NY, 1964, 1st edition. 256 pp, photos. This Pamir Expedition was the first expedition made up of British and Russian mountaineers. The fact that Western climbers got permission to ascend the 24,590 ft. Peak during the Communist era was a major achievement at the time. Malcolm Slesser, the deputy leader of the British climbers, has written this account of their trek.
Wilfrid Noyce sadly died on this mountaineering expedition, along with Robin Smith. Noyce was one of the most successful post-war British mountaineers. He made the first ascents of Machapuchare and Trivor in the Himalaya and was a member of the successful 1953 Everest expedition. It was Noyce who forced the route to the South Col. (see Red Peak by Malcolm Slesser for a Personal Account of the British Soviet Expedition 1962.
The British-Soviet Pamir Expedition was for several reasons an historic one: it was the first expedition to be composed of both British and Russian mountaineers; the Pamir Range, was entirely new ground to Western mountaineers and their ascent of the 24,590 ft Peak of Communism, the highest mountain in the USSR was a considerable achievement, especially after the tragic loss of Wilfrid Noyce and Robin Smith - from the introduction to Red Peak. Hardcover, DJ, Near Fine.
