W a y m a r k s ~: 'Other Everests' - A New Research Network

This week saw the start of Other Everests: Commemoration, Memory and Meaning and the British Everest Expedition Centenaries, 2021-2024 – a research network funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). A two-day symposium hosted by convenors, Dr Jonathan Westaway (University of Central Lancashire) and Dr Paul Gilchrist (University of Brighton), was held at the Royal Geographical Society in London (5-6 July 2022). Other Everests is a new interdisciplinary network that takes as its starting point the centenary of the post-war British Everest campaigns of 1921-1924. Its aim is to bring together international scholars, archivists, curators, learned and professional societies and the UK mountaineering community to critically assess the legacy of the Everest expeditions and to re-evaluate the symbolic, political and cultural status of Everest in the contemporary world. The symposium brought together some of the members of the network in order to share and discuss their research, as well as pooling ideas about how the network might develop over the next two years through new events and an open access publication.

Jonathan Westaway & Paul Gilchrist opening the 'Other Everests' Symposium, 5-6 July 2022 (photo by Peter H. Hansen)

“Other Everests will take a once-in-a-100-year opportunity to critically reassess the legacy of Everest and its meaning in contemporary culture and society. It will make its findings widely accessible in an Open-Access collection of critical essays that address key themes highlighted by the network and it will work with our project partners at the Kendal Mountain Festival to develop public lectures and events that translate contemporary scholarship into publicly accessible formats.”

The symposium began with a ‘hands on’ look at archive material and artefacts related to the exploration of Everest held by the Royal Geographical Society. A fascinating display consisting of a number of original documents, photographs, objects and silent film footage which had been selected by members of the group was laid out in the RGS’s Foyle Reading Room, with each member saying something about why they had chosen their particular item and the significance it had to their research interests. The rest of the two days was devoted to a series of plenary talks, as well as presentations and roundtable discussions, and a session in which the group discussed the ways in which arts and cultural collaborations with artists and project partners might be used in order to help reimagine archival images and texts through new creative partnerships in order to think about how acts of commemoration might be made more meaningful and resonant in a post-colonial context.

George Mallory's match box, recovered from Everest 70 years after his death (photo by Jonathan Pitches)

For me, the symposium was a wonderful forum in which to meet a wide range of people with linked interests, as well as finally getting to meet several friends and academics whom I’d only ever corresponded with on-line from different parts of the world. It was fascinating to hear about the potentials of new research projects, some of which were still only in their early stages, whilst others were at more advanced stages of development, yet all dazzled by the breadth of their scope and the depth of their detail. There were so many inspiring insights and interesting ideas to take away from the two days that my head is still buzzing! – It is really hard to single out my main highlights from the event, but if I had to pick just two elements from each day: Jonathan Westaway’s presentation about his work on the ethnographic photographs of Major C. J. Morris, and Sarah Pickman’s insights into the material culture of provisioning and equipping expeditions on the first day; along with Nokmedemla Lemtur’s researches into German mountaineering archives as part of the Modern India in German Archives, 1706-1989 project, along with Peter Hansen’s truly excellent plenary talk, examining ‘The Whiteness of Mount Everest’, which closed the second day of the symposium – all four of these chimed closely with my own personal interests.

The biggest revelation or ‘eye-opener’ for me though was Jenny Hall’s presentation on the Japanese climber, Junko Tabei – whom I’m ashamed to say I’d not heard of before. She was the first female climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1975. Sadly though, the sexism and racism she encountered was not so much of a surprise. But it was fascinating to learn more about Tabei in the context of other female climbers who have subsequently pushed physical and social boundaries in the Himalaya. Hence why these interdisciplinary exchanges are so important for broadening our understanding of the regions which we choose to study. It’s the connections and correspondences which such meetings enable which ultimately prove to be some of the most fruitful and efficacious outcomes of such events.

Viewing the 'Other Everests' co-curated display (photo by Peter H. Hansen)

And lastly, but by no means least, the stand-out object of interest for me in the co-curated display of archive material (although all the objects were fascinating!) was a photograph of a man named Lewa, a Sherpa, who was ‘sirdar’ (head porter) on the British Everest expedition of 1933, and likewise on the ill-fated German Nanga Parbat expedition of 1934. The reason this item stood out for me was because Lewa was a familiar face. He was someone whom I’d encountered in my own on-going PhD research into early twentieth-century explorers in East Tibet. In this context, far removed from the more famous locale of Everest, Lewa was again ‘sirdar’ accompanying Ronald Kaulback and John Hanbury-Tracy during their 1936 journey along the River Salween. Lewa features as quite a prominent and very amiable character in John Hanbury-Tracy’s travelogue, Black River of Tibet (1938), where he is described as:

“Lewa, he of the square jowl and barking voice, […] a Sherpa from Nepal. He has not seen his village since he was fourteen, when he came to Darjeeling to work for Englishmen who like to climb hills, the great hills he has always lived among. A rugged character and great powers of endurance set him much in demand as a porter. He was one of the "Tigers" of Everest. He has travelled the Himalaya from Sikkim to Kashmir, and has hauled more than one famous mountaineer up the last steps of a climb. He has been sirdar on several trips, and helped to save the remnants of the disastrous German expedition to Nanga Parbat in 1934. Now he is our sirdar – a rough-and-ready sergeant-major. He has a fine reputation, and means to keep it up.” (p.9)

Lewa photographed in John Hanbury-Tracy's "Black River of Tibet" (1938)

Lewa was also mentioned on both days of the symposium, in the talks given by Jonathan Westaway and Peter Hansen.

The two-day symposium at the Royal Geographical Society was certainly a successful start to what looks set to be a very interesting and engaging research network. It’s certainly one to watch for anyone interested in the current and forthcoming Everest centenaries, and the exploration of mountain environments, as well as art and culture in the Himalaya.