CLUB PROCEEDINGS, 1976

The forty-eighth Annual General Meeting was held at Seindia House, Ballard Estate, Bombay 400 038 on 1 September 1976, The following names were proposed and elected at the meeting :

 

Officers

 

Members of Committee

 

Additional Members of Balloting Committee

 

Other Appointments:

 

It is with deep regret that we record the death of the following members :

 

Club Badge

A triangular-shaped Club Badge was prepared with Club's logo of Chorten and HC letters engraved with silver plating on a dark background.

 

Sectional Activities

 

Bombay

February 17 : Mr. Rashmi Shah showed a colour film on his trek to Kyanjin Gomba in Langtang Himal region of Nepal, along with a commentary by Mr. Pradeep Shah.

August 10 : Mr. Subhash Desai gave a slide-illustrated talk on a trek across Gupta Khal and the Uja Tirche region of Garhwal.

Slides of the Indo-British Expedition to Changabang 1974 were also projected.

August 19 : The Club members were invited to a slide show by 'The Moutaineers' covering three expeditions by their members in the current year, i.e., Kalindi Peak Expedition, Abi Gamin and a trek to North Sikkim by our common members Harish Kapadia and Zerksis Boga. Our member Miss Thrity Birdy had climbed Abi Gamin.

 

Calcutta

February 2 : French films on mountaineering and winter sports were screened at the residence of Mr. A. C. Burman.

February 27 : Swami Sundaranandji gave a talk on Garhwal I Iimalaya illustrated by slides. This was followed by a film on Tons Valley Expedition by Mr. Susanta Chaterjee.

March 3 : A meeting was held to meet the President Mr. A. D. Moddie.

May 5 : The film "The Hardest Way Up" on Annapurna South Face Expedition by Chris Bonington, was screened. This was followed by a French film "Seize Medailles a Portillo".

October 10: A. B. Ghoshal showed his slides on Sikkim.

 

Delhi

Following meetings were held :

January: Ashok Bamzai spoke on Zanskar (Ladakh).

January 30 : Mr. L. Holmes, President, Native Fauna Conservation Society of Australia, spoke and showed slides on the wild life of Australia.

On the same evening Capt. A. Chandola showed slides on the Indian Saser Kangri Expedition.

March 5 : Mr. Chuck Bailley gave an illustrated talk on Lang- tang Himal and Gosainkund.

May 31 : Mr. John Jackson spoke on Greenland, North America and the Himalaya.

July 5 : Following programme were scheduled for the evening :

1. Adams Carter : Illustrated talk on mountain-climbing in Peru.
2. Meeting with members of the American Expedition to Nanda Devi 1976, post-monsoon (including Miss Nanda Devi Unsoeld, who subsequently died on the mountain).
3. Talk by Col. Jagjit Singh on the Indo-Japanese Nanda Devi Expedition 1976 (traverse).
4. Brief talk by members of the Indo-Japanese (Womens') expedition to Kamet and Adi Gamin 1976.

August 12 : Talk by Chris Bonington and screening of his film "Everest-The Hard Way" made during the British Everest SW. face expedition 1976. (The Club was addressed by members of the Expedition in New Delhi on their way home in October 1975.)

August 26 : Col. Balwant Sandhu gave an illustrated talk on the Parachute Regiment Expedition to Kinnaur, 1976.

September 21 :

1. Maj. Warwick Deacock: Illustrated talk on Lahul and Spiti.
2. Meeting with the American Nanda Devi Expedition on their return after climbing the mountain from the northwest. Dr. Willi Unsoeld spoke of the death of his daughter.

October 20: Sir Edmund Hillary spoke on 'Jet Boats' and his current activities in Nepal.

November 19 : Mr. Eric ShiptoR addressed the gathering on his mountaineering experiences.

December 6 : The film: 'The Hardest Way Up' was shown depicting the ascent of Annapurna South Face py Chris Bonington's expedition.

December 15 : The film "Conquest of Everest" was shown regarding the British ascent of 1953.

 

Australia-New Zealand

A sectional Newsletter was issued by W. M. M. Deacock, Hon. Local Secretary, containing Himalayan news items of interest to members of the Club, which shows rising strength to 22 Life Members and 20 Ordinary Members at the beginning of the year.

