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The Shipton–Tilman Nanda Devi expeditions took place in the 1930s.
Nanda Devi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country. (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal.) Nanda Devi is the 23rd-highest peak in the world and ranked 74t ...
is a Himalayan mountain in what was then the
Garhwal District Garhwal District is a former district in Kumaon of British India of the United Provinces, and had an area of . It later became a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, today it is part of the Indian state Uttarakhand. History The first dy ...
in northern India, just west of Nepal, and at one time it was thought to be the highest mountain in the world. Nanda Devi is surrounded by a ring of mountains enclosing the
Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...
which, despite decades of attempts, no one had been able to enter. In 1934
Eric Shipton Eric Earle Shipton, CBE (1 August 1907 – 28 March 1977), was an English Himalayan mountaineer. Early years Shipton was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. When he was e ...
,
Bill Tilman Major (United Kingdom), Major Harold William Tilman, Commander of the British Empire, CBE, Distinguished Service Order, DSO, Military Cross, MC and Bar, (14 February 1898 – November 1977) was an England, English mountaineering, mountaineer ...
and their three accomplished Sherpas succeeded in finding a climbing route into the Sanctuary via the Rishi Ganga gorge. Then in 1936 Tilman and
Noel Odell Noel Ewart Odell FRSE FGS (25 December 1890 – 21 February 1987) was an English geologist and mountaineer. In 1924 he was an oxygen officer on the Everest expedition in which George Mallory and Andrew Irvine famously perished during their sum ...
, as part of an American–British team, climbed to the summit making Nanda Devi the highest mountain ever to have been climbed at that time. It was only in 1950 that a higher summit was reached when
Maurice Herzog Maurice André Raymond Herzog (; 15 January 191913 December 2012) was a French mountaineer and administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, ...
and
Louis Lachenal Louis Lachenal (17 July 1921 – 25 November 1955), a French climber born in Annecy, Haute-Savoie, was one of the first two mountaineers to climb a summit of more than 8,000 meters. On 3 June 1950 on the 1950 French Annapurna expedition, along ...
climbed
Annapurna Annapurna (; ) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the 10th highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its as ...
. Nanda Devi itself was climbed for the second time in 1964.


Summary

Except for the Rishi Ganga gorge to the west, Nanda Devi is encircled by a ring of mountains with no
col A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...
lower than . This mountain chain surrounds and completely encloses the
Nanda Devi Sanctuary The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India. The entire park lies at an eleva ...
.
Tom Longstaff Tom George Longstaff (15 January 1875 – 26 June 1964) was an England, English medical doctor, explorer and mountaineer, most famous for being the first person to climb a summit of over 7,000 metres in elevation, Trisul, in the India/Pakistan ...
had reached an eastern col in 1905 and had been able to see into the Sanctuary but he did not try the formidable descent. The immensely deep and narrow gorge by which the Rishi Ganga river drains the Sanctuary had never been ascended despite many attempts. However, before the 1934
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
, Shipton and Tilman along with three Sherpas who they regarded as co-climbers – Ang Tharkay, Pasang and Kusang – became the first people to find a way through the gorge and to set foot in the Sanctuary in what has been described as "the most exciting story in the whole saga of mountain discovery". During their retreat from the Sanctuary for the duration of the monsoon, the 1934 expedition continued exploring by crossing the
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86.5 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarters. Kedarnath is the most remote ...
watershed for the first time, a feat that was not repeated until 1998. After the monsoon they again ascended the Rishi Ganga gorge and climbed part way up Nanda Devi's southeast ridge thereby discovering the route to the summit that was to be used in 1936. They left the Sanctuary by traversing a col to the south and making a descent that had previously been thought impossible. In 1936 Nanda Devi became the highest mountain ever to have been climbed when a jointly-led American expedition, which eventually passed the leadership to Bill Tilman, reached its summit by climbing the southeast ridge. Tilman had chosen Charlie Houston and
Noel Odell Noel Ewart Odell FRSE FGS (25 December 1890 – 21 February 1987) was an English geologist and mountaineer. In 1924 he was an oxygen officer on the Everest expedition in which George Mallory and Andrew Irvine famously perished during their sum ...
for the summit attempt but mischance led to Tilman rather than Houston partnering Odell to the top.


