Tibet's Secret Mountain: The Triumph of Sepu Kangri

by Chris Bonington, Charles Clarke

Overview

For Chris Bonington and Charles Clarke, long-time friends and expedition partners, few mountains were more alluring than Sepu Kangri. Known locally as ‘the Great White Snow God’, Tibet’s nearly 7,000-metre mountain had never before been visited by Westerners. Armed only with a tourist map for reference, the two set off for this elusive peak in 1996.

In the reconnaissance and two expeditions that followed, neither of them were expecting to be profoundly impacted by their experiences. However, they not only met their match in Sepu Kangri, but both found their expertise pushed to the limit. While Clarke acted as a travelling doctor, treating myriad ailments encountered along the way, including a life-saving diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy, Bonington’s love of technology saw him testing out cutting-edge satellite phones and computers, allowing them to communicate with the outside world for the first time on an expedition.

Tibet’s Secret Mountain is a story of discovery as much as it is an account of the expeditions, and it is this that sets it apart from other mountaineering memoirs. The focus not only on the climbing itself, but the experiences, people and tensions that accompany it, offers a poignancy that anyone with a love of adventure will identify with. Beautifully written and full of unfailing cheer, Tibet’s Secret Mountain is Bonington and Clarke’s love letter to mountaineering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781912560776
Publisher:	Vertebrate Publishing
Publication date:	05/21/2020
Pages:	228
Sales rank:	832,480
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Charles Clarke is a general consultant neurologist with a special interest in high-altitude medicine, and has been in consultant practice since 1979. Aside from his achievements in medicine, which include producing Neurology: A Queen Square Textbook and holding the position of Clinical Director of Neurosciences at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, he is also an experienced mountaineer. Having climbed extensively in the Himalaya and been expedition doctor on Chris Bonington’s ascents of the south-west face of Everest in 1975 and the north-east ridge in 1982, he went on to act as President of the British Mountaineering Council from 2006 to 2009. He is a former chair of the Mount Everest Foundation. His experiences have culminated in two memoirs, co-written with Chris Bonington – Tibet’s Secret Mountain and Everest: The Unclimbed Ridge.

Born in 1934, Chris Bonington – mountaineer, writer, photographer and lecturer – started climbing at the age of sixteen in 1951. It has been his passion ever since. He made the first British ascent of the north face of the Eiger and led the expedition that made the first ascent of the south face of Annapurna, the biggest and most difficult climb in the Himalaya at the time. He went on to lead the expedition that made the first ascent of the south-west face of Everest in 1975, when Doug Scott and Dougal Haston became the first Britons to summit, and he reached the summit of Everest himself in 1985 with a Norwegian expedition. He has written seventeen books, fronted numerous television programmes and has lectured to the public and corporate audiences all over the world. He received a knighthood in 1996 for services to mountaineering, was president of the Council for National Parks for eight years, and is the non-executive chairman of Berghaus and a chancellor of Lancaster University.

Table of Contents

Authors’ Note

1 The White Snow God

1982–1986

2 Missionaries, Map-makers and the Military

1160–1940

3 Mrs Donkar’s Handbag

2–13 August 1996

4 Daunting Prospects

14 August–1 September 1996

5 Behind the Turquoise Flower

7 April–9 May 1997

6 Our Frendo Spur

10–28 May 1997

7 A Brief Visit Home

June 1997–June 1998

8 A Journey to Chamdo

5–15 August 1988

9 Roadblocks, Mountains and a Monastery

16–19 August 1998

10 The Sa La Is Not For Horses

20 August–5 September 1998

11 Tortoises and Hares

1–20 September 1998

12 The First Attempt

25 September–1 October 1998

13 Amchhi Inji-ne – The English Doctor

1996–1998

14 So Near, Yet So Far

8–12 October 1998

15 Leaving Friends

16 October 1998

Appendices

I Expedition Members

II Diary of Events

III A Gazetteer

IV Maps

V Weather

VI Communications and Film

VII Medicine

VIII Acknowledgements

IX A Tibetan and Chinese Glossary

X Bibliography

About the Authors

Photographs

Editorial Reviews

Devotees of fine travel writing, of Tibet or of mountain climbing will relish this captivating report. Comparable in length to the entire Swiss Alps, Tibet's central mountain range, called Nyenchen Tanglha, is virtually unknown to Western climbers and travelers. At the age of 60, Bonington, preeminent British mountaineer and prolific author, resolved to climb majestic, never-before-scaled, 22,800-foot Sepu Kangri ("White Snow God"). Joining him was Clarke, British physician and veteran Himalayan climber, along with a high-tech team equipped with satellite communication hookup, Web site and film crew for instant transmission of their unfolding adventure. Decked out with breathtaking color photographs and maps, this book covers their 1996 reconnaissance expedition plus two subsequent attempts in 1997 and 1998. Bonington and Clarke informally recreate their odyssey in alternating chapters. Although they narrowly missed reaching the summit, their unpretentious narrative is a triumph of courage, keen observation, interaction with nature and with the Tibetan people, who by this account remain resilient and independent-minded despite political oppression under Chinese occupation. In a serendipitous journey, we join the authors as they watch a "Devil Dance"--a ritual enactment of good vanquishing evil--performed by frenzied masked dancers; they also participate in the annual hunt for caterpillar fungus, source of a medicinal elixir. Mountaineering emerges here as a delicate balancing act between risk and ecstasy, a test of friendship and self. (Jan.) FYI: A documentary on the expedition is scheduled to air on the Discovery Channel in February. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Although it's difficult to imagine that a mountain just a bit shorter than Everest could be a "secret," that's exactly what Bonington (England's top climber) and Clarke (a neurologist specializing in high altitude medicine) found during a plane ride in 1982. Looking out their window, they saw a range of peaks on the Tibetan Plateau that did not appear on their maps. Several years later, with the aid of some USAF photos, they set out to conquer the 22,800-foot peak that is known to Tibetans as "The Great White Snow God." This is the story of their two attempts, in 1997 and 1998. In an age where rich people can buy their way to the top of Mount Everest, this story of a mysterious, inaccessible mountain takes readers on a mesmerizing journey via prose from another, more exciting time. Recommended for libraries serving readers passionate about encounters between men and mountains (A documentary on the climb is scheduled to air on the Discovery Channel in February.)--Joseph L. Carlson, Lompoc, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal