the
Spirit
Think not you gain
Heaven Without cost Without pain
Without struggle nearing despair
—
With a friend on your rope you carry It is
near impossible
Without Grace
Without deep
(HJ
Vol. 47, p.
149)
sacrificial love.
PIONEERING EXPEDITIONS
On
the
Summit of Nanga Parbat
Hermann Buhl
Makalu-The Happy Mountain
Jean Franco
The South Face of Annapurna
Christian Bonington
Everest South-west Face Climbed
Doug
Scott
The 'Golden Age of climbing' included many climbs besides attempts and climbs on Everest. The ascents of Nanga Parbat and Makalu have stirred many memories. And these pioneering climbs gave way to new challenges - to climb mountains by the 'hard way up*. Sir Chris Bonington propagated the idea on the Annapurna South Face and the Everest Southwest Face and Doug Scott executed this concept
with gusto.
3
h
\
^^v^ ON THE SUMMIT OF NANGA PARBAT HERMANN BUHL
1st July
1953
WEATHER WAS WONDERFUL. THE time had been and looked that
days earlier to
fine
it
we had had
it
to struggle
It
was
as if
it
the first day for a long
was going
to last.
Two
down from Camp IV through snow up
our chests: a very real danger of avalanches had also forced us to
evacuate
Camp IV
and the position seemed hopeless for we were leaving
the mountain and taking
down
with us
included. However, after a day's rest at
Hans
Ertl
all
the equipment, sleeping-bags
Camp
III
our
took the initiative and on the morning of
spirits rose.
with our
1st July,
we climbed back to Camp IV The snow was deep we had taken on a new lease of life. Otto Kempter
four remaining Sherpas,
and exhausting, but stayed on alone
was
at
Camp III to recover more fully from his exhaustion, but When we reached Camp IV we found it completely
to join us later.
buried, with only the ridges of the tents quite a while before
we
work digging them
all out,
showing and we had
could find the porters'
tent. It
but everyone dug as
if
was
sound for
they were after buried
treasure. Walter Frauenberger prepared the loads for next I
to
a hard afternoon's
day and
Ertl
and
took 100 metres of rope with us and climbed up to prepare the steep
Rakhiot face, up which
it
was imperative
that the porters should follow us.
We
cut a veritable staircase,
the
morrow, and then traversed under the Rakhiot peak, cutting steps and whole way across. We then retired, tired out, fairly late in
all
the while being tormented by thoughts of
fixing ropes the
Camp
the evening to
IV.
2nd July Hans, who had woken very early, served our breakfasts in bed. There was no sound from the porters' tent and we wondered if they were ill again. It transpired that some of them had headaches, so we gave them some pills and they were soon ready to start. Otto and Madi joined us just before us, but
and
we
left
and the former decided
Madi came
fuel,
straight on.
We
to
have a short
took with us one
and two sleeping-bags. 87
rest
before following
tent, a
load of stores
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
88
I
led the
way up
to the
Rakhiot face, sweeping the loose snow out of
the previous day's steps and generally improving the track. Unfortunately I
was not
feeling too good;
I
had evidently taken too much cut of myself
the previous day and therefore decided to take
was astounded that quickly; they seemed to have morrow.
I
lost their fear
of the traverse they waited quietly while followed, with the exception of Madi, his load to Frauenberger.
snow and decided
to
it
easy with a view to the
the porters crossed the slope so easily and
We reached
have a long
of heights. At the beginning
I
checked the ropes and then
who had no crampons and
passed
Moor's head over a slope of deep We wanted to take them as high as
the
rest.
would only go as far as the first difficulty (sic). So, as it was late, we had to send them back to Walter and Hans at the Moor's Head. Otto and I put up our tent (6,900 metres). From there the ridge ran straight up to the Silver Saddle which shone bright in the evening light. Far beyond and above is the main summit of Nanga Parbat, the south face of which drops down perpendicularly to the Rupal valley; a formidable mountain height which brought home to us the size of our task 1,200 m. (say 4,000 feet), in addition to the tremendous lateral distance to be covered, makes more than one day's work. Night fell while we were still making our preparations for the morning. The wind rose and about 10 o'clock began to shake the tent terribly. I feared lest the cornice, which was giving us some measure of protection, might crumble and fall. About midnight I took advantage of a slight lull to reinforce the tent possible up the ridge, but they
—
supports with our ski-sticks and ice-axes, and
at last
would not come and I was relieved was already on my way to the summit.
