NOTES AND EXPEDITIONS

1. PROFESSOR GHIGLIONE'S EXPEDITION TO API
2. H. W. TUBMAN'S EXPEDITION TO THE ANDES
3. PROFESSOR MASON'S ' ABODE OF SNOW'.

 

 

In April 1954, Professor P. Ghiglione accompanied by Ing. G. Barenghi, Dr. G. Rosenkrantz and Dr. R. Bignami left Italy for the Himalayas with the object of exploring the Api-Nampa-Saipal chain from the south and, if possible, to attempt the ascent of Api. In Delhi they were joined by Capt. Puri of the Indian Army, who had been appointed liaison officer to the party, and three Sherpas from Darjeeling led by Gyalzen H.C. No. 145. On the 25th April the party left Delhi by rail for Tanakpur and thence by bus to Pithoragarh. In this pretty village nearly 6,000 feet high they collected some 32 coolies and started on the 29th April for Joulaghat, a little frontier village of West Nepal on the Kali River.

Ten days of hard marches through jungle and forest brought the party to the foot of Api where they established their first base camp at about 13,200 feet on a big plateau to the south of the mountain.

For some days they reconnoitred in the neighbouring valleys looking for a possible route to the top of Api but without success. From a camp at 16,570 feet up one of these valleys to the southwest of the mountain they climbed to a steep saddle at about 18,400 feet, from which they obtained a glimpse of the north side of Api, but mist prevented any detailed examination. The next day, 17th May, they climbed with difficulty to a point about 19,200 feet, from which they saw enough of the upper north face of Api to persuade themselves that it was climbable.

The party returned to their base camp, and after recruiting new coolies from the lower villages, set off on the long and difficult trip to Api's northern approaches. On the 24th May when crossing the Chamlia River, Dr. Bignami lost his balance on the flimsy and insecure bridge and fell into the river. He was swept away by the strong current, and though the other members of the party searched for two days they found nothing. This tragic accident was a severe set-back for the expedition, but they pushed on and eventually reached the banks of the Kali River.

Here the party split; Rosenkrantz, Capt. Puri with one Sherpa and some coolies crossed the Kali and went on to Garbyang, while Ghiglione and the rest of the party continued for five days along difficult tracks to Budhi and the Apikola, which is a valley to the north-west of Api. The second base camp was pitched on the 8th Tune on a flat grassy patch of gronnd at about 13,200 feet on the same spot as Murray and Tyson had put then- camp m 1953.

The next day Ghiglione, accompanied by Barenghi and Gyalzen, reconnoitred the approaches to the summit by the West Api glacier. After a whole day's hard work they came to the conclusion that the best route would be up steep grassy slopes to some rock buttresses, and then on to the first upper glacier. From there the route proceeded up another glacier which brought it to the foot of the final snow wall of Api.*

Ghiglione and his two companions returned to base camp in the evening when they met Rosenkrantz coming up from Garbyang. It rained that night but the next morning, the 10th June,' the weather cleared, and Api, when examined through field glasses, looked very inviting. Rosenkrantz wished to climb the mountain at once as he wished to be back in Italy by the end of June. Ghiglione strongly recommended caution and pointed out that Himalayan peaks cannot be climbed in a hurry as Rosenkrantz wished to do. However, the decision to attempt the summit was made, and everything was made ready to start the assault the next morning.

The next day Camp 1 was established at the bottom of the western glacier. Camp 2 at 17,700 feet was placed on the upper part of a high moraine and on the night of 13th June the whole party slept there. On the 14th June a steep ice couloir was traversed and the route through a maze of crevasses was flagged to a point where Camp 3 at 20,170 feet was established.

Ghiglione had planned to establish Camp 4 at about 21,650 feet, this camp to be stocked with sleeping bags and food so that, weather permitting, two parties could make a try for the summit on 16th June. But Rosenkrantz was in a great hurry and wanted to make the ascent from Camp 3 and return to Camp 2 all in one day, and Ghiglione's attempts to dissuade him were in vain. Rosenkrantz with Barenghi planned to start at midnight but the weather prevented this and it was not until 6 in the morning that they got away. Ghiglione and Gyalzen followed about half an hour later, and after a little while Ghiglione told the Sherpa to push on ahead and join the other two.

Ghiglione continued alone until about eleven o'clock by which time he had reached the foot of the last ice wall; the weather had deteriorated considerably during the morning. Remembering that the two Sherpas who had been left behind had been instructed by Rosenkrantz to take down Camp 3 that afternoon, Ghiglione decided to return. In the worsening weather and mist he managed with some difficulty to retrace his steps to Camp 3 where at about 2 p.m. he was joined by the two Sherpas. They climbed up the snow ridge above the camp and thought that they glimpsed three dots high up but still far from the top. After a rest in camp Ghiglione sent the two Sherpas out to meet the three climbers. The weather continued to deteriorate and late in the evening the two Sherpas returned to camp without any news of the climbers. That night it snowed heavily and next day Ghiglione and the Sherpas searched as far as they were able in the thick mist. The following day there was a slight improvement in the weather and they searched again but without any success. As their food at Camp 3 was nearly all gone, Ghiglione decided that the only thing to do was to retreat to Camp 1 which they reached the same evening. Early the next morning Gyalzen stumbled into Camp 1 almost unrecognizable, completely exhausted and partially snow-blind.

