THE THIRD HIGHEST
KANGCHENJUNGA THE UNTRODDEN PEAK, by Charles Evans; Hodder and Stoughton, English price 25/-. HE ingredients of success in the Himalayas are now well known. Careful planning on information received from reconnaissance parties, good men picked for their experience and ability to work in a team, splendid equipment, loyal Sherpas, inspired leadership, unselfishness, skill and luck with the weather; these are essential. Not many years ago it was thought that Kangchenjunga was more difficult and dangerous than Everest. As the third highest mountain in the world, Kangchenjunga (28,146 feet) had
attracted brave and resolute parties, notably those led by Paul Bauer between the wars. Bavarian exploits on the north-east ridge gave the mountain a stature it can never lose. More recently young British climbers gave hopes of a route from the Yalung valley to the south-west of Kangchenjunga. Charles Evans, well known for his Everest and other Himalayan work, was an ideal leader for the 1955 expedition. Nine men made up the party, supported by a magnificent team of Sherpas. The fortunes of the expedition included the usual arrival in rough weather at base camp, the probing of a route beyond the highest point reached by earlier parties on the Yalung side and a retreat to fossick for a better variation. Then, with the discovery of a safe and feasible but very exposed climb, came all the donkey work of forcing a way up broken and perilous slopes and icefalls, establishing airy camps, stocking them with supplies and men, and final success from Camp Six when two parties climbed to within a few feet of the summit-left untrodden because of the religious sensibilities of the inhabitants of Sikkim, who regarded Kangchenjunga as a god and protector called the Five Treasuries of the Great Snow. That Norman Hardie, ceputy-leader of the expedition, took his full part in handling porters, acrobatic reconnaissance work, and was in the second successful summit party is a matter of great pride to New Zealand mountaineers who have followed his career keenly from’ the days when he climbed the ranges of the Waimakariri, Rakaia and Landsborough. Charles Evans has: written his book vivicly, with great modesty, and delightful precision. He has included striking colour photographs, and the best possible diagrams correlating with aerial views, good maps and informative
appendices.
John
Pascoe
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 927, 17 May 1957, Page 12
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386THE THIRD HIGHEST New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 927, 17 May 1957, Page 12
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