Sleep, however,
mentally
I
got a bit of
rest.
to get ready, for
3rd July
down in his made getting
Otto was buried deep of the disturbance departure
was timed
said sleepily that that every
I
I
for 2 o'clock
sleeping-bag and did not up, dressing, and
and several times
I
stir in spite
making
tea.
Our
shook Otto, who
had told him the previous evening 3 o'clock.
minute counted and that with him or without him
I
I
explained
was going
2 o'clock. Just as I was packing my rucksack for a solitary trip saw him working his way out of his cocoon and he told me that if I would go on and start making the track he would join me presently. I accordingly split the provisions, giving him among other things the fats, which I was to regret bitterly. to leave at I
At 2.30, when
I
left, it
was bright moonlight, quiet but
with the crust broke under me, but as soon as
cold.
got onto the ridge
To I
start
found
wind had packed it hard, and with crampons on I could make The ridge rose in majestic steps, crowned with cornices; the right it fell in a giant cascade of ice to the plateau on which stood
that the
better progress. to
I
PIONEERING EXPEDITIONS
Camp
To my
II.
my
dark shadows limited
left
89
view and then
I
looked into
snow and cornices alternated with ridge. A bitter south wind was trying to
a bottomless void. Sharp ridges of
traverses along the face of the
me
blow
When
over to the Rakhiot face.
towards the Silver Saddle
to cross
I
I
got to the point where
allowed myself a
and the dawn was breaking over the Karakoram
—
was
rest. It
I
began
5 o'clock
a sea of pointed peaks
from the shadows lit up by the rising sun. K 2 Masherbrum, Rakaposhi, the Mustagh Tower, those mountains I only knew through books, lay before me, almost within reach. rising
A
,
light mist drifted in the valleys, a sign of
the sun
when
I
ate
I
my
breakfast, hoping that Otto
saw no sign of him
I
started off
on
my
good weather. Warmed by would be joining me, but traverse. Once again I had
The kidney-shaped rock of the Silberzacken would not come nearer and, in fact, it was two hours later when I passed
been deceived as and
it
The
set foot
altimeter
to distance.
on the vast glacier which hangs below the secondary summit.
showed about 7,400 metres, but so
badly from effects of altitude, but
I
far
I
was not suffering
gave myself another
rest. I
had some
3 kilometres to go across the glacier, the surface of which had been ploughed
by incessant storms into furrows over 3 feet deep. Progress was very slow It was incredibly became more frequent and it seemed to me that 7,500 metres would be the limit, beyond which each step would demand tremendous effort. As to my friend Otto; after some time I saw a black shadow at the beginning of the Silver Saddle, which waited, started off again and then rested without further movement. My stomach contracted at the thought of the contents of my rucksack; I was to have no more to
as
I
had
still
to
and
began
my
eat than
to get hotter. Rests
dried fruit and nougat, for Otto had the butter and the meat.
had become very
It I
climb along the icy ridges between the furrows.
it
airless
had been going a long time:
gone by the summit. the scorching ice.
by
thirst to the
At
and
Padutine
and
my
limbs were drained of sap.
to reach the rocks,
rucksack cut into
my
where
shoulders and
I
I
could leave
was tormented
point of having no saliva to swallow.
reached the rocks and decided
by leaving
stops were less frequent as
Diamir Gap. Again
my
must hurry
I
my
plan to reach the summit by midday had
to lighten my burden as much my rucksack, winding my anorak round me as a taking with me only my camera, a flask, some Pervitine, some (against frostbite), my ice-axe, and a ski-stick. I felt better now
last I
as possible belt,
My
and hot and
my
I
I
cut across the false
summit
to the
had underestimated distance and wondered whether
strength would last. Would it not be better to climb the secondary summit so that, although it was not an eight thousander, at least a virgin peak would have been ascended. I was still debating this when I reached
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
90 a small breach
between the lower summit and the Diamir Gap, from
which over some broken rocks Gap.
now
I
hurried
separated
in the
could drop easily
I
down and reached
me from
What would
the summit.
Alps? Here they seemed each
feeling that
I
was nearing
like a
the end of
The
tricky points ahead of me.
down
my
three hundred mteres be
mountain and
troubles.
