Men Who Court Risks in India's Forbidding Mountains

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 27, 16 December 1938, Page 16

Men Who Court Risks in India's Forbidding Mountains

What is it leads a man to test his puny form against the great strength of Himalays Mountains, in spite of failure and death? "Blank on the Map," tale of adventure among high peaks, gives the answer.

" one AM always in two minds about books like Erie Shipton’s ‘‘Blank on the Map.’’ Not concerning the contents {about which there can be only one opinion), but about the method of presentation. As Hodder and Stoughtc. have produced it, the book *:. wo sketch maps, 2 comprehensive colour map and well over 50 fine photographic jliustrations; chapters are begun and ended with sketches by Bip Pares, and altogether it is a superlative affair. Now the result is a volume which will add lustre to any bookshelf, but I am half inclined to wish that the publishers had not bothered about the frills and furbelows, and had kept it to a price within the reach of the average bibliophile. Among High Peaks For there is fine stuff in "Blank on the Map," and those who have enjoyed, as I have, previous records

of adventure im~ng the high peaks of the Himalaya, will enjoy Shipton’s latest book. There is less mountaineering than exploration in "Blank on the Map." It tells of six months’ arduous travelling in the almost unknown fastnesses of the north-west Himalaya, in the forbidding Karakoram country. One or two explorers had previously penetrated into the hidden valleys of the Karakoram, including that famous traveller Sir Francis Younghusband, but little useful information had been brought back. ‘Shipton’s party brought back much that should prove of value for future geologists and surveyors. Few peaks were conquered. The primary aim of the expedition was to map, topographically and geologically, a vast area cf high alpine country. Chief point on-which the topographical survey was fixed was K2, second highest mountain in the world, a majestic, impregnable peak soaring to a height of 28,250 feet. And Shipton and his colleagues, H. W. Tilman, Michael Spender and J. B. Auden, surveyed 1800 square miles of this difficult country. Great Climber Shipton was well qualified to lead a party such as this. He has twice tackled Everest-in 1933 he reached 28,000 feet-and more recently he was responsible for a great feat of mountaineering on Nandar Devi. Above all, he has the true philosophy of mountaineering. "Let us approach this great heritage (the Himalaya country) in the right spirit, not impeited by ambition," he says. "Let us study its people and their culture. Let us explore its vast tangle of mountains and glaciers, penetrating the deep sunless gorges to find the hidden beauty which lies beyond, crossing unknown passes which lead us from one region of mystery to another. Let us climb peaks by all means, because their beauty aitracts us; not because others have failed; nor because their summits stand 28,000 feet above the sea; nor in patriotic fervour for the honour of the nation; nor for cheap publicity...

"There is something fine," Shipton observes later, "in the desire to test human endurance against the deadening power of altitude, the difficulties of steep ice and rock and the searching rigours of intense cold and wind: but the greatest value of the art of climbing, with its perfect co-ordinatior. of mind and muscle, is that it teaches man a way of living in the beauty and | solitude of high remote places." The Snowman Incidentally, Shipton has some more to say about that intriguing Himalayan phenomenon, the Abominable Snowman. , The party encountered the Snowman’s spoor, great footprints eight inches in diameter, almost circular, and a foot and more deep in the snow. Shipton dismisses the bear theory in a few lines, and comes to the conclusion that until science has satisfactorily solved the mystery of the Abominable Snowman, it is much more pleasant to leave him the fantastic, terrifying tradition he still is. I can recommend "Blank on the Map." It is a fascinating tale of the trials of a particularly difficult trip, told good-humouredly and very yeadably. The whotographs are

magnificent.

J.G.

M.

"Blank on the Map," by Eric Shipton. Hodder and Stoughton. Our copy from the publishers.