 | |
| Author | Richard Lloyd Burdsall and Arthur B. Emmons |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Mountaineering |
| Genre | non-fiction |
| Published | 1935 |
| Publisher | The Bodley Head (1935) Mountaineers Books (1980) |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 324 |
| ISBN | 978-0916890933 |
Men Against the Clouds:The Conquest of Minya Konka is a non-fiction mountaineering book by Richard Lloyd Burdsall and Arthur B. Emmons.
This book tells the story of a four-person climbing party that made it to the top of the Minya Konka in 1932. [1] The team consisted of Richard Lloyd Burdsall, Arthur B. Emmons, Terris Moore, and Jack T. Young. (an American of Chinese ancestry). [2] In 1932, when Burdsall, and company climbed Minya Konka, it was the second-highest mountain climbed to date. [3]
1980 saw the release of a revised edition by The Mountaineers (club).
A digital copy of the 1932 edition is available at the Internet Archive. [4]
Bhupesh Ashar writing for the Himalayan Journal , "A remarkable compilation of their unique expedition that describes their [four-person] travel through China, their exploration and the climb of Minya Konka at 24,900 ft—the first ascent of the mountain [Minya Konka]." [5]
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.
The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognised by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and at times, the UIAA has considered whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountain peaks by including the major satellite peaks of eight-thousanders. All of the eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits lie in an altitude known as the death zone.
Gaston Rébuffat was a French alpinist, mountain guide, and author. He is well known as a member of the first expedition to summit Annapurna 1 in 1950 and the first man to climb all six of the great north faces of the Alps. In 1984, he was made an officer in the French Legion of Honour for his service as a mountaineering instructor for the French military. At the age of 64, Gaston Rébuffat died of cancer in Paris, France. The rock-climbing technique, the "Gaston", was named after him. A photo of Rébuffat atop the Aiguille du Roc in the French Alps is on the Voyager Golden Records.
Norman Clyde was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self-trained naturalist. He is well known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park. He also set a speed climbing record on California's Mount Shasta in 1923. The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley has 1467 articles written by Clyde in its archives.
Mount Gongga, also known as Minya Konka and colloquially as "The King of Sichuan Mountains", is the highest mountain in Sichuan province, China. It has an elevation of 7,556 m (24,790 ft) above sea level. This makes it the third highest peak in the world outside of the Himalaya/Karakoram range, after Tirich Mir and Kongur Tagh, and the easternmost and most isolated 7,000-metre (23,000 ft) peak in the world. It is situated in the Daxue Shan mountain range, between Dadu River and Yalong River, and is part of the Hengduan mountainous region. From it comes the Hailuogou glacier.
Maurice André Raymond Herzog was a French mountaineer and administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, and reached the summit with Louis Lachenal. Upon his return, he wrote a best-selling book about the expedition, Annapurna.
Joseph Francis Charles Rock was an Austrian-American botanist, explorer, geographer, linguist, ethnographer and photographer.
The Mountaineers is an alpine club in the US state of Washington. Founded in 1906, it is organized as an outdoor recreation, education, and conservation 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation, and is based in Seattle, Washington. The club hosts a wide range of outdoor activities, primarily alpine mountain climbing and hikes. The club also hosts classes, training courses, and social events.
James Ramsey Ullman was an American writer and mountaineer. He was born in New York City. He was not a "high end" climber, but his writing made him an honorary member of that circle.
The Hengduan Mountains are a group of mountain ranges in southwest China that connect the southeast portions of the Tibetan Plateau with the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. The Hengduan Mountains are primarily large north-south mountain ranges that effectively separate lowlands in northern Myanmar from the lowlands of the Sichuan Basin. These ranges are characterized by significant vertical relief originating from the Indian subcontinent's collision with the Eurasian Plate, and further carved out by the major rivers draining the eastern Tibetan Plateau. These rivers, the Yangtze, Mekong, and Salween, are recognized today as the Three Parallel Rivers UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Louis French Reichardt is a noted American neuroscientist and mountaineer, the first American to summit both Everest and K2. He was also director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the largest non-federal supporter of scientific research into autism spectrum disorders and is an emeritus professor of physiology and biochemistry/biophysics at UCSF, where he studied neuroscience. The character of Harold Jameson, U.C.S.F. biophysicist and mountaineer in the film K2, is based on Reichardt, though the events of his actual 1978 K2 attempt with Jim Wickwire bear little resemblance to the plot of the film.
Terris Moore was an explorer, mountaineer, light plane pilot, and the second president of the University of Alaska.
Harold Johnston Brodie was a Canadian mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Nidulariaceae, or bird's nest fungi.
Rick Ridgeway is an American mountaineer and adventurer, who during his career has also been an environmentalist, writer, filmmaker and businessman. Ridgeway has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was part of the 1978 team that were the first Americans to summit K2, the world's second-highest mountain. From 2005 until he retired in 2020 he oversaw environmental affairs and public engagement at the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. He has authored seven books and dozens of magazine articles, and produced or directed many documentary films.
1960 Chinese Mount Everest expedition was the first to successfully ascend Mount Everest via the North Ridge. Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo, and Qu Yinhua reached the summit at 4:20 a.m. on 25 May.
The 1938 American Karakoram expedition to K2, more properly called the "First American Karakoram expedition", investigated several routes for reaching the summit of K2, an unclimbed mountain at 28,251 feet (8,611 m) the second highest mountain in the world. Charlie Houston was the leader of what was a small and happily united climbing party. After deciding the Abruzzi Ridge was most favorable, they made good progress up to the head of the ridge at 24,700 feet (7,500 m) on July 19, 1938. However, by then their supply lines were very extended, they were short of food and the monsoon seemed imminent. It was decided that Houston and Paul Petzoldt would make the last push to get as close to the summit as they could and then rejoin the rest of the party in descent. On July 21 the pair reached about 26,000 feet (7,900 m). In favorable weather, they were able to identify a suitable site for a higher camp and a clear route to the summit.
Cora Johnstone Best and Audrey Forfar Shippam were American mountaineers who summitted peaks in North America, Asia, and Europe. Both were members of the Alpine Club of Canada. During their trips together they became the first women to climb Mount Hungabee, traveled 200 hundred miles by canoe, and attempted to hunt snow leopards in China. In the 1920s, they had a film lecture series where Best described their exploits using slides that had been colored by Shippam. Separate from their adventures together, Dr. Best was a physician and Audrey Shippam was an artist.
Allen Carpé was an American engineer and mountaineer who is the namesake of Mount Carpe in Alaska. He was the first person to have reached the summit of Mount Bona and Mount Fairweather.