KANCHENJUNGA TRIUMPH

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27683, 13 June 1955, Page 13

KANCHENJUNGA TRIUMPH

Success Of British

Expedition

LONDON, June I.—From a brief telegram, “The Times” learns that an assault party of the expedition has reached a point five feet lower than the summit of the mountain, now accepted as the third highest in the world. Its height is 28,146 feet. A dispatch from the leader (Dr. Charles Evans) is expected shortly, giving the names of the members of the assault party and the details of the last climb. The dispatch below describes the progress of the expedition as far as the fourth of its intended six camps on the mountain. The expedition had agreed to respect the religious feelings of the Sikkhimese, who regard the mountain as sacred, and had undertaken to observe two conditions: “not to go bethe point on the mountain at which we were assured of a route to the top, and not, however high our reconnaissance might take us, to desecrate the immediate neighbourhood of the summit.” In a message to “The Times,” Brigadier Sir John Hunt, chairman of the Joint Kanchenjunga Committee of the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society (joint sponsors of the expedition), who was leader of the British Mount Everest Expedition, 1953, said: “There is no doubt that those who

first climb Kanchenjunga will achieve the greatest feat in mountaineering, for it is a mountain which combines in its defences not only the severe handicaps of wind, weather, and very high altitude, but technical climbing problems and objective dangers of an order even higher than hose we encountered on Everest.” The primary task of this year’s expedition was to make a reconnaissance in preparation for an assault on the summit, though an assault was not excluded if conditions proved favourable. Now the assault has been made and it has succeeded. Besides Charles Evans, the members of the expedition are: George Band, who, like Charles Evans, was a member of the successful British Mount Everest Expedition, 1953; Norman Hardie, a New Zealander; John Jackson; Tom Mackinnon; Tony Streather; Joe Brown; Neil Mather; and Dr. John Clegg. The chief Sherpa is Dawa Tensing, who also accompanied the Mount Everest Expedition. In his preliminary article, Charles Evans said that much of the equipment of the expedition had been modified in the light of the experience of the Everest expedition and that the greatest difference was in the food rations. It may be assumed that the changes have proved profitable.—Yorld copyright reserved.