Nanda Devi, view from Camp 4, 1937

Nanda Devi, view from Camp 4, 1937

Yamunotri, Garhwal Himalaya 1883

Yamunotri, Garhwal Himalaya 1883

Shivling in a lithograph from 1883

Shivling, Garhwal Himalaya 1883

Willi Unsoeld's: The Spiritual Values of Wilderness

I found this jewel the other day and though some of you would also appreciate it: Himalayan mountaineering legend Willi Unsoeld discusses The Spiritual Values of Wilderness. With references to Rudolf Otto's Idea of the Holy, James Frazer's The Golden Bough, Theodore Roszak's Where the Wasteland Ends and author and environmentalist Sigurd Olson.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Woodman's Trail In Darkest London - Times 5/3/63

Here is a great article I found within the pages of a copy of Jim Corbett's Jungle Lore that I picked up in a dusty old book shop.

The correspondent from The Times recounts his meeting with Jim Corbett in the hill station of Naini Tal in the Kumaon Himalaya during the British Raj. He was lucky enough to have the privilege of walking through the jungle around Kaladhungi with the legendary hunter.

Later in the piece he describes how Corbett got utterly lost in London after he went for a walk and forgot to note either the name of the hotel or the street it was on. Corbett used his tracking skills to retrace his steps:

"Finally I found the way; my eye picked out a poster that had one corner torn away. Soon I came to another place with four or five roads leading off it, and where I was almost stumped. But somewhere about there had been a narrow gully between two tall buildings, where the wind had blown on my right cheek as I passed. Sure enough I found the gully, and the wind was now on my left cheek, so I went on."

Only someone who had spent all his life in the wilds would describe a city in these terms. Great stuff.

Click on Full to view the article

Along with this cutting was another which was an article on Sir William Ibbotson, Deputy Commissioner of Garhwal and Kuman and close friend of the legengary hunter Jim Corbett.

Click on Full to view the article

Nordwand

Just watched Nordwand the classic mountaineering tale about the failed attempt to climb the North Face of the Eiger by Andi Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz.

Directed by Philipp Stölzl the film is a brillant recreation of the tragic events that Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann) and Andreas (Andi) Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) faced on the route. As a climber it was great to see a film that is factully correct (not sure about the love story bit) and one that does justice to this legend in the annals of mountaineering history.

Tribeca Film discussed the film with Stölzl.

Definately a movie to watch.