REPLAY | Eric Shipton : the Himalayan pioneer by Didier Mille

Eric Shipton is one of the fathers of himalayism, or better still, of alpine climbing in the Himalayas. With his companion Bill Tilman, he took part in most of the reconnaissance trips to the world's highest peaks in the 1930s and sometimes opened routes that were used to achieve first ascents, such as Everest or Nanda Devi. 

Our friend and collaborator Didier Mille has already written several articles for Expeditions Unlimited on this key figure in the history of the Himalayas. He recently translated the book Nanda Devi, published by Transboréales. Written by Eric Shipton and first published in 1934, the book recounts the reconnaissance trip to India's highest peak. In our interview, Didier looks back at the life of this great mountaineer, from his exploits in Africa to the Andes and the Pyrenees. The Himalayas obviously figure prominently in this discussion, since Shipton often initiated reconnaissance trips to reach most of the 7,000 and 8,000 meters peaks in Pakistan, Tibet, Himalayan India and, above all, Nepal.

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