Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance 1935

Description

Published by the Author, 2005, 1st Edition, D/w (and in protective sleeve), Fine.   A significant addition to the Everest literature, this book was described as ‘The final chapter of the Everest story’.  Seventy years on, it tells the story of the fifth Everest expedition in 1935, led by Eric Shipton and of which, prior to the publication of this volume, there had been no published account.  Using recently discovered diaries and over 120 photographs, including some from the “unlocked archives” of the Royal Geographical Society, Tony Astill provides a detailed and comprehensive account of the expedition.  Though there was disappointing progress on Everest itself, Astill describes the expedition as a “delightful mountaineering adventure” – it was Tenzing’s first expedition, it discovered the body of Maurice Wilson, an avalanche on the North Col almost brought disaster, and two dozen first ascents of peaks over 20,000 feet were made in ‘an orgy of mountaineering’.