![1990 reunion of the Kangchenjunga climbers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/1990_reunion_of_the_Kangchenjunga_climbers.jpg)
The 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition succeeded in climbing the
Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanghā (), and Khangchendzonga, is the third highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the ...
, the
third highest mountain in the world, for the first time. The expedition complied with a request from the Sikkim authorities that the summit should not be trodden on so the climbers deliberately stopped about five feet below the summit.
George Band
George Christopher Band (2 February 1929 – 26 August 2011) was an English mountaineer. He was the youngest climber on the 1953 British expedition to Mount Everest on which Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of the mountai ...
and
Joe Brown reached the top on 25 May 1955, and they were followed the next day by
Norman Hardie
Norman David Hardie (28 December 1924 – 31 October 2017) was a New Zealand climber who was one of the climbers on the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition who first reached the summit of the 8,586-metre (28,169 ft) mountain, the third- ...
and
Tony Streather. The expedition was led by
Charles Evans who had been deputy leader on the
1953 British Mount Everest expedition.
The expedition trekked from
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...
in India along the border with
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...
and then through
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
to the Yalung Valley. They unsuccessfully attempted a climbing route reconnoitred by a team led by
John Kempe
John William Rolfe Kempe (29 October 1917 – 10 May 2010) was headmaster of Gordonstoun School from 1968–1978, during the period that the Princes Andrew and Edward arrived at the school. He was a noted mountaineer and a member of the Alpine ...
the year before but succeeded along a different route up the Yalung Face, one that
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
's
1905 Kanchenjunga expedition
The 1905 Kanchenjunga expedition was a Himalayan mountaineering expedition aimed to climb to the summit of Kanchenjunga, which would ultimately only be achieved in 1955.
The expedition was an idea of the Swiss doctor and photographer Jules Jacot-G ...
had first attempted.
In mountaineering circles at the time and more recently, the climb is sometimes regarded as a greater achievement than the ascent of Mount Everest two years earlier.
Background
Political
![Edward Lear - Kangchenjunga from Darjeeling - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Edward_Lear_-_Kangchenjunga_from_Darjeeling_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Following the
ascent of Everest in 1953 and
K2 in 1954, Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, had become the
highest unclimbed mountain
An unclimbed mountain is a mountain peak that has yet to be climbed to the top. Determining which unclimbed peak is highest is often a matter of controversy. In some parts of the world, surveying and mapping are still unreliable. There are no co ...
. The mountain is on the border between
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
and
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...
and can be approached from either side. It is the most widely visible of the 8000-metre peaks and can be well seen from
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...
in
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
. In 1955 Sikkim had a degree of control over its internal affairs and would not allow any attempt to climb the mountain. However, from 1950 Nepal had been permitting a few mountaineering expeditions, particularly enabling
reconnaissance of routes to Everest, and were willing to allow an attempt on Kangchenjunga from the west.
Exploration
Kangchenjunga is a highly active mountain with avalanches constantly streaming down its sides. It is somewhat distanced from the line of the Himalayas and, because it is near where the monsoon approaches from the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...
, the monsoon season persists longer than for any other of the
eight-thousanders.
Throughout the 20th century and from even before that time, the mountain had been explored by many teams and the two routes attempted in 1955 – up the Yalung Face of the mountain from the Yalung glacier – had been reconnoitred in 1905 by a Swiss team led by
Jules Jacot-Guillarmod with
Aleister Crowley as climbing leader and by
John Kempe
John William Rolfe Kempe (29 October 1917 – 10 May 2010) was headmaster of Gordonstoun School from 1968–1978, during the period that the Princes Andrew and Edward arrived at the school. He was a noted mountaineer and a member of the Alpine ...
in 1954. Kempe's report led to the
Alpine Club
The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as:
:"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...
agreeing to sponsor a reconnaissance effort which might also attempt to reach the summit.
A detailed map of the region was produced by in 1931.
Team members
The members of the team were led by
Charles Evans (36 years of age at the time of the climb), who had been deputy leader on the
1953 British Mount Everest expedition. The rest of the team included:
*
Norman Hardie
Norman David Hardie (28 December 1924 – 31 October 2017) was a New Zealand climber who was one of the climbers on the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition who first reached the summit of the 8,586-metre (28,169 ft) mountain, the third- ...
