EDITORIAL

Correspondence from members indicates that the last Journal was fairly well received and that traditions and standards were being maintained. Other letters raise some questions which are obviously of growing concern now to climbers in the Himalayas and anxiety has been expressed on the still rising costs and the occasionally erratic behaviour of porters, particularly by expeditions climbing in more remote areas. Local Secretaries have also reported similar problems when arranging for porters for high-altitude climbing. Though close liaison is kept with all administrative and political authorities it appears that porters are increasingly forming their own association with rules and demands that vary with local conditions at the time. As porters are still of basic importance to> all Himalayan expeditions it is only fair to apprise readers of this Journal and members of future expeditions of these trends.

Like most recreation involving high degrees of physical fitness jnd much personal exertion, high climbing presents less problems to youth than to the middle-aged. Throughout the world and very noticeably in India it is the young men and women, including students, who are the most numerous visitors to heights of over 6000 metres in the Himalayas. This wholesome development lias been a particularly bright feature of 1966 and 1967 and much credit is due to the many mountain-minded teachers who have encouraged the young and led and guided them on their early ventures. It would be invidious to select a particular institution lor mention and we are fortunate in having over a dozen student centres producing greater numbers and a higher calibre of climbers each successive year. The accent is very much on youth and the Club Committee is keen that the mountaineering experiences of (lie rising generation should be reflected in the articles published in this Journal to a greater extent. Every encouragement has been given to young writers in this direction and the results promise to be rewarding.

Our Library will always remain one of the major assets of the Club and its new home, very kindly arranged for us by the Ministry of Education in the Gate House of Belvedere in Calcutta, is in an attractive and most appropriate setting. These premises, formerly Viceregal Lodge, now house the headquarters of the National Library and provide an ideal background for our books and papers.

In these days of extreme preoccupation, it is not easy even for the most enthusiastic individual to find adequate time to spare for the exacting spade-work involved in keeping the Club going and arranging the many preliminaries for the publication of our Journal. High tribute is due to Mr. Lawford for the prodigious amount of systematic work that he has continually put in for the Club. Mr. John Martyn, formerly of the Doon School, has been good enough to help Dr. Biswas, who has been overworked for some time, in selecting and editing much of the material appearing in this Journal and we count on him, and his many associates in Dehra Doon, for further help in future. Mr. Saha, our new Treasurer, has had a difficult task in dealing with arrears, aggravated by misplaced papers, and deserves great credit for the persistence with which he has tackled this task. We had hoped that Mr. H. V. R. Iengar would be able to devote more time in future to the supervision of the Library but he has now left Calcutta for other pastures. Several others have helped us considerably including Mr. Gurdial Singh, always a tower of strength, and Mr. Franks of the U.K. High Commission whom we are fortunate to have posted in Calcutta.

An event of far-reaching importance is the introduction this year of a category of Student Membership for which many colleges and universities throughout the world have been pressing us for some time. Certain technicalities involving changes in our Articles of Association rather delayed matters and we are all glad that this new class of membership has now been formally adopted.

⇑ Top