Eric Shipton (1907–1977)

Short but intriguing account of an expedition designed to scout the routes for the conquest of Mt. Everest; in fact, the results of this expedition in 1951 led directly to the conquest some 18 months later. Indeed, Edmund Hillary was a member of this expedition before his fame in the conquest. Many interesting observations of life in Nepal ca. 1951. There's also a (too brief!) segment, with one photo, on a possible yeti footprint.

An essential piece of the Shipton library. A very gently written autobiography. No revelations here, he skims over or omits the ugly bits, and relishes the high points of his life.

Reprint of 1943. Signed copy by author.

Again, 6 essential and somewhat hard to find books collected in one cover: Shipton is an icon, his writing is delightful, although it took quite some time for me to slay this beast. Recommend you take a break half way and read something else to break it up!