For
I
was
I
last for six
was tempting but hours, and where would I be it
my
It
was
hesitated
I
would only
effects
its
in six hours'
strength
take the risk and swallow two tablets.
was clambering over very smooth
knew
I
from
was very
ridge leading to the shoulder
climbing but quickly realized that
I
far
could see several
narrow, crowned with cornices, and altogether very exposed.
about taking Pervitine;
Bazhin
to the
the gap at 3 p.m. Three hundred metres
time?
started
I
and decided
failing
was not an easy climb;
to
times
at
rock; at times over sun-softened slabs
of snow. Progress was rather better on the south face where only a few
metres below
me
there
was
a sheer drop of several thousands of metres.
That south face of Nanga Parbat ever had below me.
finally
I
veritable tower on the ridge. practically hanging
by
my
is
came
My
a far
more prodigious abyss than
my
which the beginning was overhanging. This drained
when
drops of
last
reached the shoulder, for
I
a snowfield, scattered with rocks and led to the foot of the
itself. It
was 6 o'clock.
I
was
I
experienced no exaltation.
my
important than a small peak in
It
seemed
homeland. Was
Nanga Parbat which had repulsed seven expeditions and cost human lives? I swallowed my last mouthful of tea and crossed to flank where a pile of large blocks should lead
me
metres more! Each step was an undertaking and
I
and climbed up on It
was
all
the summit.
I
fours.
flag out flag.
My
On
top of the rocks
did not feel at
my troubles were of my pocket, took
relief that
eyes looked
down
it
summit
disillusioned to realize that on finally getting
so close to the long-desired peak
me no more
had
arms, and then regain the ridge by a crack of
energy. Fortunately things went better
was
I
gendarme some 12 metres high, a only way was to traverse along the face, to a
all like
was
a victor
over for a while.
to the top.
so
many
the north
Only 100
my
abandoned
to
this the
ski-stick
a small snow-cone.
and just sighed with
brought a small Tyrolese
I
a photo and then started in with a Pakistani to the
immensity of the shadow cast by 7 o'clock and the sun suddenly
Rupal valley and
my
I
marvelled
mountain on the plain below.
disappeared below the horizon.
to get very cold. Luckily, the rocks
on the way down would
It
retain
at the It
was
began
some
of the warmth of the day. I
to
hurried
down
the slope,
jumping from block
bivouac on the shoulder, but while there was
might even be able the shoulder,
to reach the
to block. light
I
Bazhin Gap. The ridge
was an unpleasant memory so
I
I
had intended
went on down. itself,
decided
just
I
below
to traverse
the
PIONEERING EXPEDITIONS Diamir
face.
I
had
left
my
91
ice-axe on the top, keeping only
my
ski-stick.
was in the middle of the traverse when suddenly the fastening of my right crampon broke and left me, like a stork, on one leg in the middle of the face. It was with difficulty that I regained the rocks and night had enveloped me during the incident. It was pitch dark, but a few yards away I was able to discern a large block. It shook a bit but would nevertheless do as a spot for a bivouac. I must say that after the dramatic changes of fortune during the day it did not seem at all extraordinary to me to I
contemplate a bivouac Indeed, similar
at
8,000 metres without a sleeping-bag or provisions.
remember several nights spent at 20 degrees below zero in situations. Towards midnight the moon would rise and I would be I
able to continue the descent.
was 9 p.m. and the last glimmers of light faded in the west. Fortunately was calm. I started to doze, shaken by shivering. Presently I swallowed two tablets of Padutine because my feet were beginning to go particularly dead. A good deal later the moon began to rise and at two o'clock was just a thin crescent which faintly illuminated the north face It
the night
but did not reach me; I
my
route for the descent remaining in deep shadow.
therefore had to wait for the day and the cold
was wicked.
4th July
A
thin
band of colour shone on the horizon but the
disappeared. frozen.
I
came
was 4
redoubled
feet, for the it
It
o'clock:
my
my
feet
caution as
I
stars
had not yet
shoes solid, completely
began the descent, crampons on
rocks were covered with verglas.
to a delicate traverse
my
were dead,
and when
I
I
took off
wanted
my
to put
gloves
my
when
them on again
could not find them. Lost!?
