Eric Shipton (1907 – 1977)
Himalayan explorer and climber.
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He is lucky who, in the full tide of life, has experienced a measure of the active environment he most desires. In these days of upheaval and violent change, when the basic values of to-day are the vain and shattered dreams of to-morrow, there is much to be said for a philosophy which aims at living a full life while the opportunity offers. There are few treasures of more lasting worth than the experience of a way of life that is in itself wholly satisfying. Such, after all, are the only possessions of which no fate, no cosmic catastrophe can deprive us; nothing can alter the fact if for one moment in eternity we have really lived.
Few mountains have such a superb array of ridges and faces.
...and I longed to return to the peak to explore some of the many ridges and faces which as yet had never been attempted. I now realise how lucky I was to have had this extraordinary peak virtually to myself;...
Once you tried it, it was very difficult to stop.
(To Eric Shipton) who had contributed a great deal to the achievement.
I leave London absolutely shattered.
After that I was infused with a pleasant sense of abandon. Our rope was not long enough for us to abseil down the red step, and the idea of climbing down it without support from above was not to be contemplated; therefore we just had to reach the summit.
Only an easy scramble remained and we were there, on the hitherto untrodden summit of Nelion.
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