Expedition Diary

1957 – Nepal

Maurice Wilson

May 1. Camp 3.

Called for breakfast at 4.30 a.m. They all seemed to be awake. Dan and Temba arrived with the entrenching tools about 5.30 a.m. and Arthur set off with them soon after. Dan set off next, after which Pemba and I dismantled a tent. We both set off with quite a load and went quite well to begin with. Then the sun got up and the going from Camp 2 to Camp 3 was purgatory. I couldn’t go more than a few paces at a time.

In due course we reached Camp 3 and laboriously erected the tent. Pemba is a real gem and nothing is too hard for him. He even went down for another food box later. I merely escorted him through the crevassed area. Not long after, George, Andy and Lakpa turned up. They had no hope to offer. All they had encountered was hard ice and not reached anyone. We had a long talk in the tent regarding procedure. George says he must go to Kathmandu to dispatch the necessary telegrams etc. He is bearing up very well.

May 2. Camp 3.

I took a sleeping pill last night and, although cold, slept like a log. Andy looked in before going down to Camp 1 for the reserve surveying equipment, and I went to sleep again. George woke me by calling me to come into his tent. This I did. We talked of memorials and various other matters. We feel that the best monument we could offer to Crosby is to complete the map which he had commenced to make. This we will try to do, though no further risks must be taken. It was arranged that Arthur and I should stay here a day or two to complete that job and then we should move to another area, probably, the Langtang.

It had been arranged that certain signals would be given by Arthur and Dan from Camp 4, at 11.00 a.m., regarding the day’s work there. In fact, around 10.30 a.m. they were all seen to be coming along the track in this direction. They were obviously heavily loaded and had abandoned camp. This they confirmed on arrival. They had dug for a long time but could make little impact on the ice entombing the bodies. Moreover, their own position was extremely dangerous, as there was a loose ice block poised directly above them. (They were working 20 feet down, in the crevasse.) There is no doubt that they could do no more, nor risk any further loss of life. The Sherpas, too were agreed on that. Andy and his sherpa turned up quite latish. They had magnificently gone right down to Base Camp to get the surveying equipment.

May 3. Camp 3.

Arthur and I got off in good time this morning and followed the route to Camp 4 up to a point just below the start of the traverse. Here we set up the tripod and plane table. I took a number of rays on the prominent points around and also elevations. Arthur made a pan. sketch and we also took some panoramic photos. It was all most interesting but, as early as 9.30 a.m., the clouds started to advance up the valley. We packed up and came down in order to do some work at Crosby’s old station near Camp 3, and marked by a red flag. From here we could just distinguish the flags we, ourselves, had embedded in the snow at our previous station. It was boiling hot and I find such heat unbearable as it saps my energy. Yet, an hour later, I needed my sweater on and by the afternoon it was hailing. Andy and the sherpas took some loads down to Camp 2 and men returned for their own gear.