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Australian Mountaineering in the Great Ranges of Asia, 1922–1990

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Australian Mountaineering in the Great Ranges of Asia, 1922–1990 Himalayan Dreaming: Australian mountaineering in the great ranges of Asia, 1922–1990 Himalayan Dreaming: Australian mountaineering in the great ranges of Asia, 1922–1990 Will Steffen THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY E P R E S S E P R E S S Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/himalayan_citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Steffen, Will. Title: Himalayan Dreaming: Australian mountaineering in the great ranges of Asia, 1922–1990. ISBN: 9781921666162 (pbk.) 9781921666179 (pdf) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Mountaineering --Himalaya Mountains--History. Mountaineers--Australia. Everest, Mount (China and Nepal) Other Authors/Contributors: Will Steffen Dewey Number: 796.522095496 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Front cover image: John Finnigan and Theo Hooy at the base of the west face of Baruntse, 1988. Photo by Ken Baldwin Author Photo: Carrie Steffen Back cover: Greg Mortimer on the summit of Mt Everest, 1984. Photo by Tim Macartney-Snape Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2010 ANU E Press Contents Preface . .vii Terminology . ix Explanatory notes . xi Acknowledgments . xiii Part 1: Deep history—the early days 1 . Unlikely mountaineers . 1 2 . An outspoken Australian . 7 3 . Quiet years . 25 4 . The killing hills . 37 Part 2: On top—first major Aussie triumphs 5 . Pilgrimage to the silver god . 51 6 . Upwardly mobile young men . 67 7 . Long necks on Dunagiri . 85 Part 3: Everest I—success against all odds 8 . A powerful partnership . 109 9 . Everest apprentices . 125 10 . Tough trials . 139 11 . Patience and persistence . 155 12 . An unforgettable face . 171 Maps 187 Images 191 Part 4: Combat zone—soldiers in the mountains 13 . A colonel’s dream . 249 14 . Ordered to climb . 263 15 . By the book . 273 16 . An arranged marriage . 287 17 . Training on the big ones . 305 v Part 5: Team building—mail-order mountaineers 18 . Climbers wanted . 327 19 . Turkeys on ice . 337 20 . Innocence lost . 351 Part 6: Everest II—the bicentennial ascent 21 . A strained relationship . 365 22 . ABEE: the climb . 375 23 . ABEE: an analysis . 393 Part 7: Peak performance—tough climbs on big mountains 24 . Master of all trades . 415 25 . An even score . 437 26 . A quiet achiever . 451 Part 8: New summits—beyond the trade routes 27 . Small is beautiful . 463 28 . Where are the women? . 483 29 . A Himalayan grand slam . 503 Epilogue . 521 Bibliography . 529 Appendix: Record of Australian mountaineering in the Himalaya . 553 Preface The title ‘Himalayan Dreaming’ for this history of Australian mountaineering in the great ranges of Asia reflects a major theme of the book: the emergence of world-class Himalayan mountaineers from the world’s flattest, hottest continent, a land better known for its gentle, time-worn landscapes and its rich heritage of Aboriginal culture. The history begins with the British expedition to Mt Everest in 1922 and continues through to the magnificent Australian successes in 1990 on four of the world’s highest mountains. The book is not organised in a linear chronological fashion but rather is composed of strands woven together as a large tapestry. The strands are composed of groups of mountaineers who have climbed together for a number of years in the Himalaya, sometimes drawing in sub-strands for attempts on major peaks and at other times splintering to form offshoot groupings. The ebbing and flowing of these strands and their intertwining in the period 1975–90 forms the tightly woven tapestry of Australian Himalayan mountaineering described in this book. Two major focal points—one in time and the other in space—dominate the tapestry. The first is the year 1975, in which so much of Australian activity in the Himalaya had its start. The second is Mt Everest. Every major Australian Himalayan mountaineer has, at one time or another, been involved in an Everest attempt. Thus, most of the strands are linked at some point to this most magnetic of Himalayan summits. Although I have tried to be rigorous in my presentation of the facts, much of the material presented in the book is opinion—either my own or that of the climbers I have quoted. In addition, the ways in which I have presented the events and the relative emphases I have placed on them are generally my perceptions. For example, many of the climbs that I organised around an eventual major attempt on Mt Everest were not, in fact, at the time specific training climbs for Everest but were objectives in their own right. For these and