Nanda Devi and Garhwal


19th-century mapping

At the beginning of the 19th century geographers generally believed the
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
, thought to be reaching up to about , were the highest mountains in the world. Some Himalayan peaks were measured to be higher although measurements of those in
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
and
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
were over very great distances from Indian territory and so were known not to be very accurate. The
Great Trigonometric Survey The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was a project that aimed to carry out a wikt:Special:Search/survey, survey across the Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the British infantry officer William Lambton ...
of India reached Himalaya early in the 19th century and because it was in the
British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...
the
Garhwal District Garhwal District is a former district in Kumaon of British India of the United Provinces, and had an area of . It later became a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, today it is part of the Indian state Uttarakhand. History The first dy ...
(once the
Garhwal Kingdom Kingdom of Garhwal ( ''गढ़वाल राज्य'' ) was an Himalayan kingdom in the current north-western Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, India, founded in 823 CE by Kanak Pal the progenitor of the Panwar dynasty that ruled ove ...
and after
independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
a division now in the state of
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...
) was surveyed before the Nepalese and Tibetan regions. By 1820 the highest mountain to have been measured was Peak XIV in
Garhwal Himalaya The Garhwal Himalayas are mountain ranges located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Geology This range is also a part of the Himalayan Sivalik Hills, the outer most hills of the Himalaya located in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Major p ...
at . It had the local name of
Nanda Devi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country. (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal.) Nanda Devi is the 23rd-highest peak in the world and ranked 74t ...
and it remained the highest known until 1847 when
Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga 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 Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...
was measured. Some geographers doubted a height as great as this and thought it had been overestimated – it is now known the overestimate was only . The survey also identified a ring of very high mountains encircling Nanda Devi and it identified this region, and not
Lake Manasarovar Lake Manasarovar also called Mapam Yumtso (; ) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located at an elevation of , near the western trijunction ...
, as the source of the river
Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
, or Ganga.


Spiritual aspects

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
are both important religions in the state of Uttarakhand and the two faiths have intermixed to a considerable extent. The Garhwal area had been venerated by Buddhists until they were expelled by
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedanga, Vedic scholar, Hindu philosophy, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and h ...
in the 9th century CE when their temples were adopted as Hindu while aspects of the two religions were merged.
Badrinath Temple Badarinath or Badarinarayana Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, located in the town of Badrinath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. The temple is also one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu for Vaishnavas, who ...
near the source of the Alaknanda Ganges has a style of architecture and a stone image of
Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
that are characteristically Buddhist. The local
Bhotia people Bhotiya or Bhot (, ) is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speaking Tibetic languages, as well as some groups speaking other Tibeto-Burman languages living in the Transhimalayan region that divides India from T ...
had originally come from Tibet and their traditional work was to transport goods over the mountain passes between India and Tibet. Garhwal was never conquered by the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
of India but Nepalese
Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...
s had successfully invaded. The British annexation in 1815 had little impact on the local culture. So, a very relaxed form of Hinduism developed, one which closely coexisted with Buddhism. Buddhist prayer flags sometimes adorned the Hindu temples. The four shrines of
Chota Char Dham The Chota Char Dham ( 'the small four abodes/seats' or 'the small circuit of four abodes/seats') is an important modern Hindu pilgrimage circuit in Uttarakhand, in the Indian Himalayas. Located in the Garhwal region of the state of Uttarak ...
in Garhwal are very important for Hindu pilgrims because they are at four sources of the river Ganga. However, the source of the Rishi Ganga tributary is inaccessible. Nanda Devi, the Goddess of Bliss, lived on the top of the mountain that is named after her and which is where the Seven Rishis were driven by the demons before they finally became seven stars in the sky. Nanda Devi left her mountain to live with her husband
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
on
Mount Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; ; ; , ) is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains) of the Transhimalaya, in the western part ...
in Tibet but once a year, in October, she returns and this is a time of celebration for pilgrims.


