CLUB PROCEEDINGS

 

THE
HIMALAYAN JOURNAL
RECORDS OF THE HIMALAYAN CLUB

 

EDITED BY
H. W. TOBIN

 

‘To encourage and assist Himalayan travel and exploration, and to extend knowledge of the Himalaya and adjoin¬ing mountain ranges through science, art, literature, and sport'

 

VOLUME XIV
1947

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
LONDON : GEOFFREY CUMBERLEGE 1948

 

THE HIMALAYAN CLUB

 

President:
M. W. YEATTS, Esq.

Vice-Presidents:
A. R. LEYDEN, ESQ.
C. R. COOKE, ESQ.

Honorary Secretary:
A. PERCY LANCASTER, ESQ.

Honorary Local Secretaries:
KASHMIR: F. A. BETTERTON, ESQ.
CHAMBA: J. SLATTERY, ESQ.
DARJEELING: MRS. T. J. HARDINGHAM.
KULU: MAJOR H. M. BANON.
EASTERN SECTION: A. G. HARTLEY, ESQ.

HONORARY EDITOR:
LT.-COL. H. W. TOBIN.

Honorary Assistant Editor:
MRS. JOAN TOWNEND.

Honorary Treasurer:
J. S. H. SHATTOCK, ESQ.

Committee:

LT.-COL. J. B. ANGWIN. L. R. FAWCUS, ESQ. MISS B. N. JOLY. P. MASON, ESQ. BRIGADIER G. H. OSMASTON.

MAJOR GENERAL J. G. BRUCE. MAJOR J. R. FOY. G. B. GOURLAY, ESQ. SIR ALAN LLOYD. J. S. H. SIIATTOCK, ESQ.

 

Additional Members of the Balloting Committee:

J. G. ACHESON, ESQ. MAJOR GENERAL D. BEANLAND. T. A. SCHINZEL, ESQ. H. LALL, ESQ. C. I. TURCAN, ESQ.

C. CRAWFORD, ESQ. N. F. FROME, ESQ. S. S. KHERA, ESQ. MAJOR J. O. M. ROBERTS. K. L. H. WADLEY, ESQ.

 

Reprinted from the original edition published by Oxford University Press, Indian Branch, on behalf of the Himalayan Club by arrangement with the publishers.

 

With the swift political changes in India during the current year have come equally swift changes in our executive. It has not been possible to keep these sufficiently up to date for the purposes of this Journal, and all that can be said definitely at the time of going to press is that our Hon. Secretary, Mr. A. Percy Lancaster, is carrying on almost unaided.

Extracts from the Annual Report for 1946-7 are reproduced below, though some of them must inevitably be out of date:

Membership. Fifty-seven new members were elected during the year, and in May the total membership was 572.

Obituary. The death of the following members is mourned: W. E. Buchanan. Countess Roberts. E. H. L. Wigram. L. C. Shaw. M. Hermann Etter. Sir George Barnes.

Expeditions and Treks. Several accounts have been received, and some have been included in this volume. It was not possible to use them all, but thanks are due to those who so nobly responded to the appeal for 'copy'. Apart from those activities, search parties were organized for recovering the bodies of Captain Langton-Smith and his party who were lost on the Zemu glacier in October 1945. One party, led by Major Kirsopp-Reed, found the half-burned body of Mr. Roy, who had died of pneumonia on the way. The body was buried and certain belongings brought back. The body of a porter, Lhkba Nehru, was found lying under a boulder in the middle of a stream half a mile east of Green Lake. Various articles, including five rolls of films, were found in a cave near the junction of Tent Peak glacier with the Zemu. Although much information about the lost party was obtained, Captain Langton-Smith's body was not found. Another search party, led by Captain J. W. Thornley, Gurkha Rifles, during September- October 1946, made further search without success.

The Central Waterways Irrigation and Navigation Commission organized a reconnaissance expedition to carry out in early March a snow survey of certain glaciers in Sikkim and Nepal. Their report has not yet been received.

Of Andre Roch's Gangotri Expedition there is no detailed news. A very brief report stated that they had ascended Kedarnath and Satopanth, and had done well in the collection of plants and butterflies. There has been no definite information from Tilman's party, but a report has come in that an attempt upon Rakaposhi has failed.

It has been reported in the Swiss Press that a New Zealander, by name Earl Denman, made a single-handed attempt on Everest early in the year. The affair is still wrapped in mystery.

Himalayan Journal. The Journal again came to life under the editorship of C. W. F. Noyce, after a gap of several years. The high standard of production set by Kenneth Mason has been maintained.

Himalayan Dinner. The first post-war dinner was held at the Dorchester Hotel on the 20th November 1946, and was again organized by Lt.-Gol. Tobin. The Chair was ably occupied by Dr. Somervell, and over sixty covers were laid. Among those present were Mrs. Townend, Mr. Tilman, and Brig. Glennie. Major Clark, for many years Hon. Secretary, gave a brief review of the work of the Club during the war. The menu was illustrated by 'Bip Pares' (author of Himalayan Honeymoon) in her own inimitable style. After dinner Major Waller showed his Masherbrum film, which was greatly admired. It was a most successful evening.

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