Eric (Earle) Shipton

Mountaineer, born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Educated in England, he spent many years climbing in E and C Africa, and obtained much of his knowledge of the East during his terms as consul-general in Kashgar (1940–2, 1946–8) and Kunming (1949–51). Between 1933 and 1951 he either led or was a member of five expeditions to Mt Everest, and helped pave the way for the successful Hunt–Hillary expedition of 1953.

Eric Shipton (1907 - 1977) was a Himalayan mountaineering legend.

Born in Ceylon and educated in England, Shipton began climbing in the Alps. With Frank Smythe, Shipton was the among the first climbers to stand on the summit of Kamet, 7816 metres, in 1931, the highest peak climbed at that time. Shipton was involved with most of the Mount Everest expeditions during the 1930s and later, including the pioneering 1951 expedition which chalked out the now famous route over the Khumbu Glacier. Shipton and Tilman also discovered the access route to the Nanda Devi sanctuary through the Rishi Ganga gorge in 1934.

Later in life, he turned to writing and exploration. He was HM Consul at Kashgar in Central Asia in the late 1940s, and during a visit from Bill Tilman they tried to climb Mustagh Ata, 7546 metres, reaching the broad summit dome.

The first western exploration of the Rolwaling Himal was made by Shipton in 1951 during the reconnaissance of Mount Everest.

While exploring the Barun gorge he named Island Peak.

Because of his belief in the efficacy of small expeditions as compared to military-style 'sieges', Eric Shipton was stepped down from the leadership of the 1953 Everest expedition, along with Andrew Croft, in favour of Major John Hunt - "I leave London absolutely shattered" he would write. Yet Shipton's quiet and spare climbing style, and his spirit of exploration, have kept alive the memory of this climber's climber in the world of mountaineering. Eric Shipton: Everest and Beyond. ISBN 0-89886-603-0 Shipton, Eric. Stoughton (1969)) Shipton, Eric.