(30 years), a New Zealander, was deputy leader and had explored the
Barun Valley
Barun Valley () is a Himalayan valley situated at the base of Mt. Makalu in the Sankhuwasabha district of Nepal. This valley rests entirely inside the Makalu Barun National Park.
The Barun Valley provides stunning contrasts, where high waterfall ...
with
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reache ...
in 1954.
*
George Band
George Christopher Band (2 February 1929 – 26 August 2011) was an English mountaineer. He was the youngest climber on the 1953 British expedition to Mount Everest on which Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of the mountai ...
(26 years), had been on the 1953 Mount Everest expedition and was responsible for food.
*
Joe Brown (24 years), was an outstanding rock climber in Britain and the Alps.
* John Clegg (29 years) was the expedition doctor and an Alpine climber.
*
John Jackson (34 years), with considerable Himalayan experience, had been on the 1954 Kangchenjunga reconnaissance expedition.
* Tom McKinnon (42 years), was the expedition photographer with considerable Himalayan experience.
* Neil Mather (28 years) was an ice and snow climber in the Alps.
*
Tony Streather (29 years), with broad mountaineering experience including on the
1953 American Karakoram expedition, was responsible for porters and had knowledge of
Hindustani.
* Dawa Tensing (about 45 years), was
sirdar
The rank of Sirdar ( ar, سردار) – a variant of Sardar – was assigned to the British Commander-in-Chief of the British-controlled Egyptian Army in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Sirdar resided at the Sirdaria, a three-blo ...
(chief
Sherpa Sherpa may refer to:
Ethnography
* Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal
* Sherpa language
Organizations and companies
* Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility
* ...
). He had been Evans' personal Sherpa on the
1952 Cho Oyu and 1953 Everest expeditions where he had twice reached the
South Col
The South Col is a sharp-edged col between Mount Everest and Lhotse, the highest and fourth-highest mountains in the world, respectively. The South Col is typically swept by high winds, leaving it free of significant snow accumulation. Since 1950 ...
.
* Annullu, deputy sirdar, had also been at the South Col in 1953. There were about 30 Sherpas from
Solu Khumbu and 300 porters from
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...
.
Equipment
Considerable advances had been made in equipment in preparation for the 1953 Everest expedition and so changes for 1955 were less substantial. Rather than taking vacuum packed high-altitude food they took packs for ten-man-days to be shared out so individual tastes could be better accommodated.
Their high-altitude boots were of a neater design which allowed for canvas overboots and crampons on top of the whole lot. Their oxygen equipment was improved in design. The climbers used
supplemental oxygen
Oxygen therapy, also known as supplemental oxygen, is the use of oxygen as medical treatment. Acute indications for therapy include hypoxemia (low blood oxygen levels), carbon monoxide toxicity and cluster headache. It may also be prophylactical ...
above Camp 3 and the Sherpas above Camp 5. They took two
closed-circuit sets, largely for experimental purposes but they relied on open-circuit which were also found to be generally more satisfactory. A set weighed only 80% of the Everest design. The flow valves were made of rubber to avoid problems of blockage by ice but unfortunately, when the rubber became cold and rigid overnight, the valves would leak badly when turned on in the morning. Early starts were sometimes delayed while the equipment was being warmed up. Another problem was that the climbers lost weight during the climb so that their face masks no longer fitted well and this also caused a waste of gas. Worse, the leak could cause their goggles to mist up – removing these, even just to wipe them, risked becoming snowblind. In all, of supplies had to be carried from Darjeeling.
Expedition
Departure for Darjeeling
Shortly before they sailed from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on 12 February 1955 they were told that for spiritual reasons the Sikkim government objected to any attempt at all to climb the mountain, even from Nepal, so before they departed
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...
Evans went to
Gangtok to visit the
Dewan
''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the e ...
(prime minister) with whom he reached a compromise that the expedition could go ahead provided that once they were sure of being able to reach the summit they would go no higher and they would not desecrate the vicinity of the summit.
March-in and first base camp
![Kangchenjunga 1955 trek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Kangchenjunga_1955_trek.png)
They left Darjeeling on 14 March for the journey to
Mane Bhanjyang
Mane Bhanjyang is a village development committee in Bhojpur District in Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. According to 1991 census, it had a population of 2,832 living in 503 individual households. Mane Bhanjyang is the birthplace and hometown ...
transporting their baggage in a convoy of dilapidated trucks. This was the last large village on the road before their 10-day trek started on a track up to the crest of the
Singalila Ridge
The Singalila Ridge is a north–south mountain ridge running from northwestern West Bengal through Sikkim in the Indian part of the Himalayas. The district of Ilam in Nepal falls on the western part of this ridge.
The ridge separates mountain r ...
from where, at , there were three
Indian government rest houses along the route north, the first being at
Tonglu. At
Phalut
Phalut or Falut is the second highest peak of West Bengal, India. Part of the Singalila Ridge in the Himalayas, it is located at the border of the Indian states of West Bengal and Sikkim and of Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, ...
they turned west to enter the jungles of Nepal. After
Chyangthapu
Chyangthapu is a village development committee in Panchthar District in the Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census
The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of ...
they headed north again through intensively cultivated terraced land. At Khebang (now
Khewang) there was a long climb up to the pass leading to the Yalung valley where there was again jungle, which eventually turned into the gravel outwash of the Yalung glacier. After Tseram (now Cheram) was the remains of a monastery at Ramser and near the
terminal moraine
A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...
of the Yalung glacier at , the porters were paid off because the route up the glacier was too difficult for them. Yalung Camp was established as a substantial camp from where to acclimatise by climbing many nearby peaks. Accurate
theodolite
A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building an ...
measurements were taken of features in the vicinity of Kangchenjunga's Yalung, or southwest, face. A supply chain for food for the Sherpas –
tsampa
Tsampa or Tsamba (; ) is a Tibetan and Himalayan staple foodstuff, particularly prominent in the central part of the region. It is glutinous meal made from roasted flour, usually barley flour and sometimes also wheat flour. It is usually mi ...
and
atta Atta or ATTA may refer to:
* Atta Halilintar, Indonesian YouTuber, singer and entrepreneur
* ''Atta'' (ant), a genus of ants in the family Formicidae
* ''Atta'' (novel), a 1953 novel by Francis Rufus Bellamy
* Atta flour, whole wheat flour made f ...
– was organised from
Ghunsa
Ghunsa () is a village of Taplejung, Nepal at elevation of 3,475 m and is a major check point for Mt. Kangchenjunga. This village came into attention after the helicopter accident that killed 24 passengers including most prominent figures in conser ...
village two days carry away. Also, plans were made for the future moving of goods from Yalung to a base camp much higher up the glacier.
The trek to Yalung Camp had taken 10 days and when they left after their acclimatisation period there was a four-day trek up the glacier to a base camp to be established at the foot of Kempe's Buttress, at the foot of the route suggested by the reconnaissance of the year before. Because the porters had been paid off the trek to base camp had to be done repeatedly in very poor weather. The
left bank
In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows.
In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...
(southeastern side) of the glacier was subject to continual avalanches from
Talung so they took the right bank even though the ice was very broken there.
Attempt via Kempe's Buttress
Kempe's Buttress flanks the eastern side of an icefall that descends Kangchenjunga from about to the glacier at . The top of the buttress is at and from there Kempe had thought there might be a feasible way further up the icefall. From the top of the Buttress, however, Band and Hardie took two days trying to get onto the icefall itself. Evans and Jackson joined the effort and although they then managed to get onto the icefall they could make no further progress. Band, who had climbed Everest's
Khumbu Icefall
The Khumbu Icefall is located at the head of the Khumbu Glacier and the foot of the Western Cwm, which lies at an elevation of on the Nepali slopes of Mount Everest, not far above Base Camp and southwest of the summit. The icefall is considere ...
, wrote:
Fortunately, Hardie spotted a small glacier descending the Western Buttress – the wall on the far side of the glacier – and the small glacier reached down from a location they called the "Hump" to a point on the icefall roughly level with their vantage point. So, they decided to abandon their present attempt and try all over again hoping to reach the western side of the icefall. The intention was to climb up to the Hump along the western side of the Western Buttress and to achieve this involved moving base camp.
Attempt from Pache's grave
![KANGCHENJUNGA MAP by JACOT-GUILLARMOD, 1914](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/KANGCHENJUNGA_MAP_by_JACOT-GUILLARMOD%2C_1914.jpg)
As it happens the location of the second base camp was where, on Crowley's 1905 expedition, Alexis Pache and three porters were laid to rest after they had been killed in an avalanche. The wooden cross and gravestone still stood there. Kempe's team had investigated the area the previous year but considered it would tend to lead towards the subsidiary peak Kangchenjunga West leaving a difficult traverse to the main summit. Also, the route was vulnerable to avalanches.