During the whole day behind me: several times
had the impression of an invisible companion
I I
had turned round
to talk to
him, and
now
I
him where my gloves were: but I was alone. I had now reached the snowy foot of the shoulder. Twice I slipped, recovered myself and had to wait awhile to get my breath back. At last I got to the Bazhin wanted
to ask
Gap. This time
wanted
I
difference in level
to pass
would be
less
through the Diamir
by
this route than
my
Gap because
the
on the way by which
crampon had come loose had given way. I mended it again but the effort, in the middle of the traverse, exhausted me. At midday I reached the Diamir Gap. The sun was hot and I gave myself a few minutes rest in the most comfortable spot I could find. I was woken I
had ascended. During the traverse
again.
by
I
had fixed
right
with sticking plaster and
this
I felt absolutely dried up. I imagined I heard voices, those of my who were bringing me tea. I rose and started down again. Each was by now a struggle and I kept asking myself how I had had the
thirst.
friends step
it
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
92 strength to reach the I
had been on waiting for It
summit
the previous day.
I
saw mirages; everywhere
could see traces of footsteps, even cairns, although that glacier.
me
Often
with a flask of
took time because the crack
I
tea. In
in
I
knew
that
no man
scanned the glacier and imagined Otto despair
which
I
I
tried to find
had put
it
had
my
filled
rucksack.
with snow.
There was no question of swallowing either the dried
fruit or the
My bleeding
Dextrosport, mixed
with snow.
mouth only allowed me
to
swallow a
little
tasted delicious at the time, but after a
It
thirstier than ever.
I
gave myself a long
rest
nougat.
few minutes
I
was
and started down again
—
only to see two black spots on the Silver Saddle coming towards me.
Hermann! and my heart jumped for joy, but the dots had not really moved: they were small rocks.
heard someone
minutes
later
call
bitterly disappointed
and quite overwhelmed.
And
as
I
descended
a I I
I
few
was kept
my name called and was prey to all sorts of hallucinations. Where was Otto? I was indignant at not meeting him and utterly discouraged. My halts became more and more frequent and longer. hearing
At the lowest spot on the plateau, before the climb up Saddle
I
gave
to the Silver
What did it matter? I swallowed three Pervitine tablets knew they would only be of use if I had any reserves left.
in.
at one go, but At 5.30 p.m. I reached the Silver Saddle. Camp IV, of which I could only see the small tent, seemed to be empty and it was only at the Moor's Head that I saw two men. I went forward with a stronger step. The others came to meet me and I cannot describe that meeting to you. They were absolutely dumbfounded, for they had given me up as dead, and here I was coming back from the top. They looked after me as best they could and we all three spent the night in the tent. Before leaving next morning they treated my right foot which was frostbitten. I looked back for the last time at those crests on which all our hopes had been built, and my emotions of the previous day coursed through my mind like an impossible dream which
had only for an instant come
true.
Translated by Barbara Tobin from Alpinisme with the concurrence of the Club Alpin Francais.
(HJ
Vol.
18,
1954)
— PIONEERING EXPEDITIONS
93
y\ — THE HAPPY MOUNTAIN
MAKALU
JEAN FRANCO
Adapted from the French narratives by the courtesy of the Editor of 'Alpinisme and La Montagne Translated by Alfred Gregory and adapted '.
by the Editor.
HAPPY PEOPLE, happy mountains do not make a good story. A famous journalist was looking at some photographs of our expedition
LIKE to
Makalu, searching for some piquant
in lieu
detail that
would
me on
my
of drama. His insistence forced
'But at least there were
Tm
afraid not;
—
to
attract the
last
masses,
defences:
incidents?'
no crevasses
into
which we
swept over the camp. At 8,000 metres
it
was
fell,
no avalanche
like the
that
summit of Mont
Blanc. Nine of us reached the top; three successful attempts in three days; it
was hardly
a conquest.
We
didn't even get cold feet.'
'So then nothing happened?' I
had
to agree; nothing
nothing happened?'
happened. What
I
was not asked was, 'Why
— Now some months have passed. Though
it is still
too early to appreciate the details of our magnificent adventure, though our
experiences were too brief, too rapid and too localized for generalization,
Makalu
loses
the reasons
its
isolation, bit
which led
to
it,
by
the highest peaks, are links in the centuries. Fifty years of
The salient factors of our success and among the efforts of men to attain chain made by climbers throughout the
bit.
their place
Himalayan expeditions and mountaineering
led to
Makalu. In 1934, shortly before the first French expedition to the
Himalaya
permission had been given for an attempt on Makalu but this was later cancelled. For the next twenty years followed other roads and the mountain
remained It
was
'the giant at the
who
sleeps for six months'.
end of 1953
Durbar
to
French Ambassador in Delhi received, Montagne, permission from the Nepalese
that the
for the Federation Francaise de la
send an expedition
to
Makalu
in the
autumn of 1954, followed
•
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
94
The first was to be a reconnaissance new material and equipment on which
by a second
in the spring of 1955.
to study the
approach and
to test
we had been working for some time. Maurice Herzog would have been the man to lead both parties, but, for reasons which are all to his honour, he refused. Lucien Devies, President of the F.F.M. and of our
Committee, was unable
to accept the invitation to lead
abandon the long cherished dream of
his climbing life.
