When a man is conscious of the urge to explore, not all the arduous
journeyings, the troubles that will beset him and the lack of material
gains from his investigations will stop him.'
Nanda Devi is one of the most inaccessible mountains in the
Himalaya. It is surrounded by a huge ring of peaks, among them some
of the highest mountains in the Indian Himalaya. For fifty years the
finest mountaineers of the early twentieth century had repeatedly tried
and failed to reach the foot of the mountain.
Then, in 1934, Eric Shipton and H. W. Tilman found a way in. Their
1934 expedition is regarded as the epitome of adventurous mountain
exploration. With their three tough and enthusiastic Sherpa companions
Angtharkay, Kusang and Pasang, they solved the problem of access to the
Nanda Devi Sanctuary. They crossed difficult cols, made first ascents
and explored remote, uninhabited valleys, all of which is recounted in
Shipton's wonderfully vivid Nanda Devi - a true evocation of Shipton's
enduring spirit of adventure and one of the most inspirational travel
books ever written.