Evans' plan was to climb to the Hump and then drop down to the Lower Icefall. They would then attempt the short climb to the top of the Lower Icefall to reach a plateau at the foot of the Upper Icefall. From there the Great Shelf – a snow shelf cutting across the Yalung Face from about in the southeast to in the northwest – should lead to a dark rock
cirque, the "Sickle", beside a steep snow gangway leading to within striking distance of the summit. The rocks of the Sickle were the first outcrop to be reached after the Hump.
Lower and upper icefall
![Yalung Face of Kangchenjunga 1955](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Yalung_Face_of_Kangchenjunga_1955.png)
By 26 April Band and Hardie had pitched Camp 1 two-thirds of the way up the very steep snow slopes on the western side of the Western Buttress. To go higher involved crossing a crevasse wide which was eventually made suitable for Sherpas with a ladder and of ropes. Up to the Hump and down the ramp on the other side the slopes were about 40° and the descent to the icefall was a drop of some . They struggled up the edge of the icefall to reach the spacious avalanche-free plateau between the Upper and Lower Icefall. The Plateau was an excellent location for Camp 2 which was soon established by Evans and Brown. For three weeks without a single day being missed, supplies were ferried between Base Camp and Camp 2, stopping overnight at Camp 1 on the way up.
On 29 April Evans and Brown were close to the eventual site of Camp 3 but that night a storm hit. When they tried to descend to Camp 1 the depth of snow and the severe avalanches meant they had to go back to Camp 2 where there was a shortage of food. It was only on 4 May they could reach the site for Camp 3 – by 9 May it was fully equipped as Advance Base Camp at by teams of Sherpas and climbers ferrying up and down the mountain. On 12 May Evans and Hardie set up Camp 4 and next day they were able to attain the Great Shelf where there were good snow conditions and they went on to find a suitable location for Camp 5, sheltered by an ice cliff at , the greatest height ever reached on the mountain.
Upper camps
![Kangchenjunga South Face](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Kangchenjunga_South_Face.jpg)
Streather, Mather and their Sherpas started stocking Camp 4 while the rest of the climbers returned to recuperate at Base Camp. When there, Evans announced the detailed plans for the next few days – the reconnaissance had turned into a bid for the summit. Jackson, McKinnon and their
Sherpas would stock Camp 5. Brown and Band, the first summit pair, supported by Evans, Mather and four Sherpas would follow a day later. The supporting climbers would establish Camp 6 as near to the top of the Gangway as possible. Hardie and Streather would be a second assault team, supported by two Sherpas and moving up a day later still.
Things did not get off to a good start. Streather became snowblind and was unable to get above Camp 4 and many of the supplies had to be dumped below Camp 5. Jackson and McKinnon were unable to descend to Camp 3 so had to stay at Camp 4 with Brown and Band. That night a blizzard developed and it seemed the monsoon might be imminent. However, Jackson and McKinnon were able to descend to Camp 3. On the third day the storm conditions abated so Evans, Mather, Brown, Band and three Sherpas set off for Camp 5 only to find an avalanche had swept away many of the supplies that had been dumped there. After a day of unscheduled rest at Camp 5 they then made good progress but when they reached a rocky outcrop at the planned height for Camp 6, , there was nowhere at all suitable. They had to dig a ledge out of the 45° snow slope where, after two hours work, they created a ledge wide for a tent wide. Despite the conditions they had an evening meal of asparagus soup, lambs' tongues and drinking chocolate. Band and Brown remained at Camp 6 for the night of 24 May, wearing all their clothes, including boots, inside their sleeping bags and using a low flow of supplemental oxygen.
Summit attempts
25 May 1955 – Brown and Band
At 05:00 a fine day beckoned and by 08:15 Brown and Band were ready to set off up the Gangway where they found very good snow conditions. Going to the top of the Gangway would have led to an awkward lengthy route along the west ridge to the summit so their plan was to veer to the right off the Gangway onto the southwest face and so reach the ridge quite close to the summit. A suitable line had been spotted from below but it was unclear where to actually turn off the Gangway. In the event they turned too soon and had to backtrack, so wasting 1½ hours. The next stage involved rock climbing and then there was a 60° snow slope. They could only afford to use a low rate of oxygen (two litres a minute each) and this seemed to sustain Brown better than Band so they stopped alternating the lead climbing and Brown stayed going first. After over five hours of continuous climbing they reached the ridge and the summit pyramid could be seen above.