Early mountaineering and exploration

No real attempt had been made to cross the ring of mountains enclosing Nanda Devi until 1883. In that year William Graham, who was the first climber to visit Himalaya purely for sporting purposes, attempted to reach the basin inside the protecting ring, the so-called
Nanda Devi Sanctuary The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India. The entire park lies at an eleva ...
. The Rishi Ganga river drains the Sanctuary though an extremely deep gorge and he attempted to ascend along this route. He found the lowest part of the gorge impassable. Then, after almost reaching the summit of Dunagiri, and guided by local inhabitants, he took a route slightly north of the river and he was able to reach the gorge part way up. To the west of Nanda Devi the encircling ring becomes double with an inner ring enclosing the inner part of the Sanctuary and an outer part of the Sanctuary lying between the two ridges of the ring. By crossing the outer ring and avoiding the lower part of the gorge Graham had reached the outer part of the Sanctuary but he could not get any further. In 1905
Tom Longstaff Tom George Longstaff (15 January 1875 – 26 June 1964) was an England, English medical doctor, explorer and mountaineer, most famous for being the first person to climb a summit of over 7,000 metres in elevation, Trisul, in the India/Pakistan ...
and two Italian guides, the Brocherel brothers, set off to explore
Nanda Devi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country. (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal.) Nanda Devi is the 23rd-highest peak in the world and ranked 74t ...
– Longstaff's expeditions only ever involved a small number of people, each one carrying his own gear. They reached a high col just east of Nanda Devi's summit which is on the ridge of peaks surrounding the mountain itself but they were unable to descend to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is an area of about that is encircled by a ridge nowhere less than in height except for the Rishi Ganga gorge which had proved to be an insuperable obstacle. The Sanctuary, completely cut off from human intrusion, had become an area of immense interest to explorers and mountaineers. Two years later the same team returned along with Charles Bruce and succeeded in climbing
Trisul Trisul is a group of three Himalayan mountain peaks of western Kumaun, Uttarakhand, with the highest (Trisul I) reaching 7120m. The three peaks resemble a trident - in Sanskrit, Trishula, trident, is the weapon of Shiva. The Trishul group f ...
, southwest of the Sanctuary, and this remained the highest summit to be climbed for twenty-three years. Their attempt to get into the Sanctuary had been impeded because, according to Tilman, "though the map did credit to the maker's imagination it was apt to mislead". Shipton's first visit to the region (and his first visit to Himalaya) was in 1931 on an expedition led by
Frank Smythe Francis Sydney Smythe, better known as Frank Smythe or F. S. Smythe (6 July 1900 – 27 June 1949), was an English mountaineer, author, photographer and botanist. He is best remembered for his mountaineering in the Alps as well as in the Himal ...
that succeeded in making the first ascent of
Kamet Kamet () is the second-highest mountain in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India, after Nanda Devi. It is the 29th highest mountain in the world. It lies in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand. Its appearance resembles a giant pyramid topp ...
. Shipton was in the party that reached the highest summit to have been achieved – a peak had never been climbed before. Subsequently, the expedition explored the mountains around
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
in
Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India * Ga ...
which, because of the beautiful flora and dramatic scenery, Shipton described as "by far the most enjoyable part of the expedition". After Shipton's very creditable performance on the large-scale
1933 British Mount Everest expedition Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
, he and
Lawrence Wager Lawrence Rickard Wager, commonly known as Bill Wager, (5 February 1904 – 20 November 1965) was a British geologist, explorer and mountaineer, described as "one of the finest geological thinkers of his generation"Vincent and best remembered for ...
trekked back to
Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
separately from the rest of the party and this experience convinced him that small expeditions could be more enjoyable than large ones and, he suspected, more successful as well. Inspired by Longstaff and attracted by Garhwal and the unexplored Rishi Ganga gorge, Shipton decided to plan his own approach to the region.


