The Perth-based Royal Scottish Geographical Society is opening its archives to the public and hosting several expert speakers to mark the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mount Everest.
Special tours are being offered around the Fair Maid’s House in Perth, inspired by the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Everest expedition.
Visitors can expect to hear stories of adventure and be shown rarely seen pieces from RSGS archives related to some of the greats of Everest and Himalayan exploration.
‘Treasure trove’ of material to share
RSGS chief executive Mike Robinson said it was a great follow-up to the last Discovery Day themed on Sir Ernest Shackleton held earlier this year.
Mr Robinson said: “We have such a rich and varied archive, a real treasure trove, and it’s a pleasure to be able to share it more widely with visitors.
“Alongside our own writer-in-residence and the lead of our map collections, I’m delighted to be joined by filmmaker Keith Partridge, who will share his first-hand experiences of summitting Everest and working with some of the leading mountaineers of the past decades.”
Who is giving the talks?
RSGS are hosting tours on Saturday September 2 at 11am, 12pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm, and in each session visitors will hear from four expert speakers.
From Himalayan Peaks to Perth: RSGS chief executive Mike Robinson tells a brief history of Himalayan mountaineering and RSGS’s connection to some of the region’s most famous expeditions.
Summitting the Giant: Adventure filmmaker and cinematographer Keith Partridge offers a personal insight into climbing Everest and how he took inspiration from some of the all-time greats of mountain exploration.
Mapping Mount Everest: The RSGS collections team share the challenges of putting Everest on the map; with items from RSGS collections depicting how intrepid map makers undertook the incredible task of surveying the Himalayas.
A Prodigious White Fang: RSGS writer-in-residence Jo Woolf looks at stories shared by early climbers (and aviators!) who took on the epic challenge of Everest, with reference to original images and documents in RSGS collections.
This includes images from the first flight over Everest.
70th anniversary of historic ascent of Mount Everest
The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit on May 29, 1953.
Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organised and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee.
News of the expedition’s success reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation on June 2 that year.
How to get tickets
Tickets priced £20 per person are available to book at rsgs.org/events or through EventBrite.
There are a limited number of tickets for each tour.
The tours are taking place at The Fair Maid’s House Visitor Centre, 15-19 North Port, Perth, PH1 5LU.
*For more on the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s connection with the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Everest expedition, see The Courier’s Weekend magazine of September 2.
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