* This great ice wall, much crevassed, gives access to the twin peaks of Api; the true summit, 23,399 ft., is that to the east. H.J., ix, p. 38etseq.,. A.J., 289, Nov. 1954, P- 4^{21 et seq.}

 

The following account of what had happened is based on Gyalzen's statement which he made to Ghiglione.

After Gyalzen had left Ghiglione he quickly overtook Rosenkrantz and Barenghi, and all three roped up for the climb to the summit. Some distance below the summit (which summit is not clear from the account) Rosenkrantz began to suffer badly from the effects of altitude. On Barenghi's instructions Rosenkrantz was unroped and asked to wait where he was until the other two returned after reaching the summit. Rosenkrantz tried to crawl after them, and Barenghi told Gyalzen to go back and look after him while he would go on alone. Gyalzen, being very worried by Rosenkrantz's condition, called out to Barenghi to return. Barenghi, however, did not seem to hear, and soon disappeared in the mist. That was the last that Gyalzen saw of Barenghi. What happened afterwards may be told in Gyalzen's own words.<.

'I proceeded towards Camp 3 with the Doctor. He was violently sick and his brain was affected. He kept on leading towards the most dangerous crevasses. However, I pulled him along. There was fog and our movements were slow. Night approached while we were still at about 23,000 feet. We spent the night in a small crevasse and I kept myself and the Doctor warm by massaging our limbs. We proceeded again the next day and when the sun came out I became snow-blind. We came down to about 21,650 feet and rested for the night. It was very cold and the Doctor was mentally quite deranged. I kept him warm by rubbing his body, but approximately at 3 a.m. the Doctor passed away. I laid him down and covered his head with the hood of his coat. When the day broke I started to come down with the Doctor's rucksack in addition to my own; this was, however, lost during my fall in the crevasse.’

Somehow or other Gyalzen, although exhausted and snow-blind, managed to make his way down to Camp 1 where he rejoined Chiglione, and the fact that he ever reached there speaks highly of this Sherpa's courage, stamina and devotion to duty.

What had happened to Barenghi and how high did he get? To quote from Marcel Kurz in the 'Mountain World' for 1955, 'In conclusion this must be said: how Barenghi ended no man knows. Was he torn off the ridge by a gust of wind ? That he climbed the true summit of Api is possible but not certain. Whether he also reached the west summit of Api is quite unknown. The end of the struggle for Api remains a tragic secret that will perhaps never be cleared up.’

V. S. R./H. W. T.

It will be realized that the tragic story of the Italian attempt on Api cannot be passed over without comment. No version in English of the leader's book has yet appeared, but the title signifying 'Tragedy and Heroism' is surely fitting. For three of the party lost their lives, while the indomitable gallantry of the Sherpa Sirdar, Gyalzen, is itself an epic. As with Mallory and Irvine on Everest and with Duplat and Vigne on Nanda Devi it will never be known what befell them after they vanished from human sight; so with Barenghi, who may have reached the summit ridge or even the central summit. There is no witness. Barenghi's fatal solo attempt brings to mind the incredible ' tour de force' of Hermann Buhl on Nanga Parbat. His survival was little short of miraculous. Reminiscent too of Nanga Parbat is the unswerving devotion of Gyalzen to the dying Rosencranz, like that of the faithful Gaylay who would not leave his leader, Willi Merkl, and died with him. It seems evident that the two younger Italians, who had not the indispensable Himalayan knowledge of their veteran leader, rejected his guidance and pressed on despite unfavourable conditions. And so, like the two gallant young French climbers, they paid the penalty. The high Himalaya has her armoury of defensive weapons.

H. W. T.

 

 

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Bill. Tilman, one of our oldest Life members, is now in the middle of his endeavour to explore the almost invisible ice cap—some 10,000 feet in altitude, near the southernmost tip of the Andes. He had started out with the same objective in the summer of 1954, from Majorca. But through sundry vicissitudes he was forced to return to Vigo to which port a Symington yachtsman flew out to help him back. The following winter was spent in reconditioning his ex-Bristol-cutter, 'Mischief', and reorganizing. With two other gunners, an auspiciously named hand, 'Van Tromp', and another experienced ocean cruiser hand, he set sail again from Symington, early in July, for Las Palmas, Monte Video and the Magellan. He was given a send-off from the Royal Symington Yacht Club with its starting gun and arrived at Punta Arenas (on the west coast of Chili), about mid-November. At the time of writing he is out of ken, but his latest word is that he hopes to be in Valparaiso about mid-March, and make his way home through the Panama Canal.

H. W. T.

 

 

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This splendid compendium, compiled by one who was, for its first twelve volumes, Honorary Editor of our Journal, needs no recommendation to our members, nor indeed to the many persons interested in mountains generally, especially those of High Asia. No one could be as well qualified as Colonel Mason to undertake this long neglected job for he has spent most of his service in the Survey of India and has himself travelled far afield. He has extracted information not readily obtainable, both from the Survey's records and from books long out of print. The Himalayan Journal still lacks a general index, though the Alpine Journal has several; so in this volume we are given a conspectus of all of them, well adapted to all practical purposes.

