Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | British |
Born | 18 September 1910 Liverpool |
Died | 14 September 1942 (aged 31) |
Relative | Wilfrid Noyce (cousin) |
Climbing career | |
Type of climber | Outdoors, post-golden age |
Known for | Book: 'Let's Go Climbing' |
Named routes | Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, Snowdonia, Wales (Great Slab 1930, Chimney Route 1931) |
Colin Fletcher Kirkus (18 September 1910 – 14 September 1942 [1] was a British rock climber. He climbed extensively in Wales and elsewhere, such as the Alps and the Himalaya. [2] He wrote the instruction book Let's Go Climbing! which inspired Joe Brown to take up the sport.
Kirkus was born in Liverpool, England on 18 September 1910.
Kirkus was a cousin of Wilfrid Noyce, seven years older than Noyce, Colin developed an active interest in climbing during his early teens and the families of Kirkus and Noyce shared holidays in the Welsh hills. [2] It was Kirkus who first introduced Noyce to rock climbing. [3]
Kirkus made pioneering climbs in Wales and elsewhere and wrote the instruction book Let's Go Climbing!. [4]
Jack Longland described the greatest rock face in Wales, Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, as "Colin’s Cliff". [5]
Kirkus' series of new routes on "Cloggy" was unparalleled until the emergence of Joe Brown, 20 years later.[ citation needed ]
In 1933 Kirkus was a member of Marco Pallis's expedition to the Gangotri area of the Himalaya and the team climbed several peaks. [6] During the expedition Kirkus and Charles Warren made a pioneering alpine-style ascent of the central or 'second Satopanth peak' which is now known as the 6,454 metres (21,175 ft) Bhagirathi III; [2] [7] Kirkus' account of the climb is included in Pallis's book Peaks and Lamas. [8] That ascent has been described as "amongst the most important ascents by British climbers in that decade". [9]
Kirkus was killed in the Second World War, on a sortie to Bremen on the night of 13/14 September 1942. He was a navigator on Vickers Wellington BJ879 of 156 Squadron an RAF Pathfinder squadron. He was one of four brothers, all of whom saw flying service in the RAF, and three of whom were killed in action in the Second World War. [5]
His name is listed on the Runnymede Memorial for airmen with no known grave. [1]
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Shishapangma, or Shishasbangma or Xixiabangma, is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at 8,027 metres (26,335 ft) above sea level. It is located entirely within Tibet. In 1964, it became the final eight-thousander to be climbed.
Masherbrum is a mountain located in the Ghanche District in the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. With an elevation of 7,821 metres, it ranks as the 22nd highest mountain globally and the 9th highest in Pakistan. It holds the distinction of being the first mapped peak in the Karakoram mountain range during the Great Trigonometrical Survey, leading to its K-number designation as "K1".
George Christopher Band was an English mountaineer. He was the youngest climber on the 1953 British expedition to Mount Everest on which Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to ascend the mountain. In 1955, he and Joe Brown were the first climbers to ascend Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world.
Machapuchare, Machhapuchchhre or Machhapuchhre, is a mountain situated in the Annapurna massif of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. Its highest peak has never been officially climbed due to the impossibility of gaining a permit from the government of Nepal.
John Angelo Jackson was an English mountaineer, explorer and educationalist.
Tom George Longstaff was an English medical doctor, explorer and mountaineer, most famous for being the first person to climb a summit of over 7,000 metres in elevation, Trisul, in the India/Pakistan Himalayas in 1907. He also made important explorations and climbs in Tibet, Nepal, the Karakoram, Spitsbergen, Greenland, and Baffin Island. He was a founding member of The Alpine Ski Club in 1908 and the Himalayan Club (1929), was elected as an Honorary Member of the Climbers Club in 1932 and was its President from 1933–1935 and was president of the (British) Alpine Club from 1947 to 1949.
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Nicholas John Estcourt was a British mountaineer and alpinist who was killed in an avalanche on the West Ridge of K2.
Cuthbert Wilfrid Francis Noyce was an English mountaineer and author. He was a member of the 1953 British Expedition that made the first ascent of Mount Everest.
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Elizabeth Davenport Woolsey was an American alpine skier. who competed in the women's combined event at the 1936 Winter Olympics.
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Douglas Laird BuskKCMG (1906–1990) was a British diplomat, mountaineer and geographer.
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