Shipton and Tilman

Bill Tilman was born in 1898. He did well at school but, in 1914 with the outbreak of the
Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he left to train for the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
. At the age of 17 he was fighting on the Western Front where he was twice seriously wounded and was twice awarded the Military Cross. He fought and survived the
Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (; ; ), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele ( ), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I, Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front (World Wa ...
and he was still less than 21 years old when the war was over. As part of his demobilisation he was awarded a square mile of land in
British East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was a British protectorate in the African Great Lakes, occupying roughly the same area as present-day Kenya, from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Cont ...
. He was lucky with his allocation and he converted his patch of bush into a successful coffee plantation. Eric Shipton was nine years younger. Born in
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
but educated in Britain, he became interested in mountaineering, particularly during a snowless skiing holiday in the Alps. He turned down an opportunity to go to Cambridge University and instead took a course in estate management which set him up to become an apprentice on a coffee estate near
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
and within reach of
Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...
where he developed his mountaineering skills. Reading of this in the newspapers, Tilman wrote asking for advice and this drew the two men into a climbing partnership. So, in 1930, despite Tilman's almost complete lack of mountaineering experience, they succeeded in climbing Mount Kenya's west ridge for the first time and went on to make the first traverse of its two peaks, Batian and Neilion. Back in Britain following his 1932 Kamet expedition, Shipton advanced his plans to again explore the Garhwal region. His initial idea was for a lightweight expedition to explore the mountainous area between the
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
, Kedernath and
Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bha ...
shrines but Longstaff urged him to attempt to enter and map the Nanda Devi Sanctuary itself. Noel Humphreys, his first choice for a climbing partner, was unavailable but then a letter arrived from Tilman who had decided to visit Britain by cycling across Africa from
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
to
French Cameroon French Cameroon, also known as the French Cameroons (), was a French mandate territory in Central Africa. It now forms part of the independent country of Cameroon. Eastern part of the former German colony of Cameroon (). Its status, from ...
using a map torn from a magazine, and then taking a steamer to his family home near
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. Tilman's letter had suggested a fortnight's rock climbing in the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
to which Shipton replied by inviting him on a seven-month expedition to Himalaya. Tilman accepted by return of post. In 1969 Shipton wrote that, but for the serendipity of being able to be together at the right time, the course of both their lives would have been profoundly different. Shipton was a very gregarious, sociable person who was attractive to women. According to
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 became the first to ascend the mou ...
, "Eric slung his ice axe beside many a memsahib's bed". Tilman was taciturn and monkish and he avoided society, particularly that of women. Both men were tremendously strong and reliable. They were to become the ideal climbing partnership – they could rely on each other completely.


1934 expedition

By 1934, despite mountaineers having got near to the summit of Mount Everest, no one had even reached the foot of Nanda Devi, the highest mountain in the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, even though many attempts had been made.To consider Nanda Devi the highest it is necessary to disregard
Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga 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 Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...
on the
Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
border. At the time Sikkim was nominally outside the Raj.


Preparations and travel

Shipton asked Karma Paul, who had been on Everest expeditions since 1922, to engage three
Sherpas The Sherpa people () are one of the Nepalese ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, India, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. The majority of Sherpas live in the eastern regions of Nepal, namely the Solukhum ...
and he appointed Ang Tharkay, Pasang Bhotia and Kusang Namgir, all of whom had been on the 1933 expedition. Equipment and supplies were basic and the plan was to eat in the same way as the Sherpas –
chapati Chapati (alternatively spelled chapathi; pronounced as IAST: ), also known as ''roti'', ''rooti'', ''rotee'', ''rotli'', '' rotta'', ''safati'', ''shabaati'', ''phulka'', ''chapo'' (in East Africa), ''sada roti'' (in the Caribbean), ''poli'' (i ...
s, rice and
tsampa Tsampa or Tsamba (; ) is a Tibetan and Himalayan staple foodstuff; it is also prominent in parts of northern Nepal. It is a glutinous meal made from roasted flour, usually barley flour and sometimes also wheat flour and flour prepared from tr ...
– luxuries taken were tea, lentils and
ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...
. On 6 April 1934 Shipton and Tilman sailed from
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
on the cargo vessel SS ''Mahsud'' bound for
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
. They met the Sherpas who had travelled from
Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
and the five men went by train to
Kathgodam Kathgodam is a suburb of Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India. It used to be a part of the twin township of Haldwani–Kathgodam, and is known as the "Gateway to Kumaon". History Literally meaning ''timber depot'', Kathgodam was a small village in 190 ...
and continued by lorry to
Ranikhet Ranikhet ( Kumaoni: ) is a hill station and cantonment town, near Almora Town in Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the home of the Military Hospital, Kumaon Regiment (KRC) and Naga Regiment and is maintained by the Ind ...
where they arrived on 9 May.A photograph of the five men is available at They arranged to take on a dozen
Doti Doti (), also known as Dotigarh (डोटीगढ़) or the Far-Western Development Region was a development region of Nepal situated between River Kali bordering Kumaon division of Uttarakhand, India in the west and the Karnali river on t ...
porters, purchased food at the market and were driven by lorry to Baijnath where they were met by the porters. A ten-day trek took them to
Joshimath Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a town and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6,150 feet (1,875 m), it is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, tre ...
from where the exploration towards the Sanctuary started.