One of the Appendices is a 'short bibliography'. There is 110 mention in this of a friuch earlier work bearing the same title, written by the late Andrew Wilson, 1831-1881. This was reviewed at length, apparently by D. W. Freshfield in A. J.,Volume VIII. Freshfield was Editor at the time and the review describes Wilson as the 'Pioneer of climbing in High Asia'. The body of the book is divided as follows:—The Mountains and their Approaches. Early History to 1885.—This deals not only with exploration but also with the intrepid 'Pundits' of the Survey of India, whose fascinating story is retold here. Successive periods, 1886-1918, 1918-1928, 1929-193 9, 1939-1953, an Epilogue and ' 1954 and the Future'. Not only is the text most readable with information readily found, but the book is light enough to handle with comfort, differing in this respect from many other Himalayan books.

No book of this kind can be exempt from criticism and there are certain passages which call for remark.

To wit, the revival of the age-old controversy over W. W. Graham's 'ascent' (the inverted commas are Professor Mason's) of Kabru in 1883. The identity of Graham's Kabru with the Kabru so gallantly assaulted by Rubenson and Aas in 1907 and scaled by C. R. Cooke in November 1935, is again questioned. Prior to Cooke's success, two of our greatest mountaineers* had upheld Graham. About the time of his claim doubt was also cast on his ability to climb ' fantastically fast at such a height'. It should be noted that Iyongstaff's ascent of Trisul, with the Brocheres, was equally speedy, Of course maps were far from trustworthy at that time, but an ice-fall can change a lot in fifty years. However, Graham may have made a mistake, and, as the Professor writes, 'in the Himalaya he would be neither the first nor the last to do so’.

The Professor has rendered graceful tribute to the Founders of the Mountain Club, of which Bruce was the first President, and has praised the spirit of co-operation and good-will through which the merging with the Himalayan Club was achieved. But we have been asked by parents of the Mountain Club to elucidate the statement made that the two were born independently and almost simultaneously. Talks had been going on for years with no tangible result until the Mountain Club was inaugurated. Its birth on 23rd September, 1927, was the outcome of a talk on the Alukthang Glacier in 1925. The Himalayan Club was conceived on 'the path behind Jakko' at a talk thereon in October 1927 (vide H. J., Vol. I, page 1) and the Club came into being on 17th February, 1928. The two were formally amalgamated in 1929 and with a strong 'Eastern Section' in Calcutta. The claim to approximate twinship seems hardly valid, though in sooth the shorter period of gestation of the younger Club did not, by any means, affect its healthy growth. It is a pity that the old' diehards' of Bengal were not in closer touch with those of like spirit in Simla, the U.P. and the Punjab. It is true that the actual foundation dates of some of the older climbing clubs have been in question, but we feel that in connection with a standard work of reference, such as that of Professor Mason, the correct sequence of events should be known.

In a later chapter Mason has written briefly on ' Weather in the Himalaya', giving an analysis of normal conditions in different regions. But the Assam Himalaya has been somewhat neglected, partly because it has been so little visited, partly because so much of the region is in the early stages of administration and because means of communications are still primitive. Plant hunters have been the chief source of our knowledge. But the joint author of this article Allsup made observation during his fifteen years of continuous touring and confirms Mason's statement that the further east one goes the less the effect of the monsoon winds. C. R. Cooke, who was telegraph engineer from 1930 onward, promoted the 'Autumn Theory' put forward to the Himalayan Committee in 1939. That is 'go for the reasonably high climbs in autumn and have cool dry marches, with little or no rain in camps, but anticipate sleet or snow higher up'. Assam has not the advantage possessed by Sikkim or a capital situated like Gangtok, well within her hill-system. But with good glasses observers have been able to identify cornices and berg- schrunds. Neither have snow plumes from high summits been perceived, nor has snow being blown from high ridges been seen. So possibly in future years small parties will be able to penetrate the little known parts. With reference to Appendix B, 'On Determination of Himalayan Heights,' it should be noted that controversy and argument between certain of modern 'Pundits' has not ceased; especially over the revised height of Mount Everest.

And again, though mention has been made in several places to the Hunzas, it would be useful and relevant to add an observation to the effect that luns fine clagsmen are rapidly becoming the Naiahvam equivalent of the Himalayan Sherpas. Also that, though not yet ruled out officially, the employment of the latter in Pakistan would not, to put it mildly, be popular.

One slip only has been spotted. Gosainthan is referred to as a shrine of pilgrimage for Hindus, like Muktinath and Pashpati. Surety the sacred lake, Gosainkund, is intended, for Gosainthan is within forbidden Tibet, towering up to 26,291 feet.

The sketch maps, as would only be expected, are first class and a remarkably fine selection of photographs has been given. Of these one of the most impressive is that of 'The Monsoon about to burst', taken from Mussoorie.

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