EDITORIAL

The year 1950 was a record year for mountaineering in High Asia, and no less than four major expeditions have provided material for a volume comparable in robustness with some of its pre-war predecessors. We are deeply grateful to the Club Alpin Frangais and Federation Frangaise de la Montagne, the Schweizerische Stiftung fur Alpine Forschungen, the Norsk Tinde Klub, and the Scottish Mountaineering Club for having, through the leaders of the expeditions sponsored by them, furnished us with such splendid copy. Thanks are also due to our Honorary Secretary for his article on extreme north-east Sikkim, a region which, though reasonably easy of access from Calcutta, has been somewhat neglected in these pages. Also to our regular and valued contributor, Schomberg, to Professor Graham-Brown, F.R.S., Editor of the Alpine Journal, for his ready co-operation, to Leeson for his maps, and to our voluntary stenographers, without whose help the Journal would have been considerably delayed. And we thank, personally, Rene Dittert for his narrative and pictures of the third post-war Swiss Expedition which has added much to our knowledge of Kangchenjunga's western and northern outliers. The facts of the tragedy last December on Nanga Parbat have been briefly told, but the narrative of that expedition must, for political reasons, await publication in vol. xvii where we are also promised an article by Tilman on his recent doings in Nepal (including a visit to Sola Khombu and the nearest, so far, inspection of the southern approaches to Everest) while either Tissieres or Berrill will write of their success on Abi Gamin. Although some economy has been effected by sharing the cost of illustrations of joint interest with the Alpine and Scottish Mountaineering Journals, the present and of course the future Journals will be more expensive to produce than their predecessors.

In a former editorial a somewhat gloomy view was taken of prospects for coming years, but this was proved wrong in the event. It is, however, only right to say now that for political and other reasons there can be, apart from the French venture in Garhwal, but little doing in High Asia. But for 1952 certain plans are afoot which, if they materialize, should give us some good copy for vol. xvii.