Through the upper Rishi Ganga gorge

Using the route discovered by Graham, they followed the Dhauli river, passing the foot of the Rishi Ganga gorge, and climbed the Lata hills north of the gorge to reach a trig station set up by the
Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Dunagiri. and descended to just below the confluence of the Rhamani and the Rishi rivers, halfway up the gorge and eight days march from Joshimath. Base camp was set up near the confluence of the two rivers and here the porters were paid off. At this point the gorge is a box canyon for a distance of about with walls rising above the river. The five men relayed five hundredweight () of supplies along the perilous cliffs, sometimes overhanging the river, at various heights above the bed of the gorge but in doing so lost a rucksack with nearly all their lentils, which removed their staple food and would reduce their expedition by two days. For seven days they ascended the upper gorge, repeatedly being forced to cross and re-cross the river. On 4 June they reached an impasse on the north bank so Tilman and Ang Tharkay reconnoitred a buttress to the south which appeared to be insurmountable. From the north bank they appeared "like ants on a gigantic wall" but at the end of the day they returned to camp having found a clear path beyond the buttress. They named the location "Pisgah" because from there they could see the summit of Nanda Devi.It was from Mount Pisgah that
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
could see the
Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...
.
Two days later the team became the first people to enter the Sanctuary. They had taken nine days to cover four miles and success had always been in doubt.


Exploring the Sanctuary

The monsoon was expected in about three weeks and the gorge would then be completely closed with floods so their exploration of the Sanctuary could only be brief. They had difficulty crossing the Rishi – at this point is the confluence of a northern and southern arm at a height of about . To the north the river emerges from a large glacier and it was in this direction they started their survey. They saw for the first time the vast northern face of Nanda Devi – an unbroken sweep of . They reached the rim of the northeastern encircling mountains at over and looked over to the east to the
Milam Glacier Milam Glacier is a major glacier of Himalaya in the Munsiyari tehsil of Pithoragarh district of Kumaon region in the Uttrakhand state of India. The Milam village, near the snout of Milam Glacier, is the source of the Goriganga River which f ...
hoping there might be an alternative way out of the Sanctuary. They also went to the northernmost part of the ring but while they were exploring the foothills of
Changabang Changabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Division, Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it ...
the weather deteriorated and the Sherpas effectively took the lead when both Europeans were ill. On 24 June the monsoon arrived and they started their retreat, urged on by the Sherpas. In heavy rain they descended the gorge to the Rhamani river in two days. This river had become torrential and they were forced upstream to where they found an easy crossing point and a route back to Dibrughita from where they raced back to civilisation. In a letter Shipton wrote of the Sanctuary "There was a tremendous variety of birds and any amount of game – most of which can never have seen a man, and stared at us incredulously. I was glad we did not have guns – it would have been a crime to shoot them. It was perhaps the most wonderful three weeks of my life, and I shall never forget a moment of it...".


Badrinath–Gaumukh crossing

Back at Joshimath on 2 July and expecting travel through the gorge would not be possible before 10 August, they embarked on a crossing from
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
to
Gaumukh Gomukh, also known as "Gaumukh" or "Gomukhi" (Hindi: गौमुख or गौमुखी ; Assamese and Bengali: গোমুখ or গোমুখী), is the terminus or snout of the Gangotri Glacier and the source of the Bhagirathi Rive ...
. The sources of the three main rivers that together form the
Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
: the
Bhagirathi The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu f ...
, Mandakini and
Alaknanda The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and a river considered holy in Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the headstr ...
, each have temples –
Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bha ...
,
Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86.5 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarters. Kedarnath is the most remote ...
and
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
– that are the destinations for Hindu pilgrims. This region is very mountainous and the watershed had never been crossed. Leaving Joshimah for Badrinath, the party hired porters and set off on 12 July for the Bhagirath Kharak glacier.Shipton calls the Bhagirath Kharak glacier the "Bhagat Kharak". Finding there was no pass at the head of the glacier they explored four subsidiary glaciers entering from the south-west but none were passable. Instead, they headed north to the Arwa River – climbing a peak on the way – to where a previous expedition had reached the watershed but had not completed a traverse. The team found a way over the watershed and, guided by the sight of
Shivling A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...
, descended the Chaturangi GlacierShipton refers to the Chaturangi Glacier as "'X' glacier" to the snout of the
Gangotri Glacier Gangotri glacier (Sanskrit and ) is located in Uttarkashi District, Uttarakhand, India in a region bordering Tibet. This glacier, one of the primary sources of the Ganges, has a volume of over 27 cubic kilometers. The glacier is about long and ...
at Gaumukh. With insufficient food to include Gangotri on their itinerary, they returned to Badrinath via the Arwa valley.


