DREAM OF CONQUEST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22834, 19 March 1936, Page 18

DREAM OF CONQUEST

EVEREST EXPEDITION \ Behind the latest Everest expedition lies the personality, the amazing persistence and courage of one man—Hugh Jtuttledge. For years he has had but one great aim in his mind, to crown with success what he calls " the last great adventure left on the world's surface " —the conquest of Everest.

At his home on the rugged, gale-swept islet of Gomctra, in the Hebrides, he spent much time working out the details of his plans prior to leaving England recently to join the advance parly. There, in his grey stone house, he gained the solitude, the complete detachment from the world which he desires.

In tin; course of long walks along (Inbarren rocky shores, or wandering among the unpeopled htys of the island, he ■weighed up the schemes by which he hopes to see Everest conquered. "If Everest is overcome, it will be due to Ruttledge more than to any other man," an intimate friend told a representative of the Sunday Chronicle, London. "It is I>' S vast experience of the mountain which will steer the party clear of the perils which face them near the summit. "It is his accumulated knowledge "V conditions, of Himalayan dimbing methods, of the best diets for these altitudes, which will be the biggest factor towards success. Hugh Ruttledge never ceases to scheme the conquest of the mountain. "Tn his study at home in Gometra he settles himself down in a welter of maps and photographs and pages of data gathered by earlier expeditions. Very often his wife will sit with him and discuss the details of the attempt, for she, too, is an expert mountaineer. She has climbed to heights approaching 20,000 ft in the Himalayan range." Mr Ruttledge's son and his two daughters arc all as keen on climbing as their father. David, who is 17 years old, is already looking forward to the day when he too will be able to join

an Everest expedition, providing the mountain is not conquered in the meantime. "The Ruttledge household lives and talks mountaineering," his friend added. "When you go into the house the first things you see are climbing ropes—which the family use for rock climbing on the island. " Mrs Ruttledge has acquired a stoic outlook regarding her husband's hazardous ambition. "Hut beneath it all, while he is away, it is possible to note now and again the anxiety which she must be feeling. Ruttledge has a great: love for wild things—no wild animals or birds may be shot on his little estate." When Mr Ruttledge comes to select the man to attempt the last perilous 1000 feet to the summit he will probably make his choice from one of three tried and courageous climbers. Mr E. E. Shiptcn, who has attained the highest point so far, Mr F. S. Smythe. and Mr Wyn Harris. He believes that in them he has the finest men available for the attack.