Traversing the Himalayas

Press, 3 December 1982, Page 7 (Supplement)

Traversing the Himalayas

“We are mountaineers. The. mountains are our vehicle to knowledge and fulfilment, so what could be more natural for a mountaineer than to accept an ultimate challenge — the traverse of the greatest mountain range on earth?” These words come from Graeme Dingle and Peter Hillary, the two New Zealanders who last year led a team trekking across the rooftop of the world. “First Across the Roof of the World” is the story of that incredible journey. In the days of jet travel and packaged tours, Peter Hillary and Graeme Dingle chose to travel on foot and carrying their supplies, through the toughest terrain in the world — the Himalayas. They climbed and tramped for 5000 km. During their 10month trek, they passed through Sikkim, Nepal, Garwhal, Himachal, Pradesh, Kashmir, Ladakh, Tibet, India and Pakistan. They moved amongst three major ethnic groups, and heard more than 50 dialects. This is an excerpt from the book:

“Crossing high glaciated passes we would descend into the valleys below, an alpine environment of azaleas and rhododendrons, scattered with little villages. At these conglomerations of stone huts we halted to ask the way, purchase some of the very basic, food the villagers survive upon, or even spend the night. “I can remember so many nights where we huddled together with a group of high country villagers around a juniper fire, sitting crosslegged on the dusty floor, the firelight flickering on their hardy features. We were not just outside observers, we were participants in a way of life that hasn't changed for centuries. When we had embarked on the journey, we had anticipated an enormous mountaineering challenge, which it certainly' was, but the cultural experience, a return to the grass roots of man’s societies, and the hardships imposed by a small group of people living so closely together, easily eclipsed it. Graeme Dingle, Chewang Tashi and I were walking and climbing together all day, cooking and eating together, and sleeping beneath the same dripping bivouac rock or shepherd’s

hut, or cramped tent, or beneath the same stars — lor 265 days. "Feeling like nomadic cavemen, we trudged the narrow paths and untracked mountainsides through a spectral variety of cultures, races and lifestyles, passing by the world’s most magnificent and gigantic mountains —as big as they are beautiful. I cannot imagine anywhere so multi-faceted in its peoples and geography. The collision of the Indian geological plate with that of the greater Asian plate, has brought to the world not merely the Himalayas, the grandfather of mountain ranges, but a profusion of cultures, experiences and. to us, an enormous adventure." Peter Hillary has recently returned from an attempt to climb Mt Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world. Then he plans a series of major expeditions to the Himalayas, culminating in an attempt on Everest in late 1984. Graeme Dingle hopes to climb Everest with an expedition from China in 1985.

“First Across the Roof of the World” contains more than 100 colour photographs and costs $24.95.