Top of the World

Fri 31 May 2013

Top of the World

Filed under: #satscene —— Sylvia @ 11:16

On the 25th of May in 1955, the summit of Kangchenjunga (8,586m) was reached by a British climbing expedition for the first time.

Kangchenjunga was known as the highest mountain in the world until 1852, when as a part of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India, they discovered that Peak XV, now known as Mount Everest, was tallest. After further calculations, it was determined that Kangchenjunga was the third-highest mountain in the world. Joe Brown and George Band were part of the 9-member expedition who made this first ascent via the Southwest face. They stopped just short of of the peak, having promised the Maharaja of Sikkim that the sacred top of the mountain would remain inviolate.

The Hindu : Magazine / Spotlight : The ascent of Kangchenjunga

“WHEN you go to high altitudes, you don’t sleep very well and you long for something special. Joe (Brown) said he would like a large lump of cheese with tomato ketchup on it and then a “Mars” bar for breakfast. After eating all this, (at 21,000 feet) he was not sick for only about half an hour,” laughs George Band, who along with Brown was the first to climb Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain on May 25, 1955.

The three climbers were reunited in Mumbai for the club’s celebration after a long time and Jackson, a school teacher and mountaineering instructor, comes up with his own memorable bit from that expedition. “We dug a hole in the ice and squeezed out tubes of condensed milk and jam and then scooped up the whole lot and ate it up. It was like ice cream,” he grins.

On the 25th of May in 2013, the following photographs reached new heights when they were posted as Saturday Scenes: