DISASTERS IN HIMALAYAS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27407, 21 July 1954, Page 6

DISASTERS IN HIMALAYAS

FOUR CLIMBERS DIED LAST SEASON

ONLY ONE EXPEDITION ACHIEVED AIM (From a Reuter Correspondent) NEW DELHI. This year has been disastrous for Himalayan expeditions—the premature monsoon has driven climbers off the mountains and trapped some of them in blizzards on icy peaks. Four persons lost their liyes, one has had his feet amputated, several others are suffering badly from frostbite, and one —Sir Edmund Hillary—broke his ribs and also was ill. Only one of the eight expeditions which have so far returned succeeded in reaching their main objectives—and that was at the cost of three lives*

The most tragic expedition was that of the Italians who conquered 23,399 ft Mount Api but lost two members— Joseph Barenghi and George Rosencrantz near the summit and a third, Roberto Bignami, in an accident crossing the river before the assault began. The Austrians lost one member, Karl Reiss, who died of pneumonia during an unsuccessful assault on 23,709 ft Mount Saipal. The Argentinians have had several members badly frostbitten, including their leader Francisco Ibanez who had to have his feet amputated. They got within 800 ft of the 26,795 ft summit of Dhallagiri in Nepal. The New Zealanders had to evacuate two of their party—James McFarlane and Sir Edmund Hillary—after an accident on one glacier when McFarlane fell down a crevasse. The superstition of villagers drove away the Japanese from their target of 26,668 ft Manaslu. The villagers attributed crop failures to the anger of the gods at the Japanese expedition of the previous year. The. Japanese also failed to reach the summit of Ganesh Himal since part of the route lay through Tibetan territory. Superstition also forced a party of British and Indian climbers to abandon an attempt on 20,622 ft Mount Baihalijot near the borders of Kashmir, when porters, fearing the wrath of the gods, refused to carry equipment high on the mountain, and demanded that climbers should walk barefoot on snow so as not to offepd the gods. The British expedition to 21,890 ft Mount Baudha in north-western Nepal failed after the assault had been delayed by the theft of clothes and equipment of the leader, Lieutenant-Commander Showell Styles. A British attempt on Kanchenjunga succeeded in finding a feasible route up the mountain, but met bad weather and could not succeed in getting to any great height. An American expedition to 27,790 ft Mount Makalu in Nepal was defeated by heavy snowfalls in an attempt on the peak. They reached 23,000 ft. Sherpa veterans are not surprised by the chain of failures and disasters among Himilayan mountaineers this year. “The Himilayas are taking revenge for the ascent of Everest last year,” said one old Sherpa. “The Himalayan peaks are the abode of the gods, and not intended to be trodden by man,” he added.