The Conquest of Everest, with a Chapter on the Final Assault

Descripción

2nd printing. Very good in good jacket. 1/2 inch chip and other minimal loss along top jacket edge, ink name and date on front endpaper, endpapers faintly foxed. 1954 Hard Cover. xx, 300 pp. Color photographic frontispiece and plates, black-and-white drawings and maps. "Brigadier Henry Cecil John Hunt, Baron Hunt KG, PC, CBE, DSO, (22 June 1910 - 8 November 1998) was a British army officer who is best known as the leader of the successful 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest.Hunt was employed on the staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) when the surprise invitation to lead the 1953 British Everest expedition. It had been expected that Eric Shipton would lead the expedition, as he had led the (unsuccessful) British attempt on Cho Oyu the previous year from which the majority of the climbers were drawn. However, the Joint Himalayan Committee of the Alpine Club and Royal Geographic Society which oversaw British attempts on Everest decided that Hunt's military leadership experience and undoubted climbing credentials would provide the best hope for success. It was felt to be critical that this expedition should be successful as the French had permission to mount an expedition in 1954 and the Swiss in 1955, meaning that the British would not have another opportunity until 1956 at the earliest. Many members of the expedition felt a strong loyalty to Shipton, and were unhappy with his replacement. Edmund Hillary was one of those most opposed to the change, but was soon won round by Hunt's personality and frank admission that the change had been badly handled. Base Camp was established on April 12, 1953. The next few days were taken up with establishing a route through the Khumbu Icefall, and once opened, teams of Sherpas moved tons of supplies up the mountain. A succession of advanced camps were created, slowly forging higher up the mountain. By May 21, Wilfrid Noyce and Annullu had reached the psychological milestone of the South Col. Hunt had selected two climbing pairs to attempt the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) set out on May 26 but were forced to turn back after becoming exhausted high on the mountain. On May 27, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with the second climbing pair. The summit was eventually reached at 11:30 am on 29 May 1953 by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal (Norgay had previously ascended to a record mark on Everest with a Swiss expedition of 1952). News of the expedition's success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, they discovered that Hillary was made a KBE, and Hunt a Knight Bachelor for their efforts. He received his knighthood on his return to London, in July 1953. Further honours were showered on Hunt and the expedition team: the Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society, the first time the medal was awarded on a collective basis, though individual bronze replicas were made for Hunt, Hillary and Norgay; the Founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society; the Lawrence medal of the Royal Central Asian Society; and honorary degrees from Aberdeen, Durham, and London universities.

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Detalles bibliográficos

Título

The Conquest of Everest, with a Chapter on the Final Assault

Editor

E.P. Dutton & Company

Fecha de publicación

1954

Idioma

Inglés

Encuadernación

Hard Cover

Edición

2nd Printing.

Estado

Very Good

Estado de la sobrecubierta

Good

Peso

23 onzas