They took a brief rest and a snack until 14:00 when they had two hours of oxygen left – they had to reach the summit by 15:00 to avoid an emergency bivouac on the way down. Brown led a final rock climb up a tall crack with a slight overhang at the top (
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
about "very difficult" ignoring the altitude ). This required oxygen at six litres a minute and the climb led to a stance from where, to their surprise, the actual summit was just away and five feet () higher up. It was 14:45 on 25 May 1955. Even though this was the first ascent of the mountain, as agreed they did not go up onto the summit itself. There was a layer of cloud at so they could only see the highest peaks –
Makalu
Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...
,
Lhotse
Lhotse ( ne, ल्होत्से ; , ''lho tse'', ) is the fourth highest mountain in the world at , after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu ...
and Everest, away to the west.
They started the descent, discarding their oxygen sets when they were empty after one hour. As it got dark they reached their tent to be greeted by Hardie and Streather who had arrived there to make a second attempt if the first had failed. Band and Brown thought it was too dangerous to continue straight down to Camp 5 so that night four men had to survive in the small two-man tent that jutted out over the edge of the narrow ledge cut into the steep slope. Brown was in great pain through the night suffering from snowblindness.
26 May 1955 – Hardie and Streather
Next morning Hardie and Streather decided a second summit attempt was worthwhile so they set off along the same route but avoiding the previous pair's detour. At the rock wall immediately before the summit Brown and Band had left a sling hanging to help them climb but Hardie and Streather continued further around the base of the wall and found an easy snow slope up to just below the summit which they reached at 12:15. They spent an hour at the top before descending successfully. Hardie and Streather had carried 2400 litres of oxygen each compared to Band and Brown's 1600 litres but unfortunately a couple of mishaps led to about half of it leaking away and Streather ended up having to descend without supplementary oxygen. They stayed at Camp 6 overnight and next day continued down to Camp 5 to be met by Evans and Dawa Tensing who had been waiting there to support both pairs of climbers attempting the summit.
Departure
Pemi Dorje, one of the Sherpas and Dawa Tenzing's brother-in-law, died at base camp on 26 May. On 19 May he had fallen into a crevasse and become exhausted helping with the carry to Camp 5 and, although he got safely down to base camp and initially appeared to be recovering, he sadly died. As the various parties started to come down the mountain snow and ice were rapidly melting leaving some snow bridges and ladders in an increasingly dangerous state. Evans decided to leave the mountain quickly only taking equipment that could be readily carried and abandoning the rest. By 28 May the expedition had left the mountain.
On the initial march-in, to avoid high passes that might be snowbound, they had left the Singalila Ridge quite far south at Phulat to head down into the jungle of Nepal. On the return march in heavy rain they went up onto the ridge further north, after Ramser, and followed along the crest to avoid leeches infesting the valleys at the time of the monsoon. On 13 June they were back at Darjeeling
Assessment
A day after Norman Hardie and Tony Streather made the second ascent, a coded message was sent back to London announcing their success. The news made headlines around the world, but the expedition never made such an impact as previous ascents such as Everest or K2. In addition, none of the team received national honours at the time. Evans' and Band's publications did not encourage any of the usual nationalist feelings: their reports made no mention of flags placed on the summit.
In a 1956
American Alpine Journal
The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in Golden, Colorado.
Subtitled as a compilation of "The World's M ...
editorial
Francis Farquhar said
Over fifty years later
Doug Scott
Douglas Keith Scott (29 May 19417 December 2020) was an English mountaineer, noted for being on the team that made the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. In receiving one of mountaineering's highest hon ...
, who had climbed Mount Everest and Kangchenjunga, wrote it was
In 2005 Ed Douglas wrote for the
British Mountaineering Council
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...
: "In 1955 British climbers made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga, a mountain with an even more formidable reputation than Everest. The nation may have forgotten a unique sporting achievement ...".
Right back in 1956 Evans was prescient when he wrote of the Sherpas he so much admired:
Notes
References
Citations
Works cited
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Further reading
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* and an accompanying article
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kangchenjunga, expedition, 1955 British
Mountaineering expeditions to the Himalayas
Expeditions from the United Kingdom
Kangchenjunga 1955
1955 in the United Kingdom