Badrinath–Kedarnath crossing

There was a legend of a high priest who used to hold services in the Badrinath and Kedernath temples both on the same day. Tradition told that, to avoid the hundred-mile journey using known tracks, he would take a shortcut over the mountains, a distance of less than three miles.Shipton says the distance is at least twenty-four miles. Wanting to explore this crossing, the party set off up the
Satopanth Glacier The Satopanth glacier is situated in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The river Alaknanda, one of the primary headstreams of the Ganges, has its origin in the Satopanth glacier. The glacier is one of the most popular glaciers in Uttarakhand amon ...
on 4 August, knowing it would delay their return to the Sanctuary. It took difficult route-finding and awkward ice climbing to reach the head of the glacier. Eventually they were able to see to the west of the divide to discover that they were at the head of the Kedarnath valley (as Tilman had predicted) and not the Gangotri Glacier (as Shipton had expected). Immediately they were faced by an ice precipice of hundreds of feet with ice pinnacles and crevasses. Shipton and Tilman felt they might have to turn back but the Sherpas were determined and eventually it was Ang Tharkay who found a route down, albeit a most difficult one. What they presumed would be a two-day trek to Kedarnath turned out to be a far more serious journey. There was a precipice of , scrub and jungle that had to be cut through, and rivers that were almost impossible to cross. Eventually, and after over a week, they reached villages where they could get food but when they reached the pilgrims' road to Kedarnath they decided there was no time to go north on the trail to the temple and they turned south instead, taking the pilgrim route back to Joshimath.


The Sanctuary revisited

They left Joshimath on 30 August with a group of porters they had hired locally, at
Mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...
. So enthusiastic were the porters that thirteen accompanied the team up the Rishi Ganga gorge and into the Sanctuary itself. Shipton "came to have a considerable respect for them as cragsmen" and was sorry that they had to leave. This time the team explored the southern part of the basin especially looking for a way out over the rim so as to avoid a fourth passage of the gorge. The col discovered by Longstaff in 1905 seemed less suitable than one further south, spotted by
Hugh Ruttledge Hugh Ruttledge (24 October 1884 – 7 November 1961) was an English civil servant and mountaineer who was the leader of two expeditions to Mount Everest in 1933 and 1936. Early life The son of Lt.-Colonel Edward Butler Ruttledge, of the Indian ...
in 1932. However they were distracted by Trisul East (now called Maiktoli, ) which looked technically straightforward so, while Tilman continued surveying with Pasang, the other three made the first ascent of the peak in conditions, according to Shipton, "almost up to Everest standards". The three men had to share a two-man tent so, at night, when one turned they all had to. The Sherpas found this tremendously funny – Shipton less so. On their return, Shipton and Tilman explored a subsidiary ridge to the south ridge of Nanda Devi itself merely thinking it might provide a good view of the southern Sanctuary. At they had to turn back but they had decided that this ridge gave a good chance of reaching the summit for a suitably prepared expedition. On 17 September the entire party started the climb to Ruttledge's col to look down the precipice and icefall to the Sunderdhunga Glacier. It took two days to discover a route down the precipice and Ang Tharkay was the person who found the way that was at last successful. Descending the valley they reached the
Pindar River The Pindar River is a river located in Uttarakhand, India. The Pindar originates from Pindari Glacier which is located in Bageshwar district of Kumaon region in Uttarakhand. The source of this river, the Pindar glacier is located at an altitude ...
. At last reaching Sameswar they were able to board a bus to
Ranikhet Ranikhet ( Kumaoni: ) is a hill station and cantonment town, near Almora Town in Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the home of the Military Hospital, Kumaon Regiment (KRC) and Naga Regiment and is maintained by the Ind ...
and they went their separate ways at
Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...
with Shipton writing his book ''Nanda Devi'' on his six-week voyage home.


Mount Everest intervenes

The
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
's reception of Shipton's February 1935 Nanda Devi presentation was "close to rapturous" and of particular note was that the full cost of the entire expedition had been (). Shipton and Tilman were both lauded by the top brass of the RGS but there was no support for any immediate return to Nanda Devi because Tibet had just given permission for attempts on Mount Everest in 1935 and 1936. With the RGS only having readily available, it was inevitable that a 1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition was immediately launched with Shipton and Tilman at the helm as a precursor to a full attempt in 1936. The reconnaissance was a conspicuous success so Shipton was again appointed to the team for 1936, but not as leader due to Machiavellian RGS politics. In 1935 Tilman had not acclimatised well to altitude over so he was dropped from the 1936 team, with his agreement.Tilman had had similar difficulties on Nanda Devi but it had not seemed to be a serious problem.


