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Upon that Mountain is the first autobiography of the mountaineer
and explorer Eric Shipton. In it, he describes all his pre-war
climbing, including his Everest bids of the 1930s, and his second
Karakoram survey in 1939, when he returned to Snow Lake to complete
the mapping of the ranges flanking the Hispar and Choktoi glacier
systems around the Ogre. Crossing great swathes of the Himalaya,
the book, like so many of Shipton's works, is both entertaining and
an important addition to the mountain literature genre. It captures
an important period in mountaineering history - that just before
the Second World War - an ends on an elegiac note as Shipton
describes his last evening at the starkly-beautiful snow lake,
before he returns to a 'civilisation' about to embark on a
cataclysmic war.
'When a man is conscious of the urge to explore, not all the
arduous journeyings, the troubles that will beset him and the lack
of material gains from his investigations will stop him.' Nanda
Devi is one of the most inaccessible mountains in the Himalaya. It
is surrounded by a huge ring of peaks, among them some of the
highest mountains in the Indian Himalaya. For fifty years the
finest mountaineers of the early twentieth century had repeatedly
tried and failed to reach the foot of the mountain. Then, in 1934,
Eric Shipton and H. W. Tilman found a way in. Their 1934 expedition
is regarded as the epitome of adventurous mountain exploration.
With their three tough and enthusiastic Sherpa companions
Angtharkay, Kusang and Pasang, they solved the problem of access to
the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. They crossed difficult cols, made first
ascents and explored remote, uninhabited valleys, all of which is
recounted in Shipton's wonderfully vivid Nanda Devi - a true
evocation of Shipton's enduring spirit of adventure and one of the
most inspirational travel books ever written.
'As I studied the maps, one thing about them captured my
imagination - Across this blank space was written one challenging
word, "Unexplored"' In 1937 two of the twentieth century's greatest
explorers set off to explore an unknown area of the Himalaya, the
breath-taking Shaksgam mountains. With a team of surveyors and
Sherpas, Eric Shipton and H.W. Tilman located and mapped the land
around K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. It was their
greatest venture, and one that paved the way for all future
mountaineering in that area of the Himalaya. For Shipton and
Tilman, exploration was everything, with a summit a welcome bonus,
and Blank on the Map is the book that best captures their spirit of
adventure. With an observant eye and keen sense of humour, Shipton
tells how the expedition entered the unknown Shaksgam mountains,
crossing impenetrable gorges, huge rivers and endless snow fields.
There's a very human element to Shipton's dealings with his Sherpa
friends, and with his Balti porters, some of whom were helpful,
while some were less so. The expedition uncovers traces of ancient
cultures and visits vibrant modern civilisations living during the
last days of the British Empire. Only when all supplies are
exhausted, their clothes in tatters and all equipment lost do the
men finally return home. A mountain exploration classic.
`It is often from our setbacks, even our weaknesses, that we derive
some of our greatest blessings.' That Untravelled World is the
autobiography of one of the greatest adventurers of the twentieth
century. Eric Shipton was a pioneering explorer, journeying to
places that did not feature on maps and to unexplored mountains,
such as the High Dauphine. Shipton describes early childhood days
filled with adventures; his first encounter with the high mountains
on a visit to the Pyrenees, and the onset of his climbing career
inspired by travels in Norway with a friend. He reminisces on first
meeting infamous explorer H.W. `Bill' Tilman, and their first
expedition together to Mount Kenya. Tilman and Shipton were later
to become one of the most famous climbing partnerships of all time.
Filled with anecdotes from different periods of his life, Shipton
takes us on his journey from Kilimanjaro and Mount Stanley
alongside Tilman, his discovery of the route to the Nanda Devi
Sanctuary, summiting Mount Kamet with mountaineering icon Frank
Smythe, and multiple expeditions to Everest. First published in
1969, That Untravelled World is the story of an adventurer who,
inspired by Edward Whymper, travelled to feral landscapes across
the globe, and has in turn inspired generations of climbers and
mountaineers.
Land of Tempest reveals Eric Shipton at his best - writing with
enthusiasm and humour about his explorations in Patagonia in the
1950s and 1960s. He is an astute observer of nature and the human
spirit, and this account of his travels is infused with with his
own zest for discovery and the joy of camaraderie. Undaunted by
hardship or by injury, Shipton and his team attempt to cross one of
the great ice caps in Patagonia. It's impossible not to marvel at
his determination, resilience and appetite for travel and
adventure, be it climbing snow-clad mountains, or walking in
forested foothills. Shipton takes a reader with him on his travels,
and the often-inhospitable places he visits are a stark contrast to
the warmth of the people he encounters. Land of Tempest is
essential reading for anyone who loves nature, mountains, climbing,
adventure or simply the joy of discovering unknown places.
In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of
Mount Everest. They climbed from the south, from Nepal, via the
Khumbu Glacier - a route first pioneered in 1951 by a
reconnaissance expedition led by Eric Shipton. Everest 1951 is the
account of this expedition. It was the first to approach the
mountain from the south side, it pioneered a route through the
Khumbu icefall and it was the expedition on which Hillary set foot
on Everest for the first time. Everest 1951 is a short but vitally
important read for anybody with any interest in mountaineering or
in Everest. The 1951 Everest Expedition marked the public highpoint
of Shipton's mountaineering fame. Key information was discovered
and the foundations laid for future success. Despite this,
Shipton's critics felt he had a 'lack of trust' and thus failed to
match the urgent mood of the period. Despite having been on more
Everest expeditions than any man alive, he was 'eased' out of the
crucial leadership role in 1953 and so missed the huge public
acclaim given to Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and John Hunt after their
historic success.
The area around the Indian mountain Nanda Devi is wild and
isolated. This is a fascinating insight to the men who explored
this region long before GPS and satellite photography, the men who
climbed mountains with maps and theodolites in hand. Eric Shipton
was one of a band of famous climbers and here presented is the
lecture he gave on his return. Many of the earliest books,
particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now
extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing
these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions,
using the original text and artwork.
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