Ebook: The Ascent of Nanda Devi

‘I believe we so far forgot ourselves as to shake hands on it.' – H. W. Tilman, on reaching the summit of Nanda Devi. In 1934, after fifty years of trying, mountaineers finally gained access to the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. Two years later an expedition led by H. W. Tilman reached the summit. It was the highest mountain to be climbed until 1950. The Ascent of Nanda Devi has been widely hailed as a classic. Keenly observed, well-informed and at times hilariously funny, it is as close to a ‘conventional' mountaineering account as Tilman could manage. Beginning with the history of the mountain (‘the.;Cover; Contents; H. W. 'Bill' Tilman; Introduction; Mythological and Geographical; Historical; Preliminaries; A Telegram to the Temple; The Rishi Gorge and Back Again; 'Scrapping and Bagging'; The Foothills; The Rishi Once More; To the Foot of the Gorge; The Gorge; The Sanctuary; The Base Camp; A First Footing; On the Mountain; Alarms and Excursions; The Top; A New Pass; The Bhotias of Martoli; Last Days