British–American Himalayan Expedition, 1936


Background

Four American students from Harvard Mountaineering Club – Farnie Loomis, Charlie Houston, Art Emmons and Ad Carter – had decided on a lightweight Himalayan expedition, possibly to
Kanchenjunga Kangchenjunga 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 Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...
. They had never been to Himalaya; it was an unclimbed peak – the third-highest in the world – and if they succeeded it would be the first
eight-thousander The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise defin ...
to be climbed. At Loomis' suggestion, they decided to get support from experienced British climbers so they invited
Thomas Graham Brown Thomas Graham Brown FRS (usually known as T. Graham Brown; 27 March 1882 – 28 October 1965) was a Scottish mountaineer and physiologist, most famous for finding three new routes up the east face of Mont Blanc. Life and academic work Graham B ...
, a friend of Houston, who accepted the invitation to join in. He extended the invitation to Shipton, who was unavailable because of the 1936 Everest expedition, and to Tilman, who accepted.
Noel Odell Noel Ewart Odell FRSE FGS (25 December 1890 – 21 February 1987) was an English geologist and mountaineer. In 1924 he was an oxygen officer on the Everest expedition in which George Mallory and Andrew Irvine famously perished during their sum ...
and Peter Lloyd also agreed to be part of the British contingent. Loomis went to London to purchase equipment where he was advised that Nanda Devi might be a more achievable option. Tilman, however, personally favoured Kanchenjunga. The Americans changed the expedition's name from the "Harvard Kanchenjunga Expedition" to the "British–American Himalayan Expedition". Later, in 1999, Houston wrote, "It's hard to believe how naïve and presumptuous we were ... Four American college kids ... inviting the best British climbers on a major climb in the Himalayas". Houston was being self-effacing – although young, the Americans were accomplished mountaineers and formed a very cohesive team. Tilman went ahead to Calcutta where, after being refused permission for Kanchenjunga, he prepared for Nanda Devi instead. With many Himalayan expeditions under way the choice of Sherpas was limited – Tilman chose Pasang Kikuli and Pasang Phuta with whom he travelled to Ranikhet, and arranged for four more Sherpas to find their own way there. They joined up with Loomis at Ranikhet and wired ahead to Joshimath for food supplies and for fifteen porters from
Mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...
with the intention of taking some food supplies up the Rishi Ganga gorge in advance of the main party. By 16 June 1936 they had together hauled to beyond Pisgah and had then returned to
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
. A few days later the entire party came together and they set off for the Sanctuary. Trouble came when the porters would not go beyond Rhamani and the Sherpas all became ill (Kitar was to die three weeks later) and it was left to the sahibs to carry the supplies through the Sanctuary towards the mountain and up its foothills.