Himalayan
and again had
They were
to
the twin
when I was asked to take charge I accepted knew they would always be at my side. And could count on Jean Couzy and Lionel Terray, veterans of
souls of the organization and the
more
willingly because
also because
I
I
Annapurna, and on the celebrated Guido Magnone. Preparations were
made and experiments took
hurried on, consultations were Paris and at the Col
with a
new model
du Midi. Jean Couzy, our oxygen
place, both in
specialist,
of bottle, lighter and with a variable flow
was busy
rate.
Lionel
Terray dealt with food, a sphere in connection with which he inspired great confidence because of his big appetite. Dr. Jean Rivolier, of the
French Polar expedition, was chosen as our doctor and began
to plan for
The team was completed by two of Pierre my personal friends, whose worth and great experience I knew Larox and Jean Bouvier. While all this furious activity was going on at the Club Alpin Francais Makalu was twice visited, by the American party acclimatization and the use of oxygen.
under Doctor
Siri,
—
and by Hillary's team
in the
Barun region.
Arun
valley in
We
in the
course of their explorations
when we got together at the foot of the Our first contact was very hard, for the
learnt this
August 1954.
region was hostile, hot, wet and unhealthy, every stream a torrent, and forests infested with leeches.
mountain.
We
steep steps
put out of
It
mind
which we likened
seemed obvious why
took three weeks
to
reach the foot of our
the south-east ridge, with to
its
series of very
Grepon's pile one on another.
And
it
Americans had been repulsed so quickly. The north-west sector appeared to be more favourable for it had been noted the
would be no serious obstacle to getting on to a glacier plateau some 21,500 feet at the end of the north-west cirque and at the foot of the Makalu Col. Between the plateau and the Col the slopes are steep and avalanche prone. To minimize risk a longer route was necessary, but at that there at
about 23,500 feet a suspended balcony seemed just capable of supporting a camp. If the Col could be reached
would be
at,
say,
24,600 feet the north-west
Makalu itself, despite an enormous step of nearly 1,000 feet. We left base camp on 1st October, placed three camps to just below the plateau and a fourth on it. From there we forced ridge
a possible ladder for
we could and on 15th October we were able to set up on Makalu Col. Having attained this first objective we felt we had wings and some were already contemplating an assault on Makalu the route as high as
Camp V itself.
But
at that
date and at that height the cold
is
intense, usually
minus
PIONEERING EXPEDITIONS 30°C and the wind often blew higher than us to
m.
make
Two
Camp V were
at
95
100 miles per hour. All attempts
to get
repulsed but two days of relative calm enabled
Makalu
the first ascents both of
and of
II
made of
important observations were
Chomo
Lonzo, 7,797
the north face of Makalu.
This showed a gigantic glacier giving a route relatively certain up to 8,100 metres, beyond which, although the slope steepened considerably,
convinced that technical
We in
would not stop
difficulties
had sprung the trap of Makalu, namely
we were
us.
this Col,
wide and debonair
appearance, but swept by the bitterest winds and liable to become a
death trap should a spell of bad weather be prolonged. So success would
depend on holding the Col strongly and ensuring a route thereto safe and practicable in all conditions. It would be necessary to live above it as little as possible in order to maintain strength for the lightening assaults.
On
our return to France
friends and the
end of November we reported
at the
Himalayan Committee began organizing
at
to
our
once for the
We planned to make our attempt on the summit from the 15th May so that we should have three weeks in front of us in case Makalu showed itself particularly unfavourable. We ourselves were to leave France at the beginning of March while the equipment and food were to arrive in Calcutta in the cargo ship Lenzkerke on the first day of that month. Our gear had proved excellent but certain new untried items surprised us. Two-piece nylon and wool underclothes had a queer electricassault in the spring of 1955.
like effect
on the skin and the super
light
weight high altitude trousers,
perfectioned by Guido Magnone, which could only be fitted with special buttons by only one
man
France, never reached base camp.
in all
The
oxygen had been ordered by cable from Nepal, as soon as we got down from the autumn reconnaissance and arrived safely, though somewhat late, because the Lenzkerke had decided
to
go
to Calcutta, instead of vice versa. Certain
to
Rangoon
changes
in
first
and then back
personnel had been
A
young surgeon from Lyon, Andre Lapras, had taken the place of could not get away. The scientific section was reinforced by Michel Latreille of Grenoble and the climbers were augmented by Andre Viallatte of the technical branch of the Air Force, and by Serge Coupe, a young guide from Champpery. made.
