'As I studied the maps, one thing about them captured my imagination - across this blank space was written one challenging word, "Unexplored"'
In 1937 two of the twentieth century's greatest explorers set off to explore an unknown area of the Himalaya, the breath-taking Shaksgam mountains. With a team of surveyors and Sherpas, Eric Shipton and H.W. Tilman located and mapped the land around K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. It was their greatest venture, and one that paved the way for all future mountaineering in that area of the Himalaya. For Shipton and Tilman, exploration was everything, with a summit a welcome bonus, and Blank on the Map is the book that best captures their spirit of adventure.
With an observant eye and keen sense of humour, Shipton tells how the expedition entered the unknown Shaksgam mountains, crossing impenetrable gorges, huge rivers and endless snow fields. There's a very human element to Shipton's dealings with his Sherpa friends, and with his Balti porters, some of whom were helpful, while some were less so. The expedition uncovers traces of ancient cultures and visits vibrant modern civilisations living during the last days of the British Empire. Only when all supplies are exhausted, their clothes in tatters and all equipment lost do the men finally return home. A mountain exploration classic.
Shipton, Eric: - Eric Earle Shipton was one of the great mountaineering explorers of the twentieth century. He was a man with a flair for exploration, covering a vast amount of ground and pioneering a number of new climbs on remote mountains in his pursuit of the unknown. For Shipton, like his frequent climbing partner H.W. Tilman, exploration was everything, the tantalising view into a hidden valley more important than a prestigious summit. He preferred small and 'free' expeditions to large outfits, joking that any expedition should be organised on the back of an envelope. His ideal of achieving more with less, of travelling uncluttered and attuned to the landscape remains an inspiration to many. Born in 1907 in Ceylon, Shipton became one of the finest mountaineers in the world. He made the first ascent of Nelion on Mount Kenya by the age of twenty-two. Two years later, he made the first ascent of Kamet in the Garwhal Himalaya, the highest peak then climbed. He was involved with most of the Everest expeditions in the 1930s, reaching 28,000 feet in 1933, and went on to lead the 1951 expedition. This was the expedition that discovered the route through the Khumbu icefall and introduced Edmund Hillary to Mount Everest. But Shipton, with his preference for exploration, failed to match the urgent mood of the period and was 'eased' out of the leadership role. Despite discovering, quite literally, the route to success, Shipton was not present for the first ascent of the highest mountain in the world. Despite this, Shipton continued to explore and climb, travelling to the vast empty spaces of Patagonia and the southern ice caps, and visiting Alaska, Africa and Australia. All the while he wrote, recording his adventures in a series of books. The Six Mountain-Travel Books are now regarded as mountain exploration classics.