Ascent of Nanda Devi

A camp they called Moraine Camp was established at at the foot of the western slopes of Nanda Devi and juniper wood was taken here for fuel so that paraffin could be saved for the actual ascent. Pleased with progress, after supper Loomis produced a flask of apricot brandy he had kept hidden so everyone celebrated. Base camp was on shale at the top of scree slopes leading to the subsidiary ridge to the mountain's south ridge (discovered in 1934) and it was stocked with at least three weeks' food and fuel. Camp one was at but it had to be on four small separate platforms dug out from the deep snow that had been falling. Tilman was very impressed with how everyone was acclimatising. With considerable difficulty due to continuing snowfall, camp two was established on 14 August at about .and then camp three at about . The logistics of moving people and supplies between the various small camps had become too difficult to handle with communal decisions. Therefore, it was agreed to have a secret ballot to choose a named leader. Tilman was chosen and, after delays caused by a blizzard, he decided on a summit team of Houston and Odell who, with the others in support, climbed to where they set up a precarious camp. The next day Houston and Odell climbed strongly but they realised they would not reach the summit that day so they retreated to their bivouac camp where Houston ate meat which had become contaminated so that he was unable to continue on the climb. Odell called down the mountain "Charlie is ill" but the American Carter who heard the shout, not well-attuned to Odell's posh English accent, misheard the message as "Charlie is killed".Tilman wrote of "Odell's familiar yodel, like a donkey braying. A very sorrowful party set off on the six-hour journey to retrieve the corpse with Tilman the only person taking his full climbing kit. When they arrived they were greeted by a cheerful Odell calling "Hello, you blokes, have some tea". Houston insisted on going down to allow someone else to take his place at the bivouac and, because Tilman was the only person fully equipped, he joined Odell in moving the tent up to an upper bivouac at so that on 29 August 1936 in eight hours they were able to ascend to the summit in cold, fine weather. They had reached the top of the highest mountain ever climbed – . Tilman, who was a very reticent individual but who also had a wry sense of humour, wrote self-mockingly "I believe we so far forgot ourselves as to shake hands on it". Lloyd would have been able to take part in a second bid for the summit but everyone else either had frostbite or had already gone back down the mountain. They descended to be told that Kitar had died and the Sherpas had already built a cairn over his grave. Most of the party set off down the gorge but, as an additional challenge, Tilman, Houston and Pasang Kikuli traversed Longstaff's 1905 col and descended to Martoli and then south down the Milam valley eventually reaching Ranikhet. Tilman wrote, "I remember, in the small hours when the spark of life burns lowest, the feeling which predominated over all was one of remorse at the fall of a giant. It is the same sort of contrition that one feels at the shooting of an elephant".


Osmaston–Shipton 1936 expedition

Knowing of Shipton's 1934 explorations, Gordon Osmaston, director of the Survey of India's triangulation of Great Himalaya, planned to improve the survey of the Sanctuary using a phototheodolite. As he set off from Darjeeling he met Shipton returning from the Everest expedition. Shipton immediately agreed to join the Osmaston's party, hoping to join up with Tilman's Nanda Devi climbers. Ang Tharkay and
Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to ...
also joined as Sherpas. They met Lloyd who was descending the Rishi Ganga gorge ahead of the main party and so heard that the mountain had just been climbed. Writing to a friend Shipton said "What a glorious effort of Bill and Odell to have climbed Nanda Devi. I am overjoyed that it was Bill who did the touchdown – he so thoroughly deserves every inch of his success ..I confess I wished I had been with them instead of wasting time on that ridiculous Everest business". He also said "By Jove, it will shake the old fools at home", referring to the RGS Mount Everest Committee and the fact that the expedition had been conceived in the United States. Osmaston surveyed the Sanctuary's northern glacier while Shipton explored the
Changabang Changabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Division, Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it ...
glacier. While Osmaston turned to the southern glacier, Shipton descended the Rishi Ganga gorge, made a failed attempt on Dunagiri, crossed the Bagini Pass and descended the Bagini glacier to the north. Returning to Joshimath he took up a phototheodolite and went south to survey the Rinti glacier and the saddle between
Trisul Trisul is a group of three Himalayan mountain peaks of western Kumaun, Uttarakhand, with the highest (Trisul I) reaching 7120m. The three peaks resemble a trident - in Sanskrit, Trishula, trident, is the weapon of Shiva. The Trishul group f ...
and
Nanda Ghunti Nanda Ghunti is a {{convert, 6309, m, ft, adj=mid, -high mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ ...
.


Subsequent events

It was only in 1950 that a higher summit than Nanda Devi was reached when on the French Annapurna expedition
Maurice Herzog Maurice André Raymond Herzog (; 15 January 191913 December 2012) was a French mountaineer and administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, ...
and
Louis Lachenal Louis Lachenal (17 July 1921 – 25 November 1955), a French climber born in Annecy, Haute-Savoie, was one of the first two mountaineers to climb a summit of more than 8,000 meters. On 3 June 1950 on the 1950 French Annapurna expedition, along ...
climbed Annapurna I, , the first 8,000-metre peak to be climbed. Ang Tharkay was the expedition's sirdar. Nanda Devi's main peak was climbed for the second time in 1964. The
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86.5 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarters. Kedarnath is the most remote ...
watershed was crossed for the second time in 1998 by a group including Shipton's son John Shipton.


Notes


References


Citations


Works cited

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Further reading

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipton-Tilman Nanda Devi expeditions Nanda Devi, Shipton-Tilman expeditions Nanda Devi, Shipton-Tilman expeditions 1934 in India 1936 in India Nanda Devi, Shipton-Tilman expeditions