 

London

Forty-two members and guests attended the London Reunion held on 30th April, 1976. Mr. Peter Lloyd gave a talk on the Himalayan Frontier. The talk was followed by a dinner.

 

 

CLUB PROCEEDINGS, 1977

The Forty-ninth Annual General Meeting was held on 28 December 1977 at Scindia House, Ballard Estate, Bombay 400 038. The following names were proposed and elected at the meeting :

 

 

Members of Committee

 

Additional Members of Balloting Committee

 

Other Appointments:

 

It is with deep regret that we record the death of the following members :

 

Club Sponsorship to Himalayan Expeditions

 

After considerable thought (and inviting the views of senior members) the Committee has decided to lend Club Sponsorship to Himalayan expeditions organised by members of the Club, provided there were no financial or administrative responsibilities involved. Sponsorship would be in the nature of recognition to the expedition and provision of some assistance in dealing with authorities concerned.

 

Golden Jubilee Celebrations

Golden Jubilee Celebration Committees were set up at Bombay, New Delhi and Calcutta for the celebration of the Club's 50th Anniversary which fell on 17 February 1978.

The Bombay Committee consisted of

Chairman
Mr S. P. Godrej

 

 

 

At New Delhi the Golden Jubilee Committee comprised:

Chairman : Mr H. C. Sarin

 

At Calcutta the Golden Jubilee Committee consisted of :

Dr M. L. Biswas
Mr Nitai Ray
Mr J. Sircar

Detailed plans for the Jubilee Celebrations were drawn up by the end of the year.

 

SECTIONAL ACTIVITIES
Calcutta

10 March : Mr Manik Banerjee showed slides on his recent expedition to Uja Tirche.

Delhi

13 January : Through the courtesy of the British High Commission and French Embassy the following films were screened-

a) Ice Climb (1974),

b) Indo-French Nanda Devi Expedition (1975).

10 March : The film "The Man who Skied Down Everest" was screened by the courtesy of the Canadian High Commission. The film was made by F. R. Crawley of Canada from the film records of the Japanese Everest Ski Expedition 1970, which included the world champion skier Yushiro Miura. An excellent film witH a climax showing Miura's 6000-foot ski descent and the 1500-foot fall. The film is unforgettable.

 

London

The 1977 Reunion was held as usual at the Oriental Club in London on Friday 29! April, and was attended by about 55 members and guests. Bill Risoe was in the chair and Trevor Braham gave a talk illustrated by colour slides based on his book Himalayan Odyssey. It was a most interesting talk covering the many areas in which Trevor Braham had climbed and explored, and it brought back happy memories of days in the Himalaya to many members present. The talk was followed by a dinner.

Mr M. F. Baker, the Honorary Secretary of the Alpine Club, and Mrs Baker were guests of the Club. Among members present were Mr and Mrs D. F. O. Dangar, Mr & Mrs Plowden-Wardlaw, Brig, and Mrs Finch; Mr & Mrs G. Crosby, Mr & Mrs G. E. D. Waller, Mr G. H. Emerson, Mr & Mrs Chase, Ptof. Odell, Mr George Lowe, Mr & Mrs J. Latimer, Mr R. Pettigrew, Mr & Mrs C. J. Henty, Mr F. Gouldstone, Mr J. H. Fleming, Mr & Mrs A. B. Marshall, Mr & Mrs R. Lawford, Mr & Mrs H. R, Nunn and Mr R. D. Vaughan.

 

 

HIMALAYAN CLUB GOLDEN
JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS, 1978

 

Brief accounts of some of the Celebration Programmes

 

BOMBAY

Although the celebrations officially extended from 3-9 March, the programmes started as early as 4 February with a talk on 'Conservation and Mountain Environment' by Brigadier Gyan Singh. This was followed by an exhibition of Himalayana by Mrs Leela Hareshwar Dayal at her residence from 14-17 February. The collection—the work of a lifetime—comprised paintings, textiles, woodwork, metaiware, carpets, costumes and other handicrafts. On 15 February Warwick Deacock presented two excellent films People of Everest and Muktinath Expedition and rounded the proceedings with a thought-provoking talk blended with his usual subtle humour on 'Spirit of the Hills'.

