London, 1937, 1st UK edition. 235 pp, 35 ills. Hardcover with original Blue cloth cover, gold letters on spine are bright. The book is very clean, no foxing, bookplate in front, minor edge wear, overall Near Fine condition.
The story of the 1936 first ascent of Nanda Devi by Tilman with Noel Odell. This is Tilman's most important climb and the book is Tilman's first mountaineering book.
The first ascent of Nanda Devi (25,645') with Arthur Emmons, Charles Houston, and Noel Odell, in 1936, without the use of crampons or pitons! Both Tilman and Odell reached the summit. Emmons was an American and was a member of the team which made the first ascent of Minya Konka (24,892', 1932). On the summit, Tilman says ''I believe we so far forgot ourselves as to shake hands on it.''
Biography from Wikipedia
Major Harold William 'Bill' Tilman, CBE, DSO, MC and Bar (1898–1977) was a mountaineer and explorer, famous for his Himalayan climbs and sailing voyages.
Tilman's climbing career began with his acquaintance with Eric Shipton in Kenya, East Africa, where they were both coffee growers. Beginning with their joint traverse of Mount Kenya in 1929 and their ascents of Kilimanjaro and the fabled 'Mountains of the Moon' Ruwenzori, Shipton and Tilman formed one of the most famed partnerships in mountaineering history. When it came time to leave Africa, Tilman was not content with merely taking a ship home but rode a bicycle across the continent to the West Coast where he embarked for England. He used that bicycle for the rest of his life!
Tilman was involved in two of the 1930s Mount Everest expeditions - participating in the 1935 Reconnaisance Expedition, and reaching 27,200 feet without oxygen as the expedition leader in 1938. After penetrating the Nanda Devi sanctuary with Eric Shipton in 1934, Tilman went on to the first ascent of Nanda Devi with Noel Odell in 1936. During his extensive exploration of the areas of Langtang, Ganesh and Manang in 1949 he was the first to ascend Paldor, 5896 metres and found the pass named after him beyond Gangchempo.
Later Tilman voyaged to Arctic and Antarctic waters in search of new and uncharted mountains to climb. Tilman (and the boat and crew) disappeared during a sailing trip to climb Smith Island in the Antarctic in 1977. He had accompanied the youthful Simon Richardson and his crew aboard an old, converted steel tug. They made it successfully and without incident to Rio de Janeiro, but disappeared without trace on their way to the Falkland Islands. Tilman was almost 80 years of age.
Tilman had a great sense of humour, perhaps too subtle for many of his listeners. It was one of his greatest joys to laugh at himself, and see the funny side of life's little foibles. An example is his 'discovery' of Tilman's Disease, characterized as 'the inability to put one foot before the other'.
He wrote seven books about his mountain travels, and eight books on his years sailing to extreme climates. One of the last 'gentleman adventurers', Bill Tilman's stoic and courageous exploits have earned him a place of honor as one of the greatest in the pantheon of 20th century explorers. On the Nanda Devi summit, Tilman says ''I believe we so far forgot ourselves as to shake hands on it.''