Rivolier
who
Although departure by
air
from Orly
is
attended with numerous
complications those experienced on arrival in Calcutta, with 9 tons of material, personal
equipment and baggage, were a nightmare.
penetrate the
immense
most serious
in the world,
is
offices of the
you
realize that
to return to Paris immediately.
door
to
At the
open and the miracle, the
When you
Bengal Administration, which
first
all is lost
last
is
the
and your sole wish
moment you
find the right
of a series of miracles, without
•
A PASSAGE TO HIMALAYA
96 which no summit
Our
in the
world would have been approached, has happened.
special guardian angel
was
the French Vice-Consul
Monsieur Batbedat
who had the key to all doors and could pierce all mysteries. On 18th March we flew from Dum Dum to the Nepal frontier town of Biratnagar. A new innovation here was the recently established customs service of Nepal. Here the official demanded categorically to see
all
the contents of
our 267 cases and sacks. These had been carefully sealed in Paris and had hitherto been preserved
from inspection by prodigies of eloquence and
persuasion. Formal refusal on our part, together with fantastic argument
accompanied by tact induced the official to give way and two hours whole expedition was loaded into the oldest imaginable lorries.
later
the
Fifty kilometres further
deposited the expedition
on the four
at
lorries,
smoking
like
who had
Dharan. Our Sherpas
steam engines,
few
arrived a
days earlier were introduced by our Sirdar, Gyaljen Norbhu. Most of them
were veterans of Everest, Annapurna, Nanga Parbat, K 2 and even Kangchenjunga. The Sherpas do not engage themselves on an expedition. They attach themselves to you and once they are with you, you can take them to the end of the world; you will only get one reply: 'Yes, Sahib'. The Sherpas do not like carrying a load on the approach marches, as they are the aristocrats of the porters. And the management of a train of coolies is
a source of worry.
115 from Sola
were
settled
We
had arranged for 80 porters from Darjeeling and
Khombu. The
inevitable arguments
about respective loads
by Gyaljen and Kinjock, the porter Sirdar from Sola Khombu,
left Dharan on 20th March. The Arun is a river as big as Rhone and its valley forms most of the approach march to Makalu. To base camp it was about 90 miles as the crow flies but over 190 by the
and the caravan the
track through the forest and the
maize
fields.
Now
and then through the
morning mist we could see on the horizon the white chain of Makalu and Chamlang. Meanwhile we were experiencing certain anxieties about our I had left at Dharan Serge Coupe, with enough Sola Khombu porters, to bring on the oxygen by forced marches. The last marches at higher elevation were hard on the local porters who had only improvised shelter and some left us. But eventually we reached
transport and our cargo of oxygen;
our base camp,
in the desolate
region of the high Barun, at the foot of
Makalu, on 4th April.
Two
days
later
Couzy and Coupe
arrived with the
oxygen and we spent
we
could and organizing
several days installing ourselves as comfortably as a shuttle service for fuel, etc., and,
would do
the round journey of
most
essential,
our postal teams
some 420 miles between
who
us and the nearest
Indian post office, in 20 days.
Our plan was final preparations
to reserve three
weeks
for acclimatization and for the
and we fixed the date 5th
May
for the carry to
Camp
III.
5
3 U
3
«?
H
\
3 w
A.
*.
,t
*K I
'
Photo H. Hoerlin.
18 Haston on fixed rope on ice ridge
— note method of safeguarding oneself with sling
%
19.
Climbing the ice
cliff below
Camp V
20. Bonington at
Camp
IV.
21. Bonington climbs fixed rope on flanks of ice ridge.
m
22. Clough on ice ridge.
1
#*V
S
:A
iJ*l
r r
%
23. Climbing fixed ropes on ice ridge.
24. Clough
warms
his
hands over gas stove at
Camp
VI after getting mild frost-bite.
jf
i %
fie*
up
1
fid **?.-
*
tf.:Wf
IP 26. D