The official celebration week (3-9 March) was held in the Jehangir Art Gallery where an exhibition of mountain photographs from the Club's archives and some of the historical documents, was opened by Dr Salim Ali, the world famous ornithologist.

The inaugural function was chaired by Mr. S. P. Godrej and the speakers comprised Mr Soli Mehta ('Founding of the Himalayan Club'), Mr Aspi Moddie ('Only one Himalaya to Lose') and Ashwin Mehta who displayed his slides of Himalayan flowers.

On 4 March a Symposium on Mountain Medicine was held where the panel comprised Dr Aroon Samsi, Dr Lala Telang, Dr S. S. Amladi, Dr Rumi Jehangir, Dr Ashit Sheth, Dr Atul Natwani and Dr Rodhan Shroff. In the evening Harish Kapadia described some of his climbs and treks, with slides.

The visual highlight of the week was the display on the 5th of a splendid collection of slides taken by Swami Sunderanand, mainly covering the Gangotri region.

'The Indo-Japanese Nanda Devi Traverse 1976' was well covered by Mr Dorjee Lhatoo (6th) and the 'Ecological problems of the Rishi Valley' were comprehensively documented by Mr Lavkumar Khachar (7th). The SW. Face Everest Summiter Mr Per Temba showed slides of the British Expedition which climbed Everest the hard way (8th).

Finally on 9 March the celebrations were rounded off by Commander Joginder Singh's slide-show of the 'Indian Saser Kangri Expedition of 1973' and a talk by Mr H. C. Sarin on the "Future of Indian Mountaineering'. The concluding dinner was hosted by the Chairman of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations Committee Mr. S. P. Godrej at the beautiful terrace garden atop Godrej Bhavan.

 

DELHI

The Delhi Section under the Chairmanship of Mr H. C. Sarin organised three whole days of activity which started appropriately on 17 February—exactly 50 years after the birth of the Club.

The first day witnessed the Inauguration by the Prime Minister of India followed by talks by Mr Aspi Moddie and Brigadier Gyan Singh on 'Himalayan Environment and the Future' with time given at the end of discussion. In the afternoon Mr John Martyn outlined 'A Brief History of the Himalayan Club' and this was followed by films introduced by Mr Mike Cheney on Sherpa Life and by Mr Warwick Deacock on People of Everest.

The second day started off by illustrated talks on 'The ascent of Changabang' by Mr Balwant Sandhu, 'The ascent and accident on Devtoli' by Mr Harish Kapadia, 'Early Himalayan exploration by surveyors of the Government of India' by Maj.-Gen. K. L. Khosla followed by Mr Lute Jerstad's new angle on 'Human behaviour changes through adventure'. The morning's proceedings were brought to a close by some personal reminiscences from Mr Jack Gibson and other guests.

The afternoon comprised an illustrated talk on the 'Ascent of Kangchenjunga' by Col. N. Kumar and Major Prem Chand followed by some films of skiing in Austria.

The last day was as full as the previous two. Mr Bahuguna described the 'Chipko Tree Protection Movement in Garhwal' and Mr Lute Jerstad projected his film on Rafting down the Rogue River. Talks followed on 'Himalayan wild-life' by Mr Ranjit Singh and on 'Himalayan birds' by the noted ornithologist Mr R. Fleming.

In the afternoon the audience was regaled with a wonderful film Tiger, Tiger, another on the Mountain Gorilla and a talk on the 'Architecture of Ladakh and Bhutan, by Mr J. A. Stein. The closing session concluded the festivities and the members and guests met at a final dinner.

 

CALCUTTA

A sub-committee consisting of Dr M. L. Biswas, Chairman, Mr N. Ray, Local Secretary and Mr J. Sircar, Convenor was set up to organise the programme for the Golden Jubilee Celebration. It was felt that the programme would be more popular if it was visually attractive and technically uncomplicated. The celebrations got off to., a good start on 17 February, the meeting at the American University Centre on that day being attended to capacity. Mr N. Ray formally inaugurated the Golden Jubilee Celebrations, Dr Biswas being unfortunately unable to attend due to ill-health. A short talk on the history of the Himalayan Club was delivered by Mr Sircar, followed by a slide-show by Mr S. Mundra about his trek to Milam. This was followed by two films, Americans on Everest (1963) and Hardest Way Up (Annapurna South Face 1970).