other value judgments by organisation and emphasis, I take full responsibility. Many of the chapters contain excerpts from the climbers themselves—usually tales of a particularly humorous or dramatic nature. They are set out in boxes so as not to interrupt the flow of the story itself, but they do give an immediacy and first-person perspective not often found in a historical work. I have not attempted to recount every Australian ascent in the Himalaya (although most get at least a mention), but rather have attempted to tell a coherent and vii Himalayan Dreaming interesting story based on the major players and their ascents and attempts. For a more thorough listing of Australian climbing in the Himalaya, including all ascents and all attempts on major peaks during the period covered in this book, please refer to the table prepared by Zac Zaharias, which appears in the appendix of this book. The table was compiled primarily from five such tables that have appeared over the years in Wild magazine: nos 40 (Autumn 1991), 55 (Summer 1995), 80 (Autumn 2001), 92 (Autumn 2004) and 100 (Autumn 2006). Finally, the book presents a glimpse into the lives—the successes, failures, tragedies, motivations, fears, conflicts, humour and compassion—of a most remarkable group of Australians as they push themselves to the ultimate limits of survival in the most spectacular and demanding mountain arena of all: the high Himalaya. viii Terminology Three important matters of terminology deserve comment. The first is the word ‘Himalaya’, which quite frequently appears, incorrectly, as ‘Himalayas’ in English-language publications. ‘Himalayas’ is a double plural, as explained clearly by Professor Ram Rahul, quoted in the editorial of Volume 32 of the Himalayan Journal: I have used the collective name Himalaya (Him, snow, plus alaya, home) in place of the commonly used Himalayas, which is a double plural and a grammatical monstrosity. Indeed, to use the word Himalayas is as absurd as referring to Englishmen as Englishes or using the word alphabets for two or more letters and characters of an alphabet. Moreover, Himalayas jars on ears accustomed to the euphony of Sanskrit words and phrases. It is curious that it is only in English that the name suffers a corruption. In all other languages of the world, including other Western languages like French and Russian, it is what we in India have called it from time immemorial. The second matter concerns the name for the highest mountain in the world. It is now preferable around the world to use the local, indigenous names for mountains rather than those given later by Western explorers. For example, the highest peak in North America is now called Denali (Mt McKinley). Most agree that Chomolungma is probably the best local name for Mt Everest, although Sagamartha is often used on the Nepalese side of the mountain. Climbers, however, almost exclusively use Everest to refer to it, partly because of tradition and partly because it is simply shorter and easier to say than either of the local names. In this book, I have mostly stuck with the common usage of the mountaineers themselves—that is, with Mt Everest. The final point concerns the geographical definition of the term ‘Himalaya’. Strictly speaking, the Himalaya are the narrow range that curves in a great arc from Bhutan in the east to near the India–Pakistan border in the west. I have, however, used the term as a short version of ‘Greater Himalaya’, which includes—in addition to the Himalaya itself—the Pir Panjal, the Karakoram, the Pamir and the other great ranges of Asia. ix Explanatory notes In some chapters, I have included phrases and passages designed to explain mountaineering terms to the uninitiated. I have tried to keep such passages to a minimum, but feel that they are necessary at a few points. I have used mixed units for height. Although metric units are now the only official units of height and distance used in the Himalaya, many Western mountaineers, particularly those from English-speaking countries, still use imperial units at some times. In fact, mountaineers quite happily swap from one set of units to the other, referring to a camp at 6800 metres in one breath and discussing tactics for a 5000-foot face in the next. I have retained this mixed usage, especially in the earlier climbs when imperial units tended to be used more frequently than now. In most cases when I have used imperial units, I have given the metric equivalent in parentheses. The conversion factor is roughly 3.3, so that to convert in one’s head from metric to imperial, multiply by three and add another 10 per cent. For example, a 7000-metre mountain is 3 x 7000 = 21 000 plus another 10 per cent of that, or about 23 000 feet.
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