On the 18th, a capacity crowd at the Centre Cultural Francais were treated to two illustrated lectures, by Dr M. Bandopadhyay (Glaciology) and by Mr M. Banerjee (Tirsuli expedition 1967). This was followed by a beautiful film on the Indo-French Nanda Devi expedition of 1975.

The next day's programme at the Centre Cultural Francais consisted of the full-length feature film Death of a guide: the audience was spellbound by this superb film—it should be shown at every mountaineering organisation.

The penultimate day's programme at the Anthropological Survey auditorium began one hour late due to a power cut. The audience bore this irritating episode equably, and it is a measure of the amount of interest generated that when the projection of films Rupkund, Tons Valley and Kedarnath got under way at last, there were no empty seats.

The final day saw the projection of the films Caveman, Ladakh and Lahul delayed again by lack of electricity. We were fortunate enough to welcome Group-Captain A. K. Chowdhury, Principal, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, in our midst on this day, and he kindly consented to show certain slides of the Indian Everest expedition of 1962 and the Indo-British Changabang expedition, thus bringing our programme to a fitting close.

Joydeep Sircar
(Convenor)

 

LONDON

The Annual Reunion of the Club in the U.K. this year took the form of a Jubilee Dinner to celebrate the Club's Golden Jubilee. It was held at the Oriental Club in London on Friday 28 April.

Sixty members and guests attended and Professor N. E. Odell, a Founder-Member, was in the chair. The guest of honour was His Excellency Mr N. G. Goray, High Commissioner for India. Other guests of the Club were H. E. Mr J. N. Singha, Ambassador of Nepal, H. E. Lt.-Gen. Mohammad Akbar Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan, Mr. Peter Lloyd, President of the Alpine Club and Professor J. F. Coales, President of the Cambridge Aid to Tibetans Association accompanied by their wives.

The toast of the Himalayan Club was proposed by Mr Peter Lloyd, who spoke about the foundation of the Club in 1928 and its development during the thirties. He also referred to the close links which had been established between the Himalayan Club and the Alpine Club. Mr V. S. Risoe responded and spoke about the post-war activities and the future of the Club which he was confident would go from strength to strength, and could no doubt look forward to celebrating its centenary in 2028.

Mr Risoe also proposed the toast of the guests to which HE. Mr Goray replied in a delightfully informal and amusing speech, in which he referred to the many interests which India and Britain had in common.

Prof. Odell gave a brief account of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations in Delhi, which he attended both as a representative of the members in the U.K. and also in his own right as a distinguished Himalayan mountaineer.

The bar remained open after dinner and many members, some of whom had not seen each other for many years, stayed on to renew old friendships. By a happy coincidence Soli Mehta was in England at the time and was able to come and represent the members in India.

V. S. Risoe
(Hon. Local Sec.)

 

 

CORRECTIONS, VOL. XXXIV

Title Page — regrettably this oversight has been repeated for some past issues. The last few words of the aims of the Club should read 'and to extend knowledge Of the Himalaya and adjoining mountain ranges through science, art, literature and sport'— (not sports !).

Photo Plate 26 shows Dunagiri in the foreground, and not Changabang as stated in the caption. Kamet and Abi Gamin are in the background.

pp.58-59 — Panoramas 1 and 2 opposite pages 58 and 59 : Captions printed are erroneously interchanged. Please correct.

p. 118 — line 2, read 'no other' instead of 'to other'

p. 158 — line 8 from below, read 'Jose M.' instead of 'Jose and'

p. 172— item 8, read 'Nanga Parbat' instead of 'Naga Parbat'

p. 181 — item 9 (a and b), read 'Noshaq' instead of 'Noshab'

Printed in India by P. P. Bhagwat at Mouj Printing Bureau, Khatau Wadi, Bombay 400 004 and published by J. C. Nanavati for the Himalayan Club at P.O. Box 1905, Bombay 400 001.

 

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