Himalchuli East | 1953 E Ridge

A UK expedition to Himalchuli East in 1953 via E Ridge, led by Herbert Maddock. Summit reached on 12th June 1953. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 2812
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID HIME53101
Peak ID HIME
Year 1953
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 E Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Herbert Maddock
Sponsor -
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Chuling Khola
Basecamp Date -
Summit Date 1953-06-12
Summit Time -
Summit Days 0
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 8
Termination Notes Abandoned at 5600m due to lack of manpower and equipment
High Point (m) 5600
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 2
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 1
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites xxx(12/06,5600m)
Route Notes Times of India - 25 Feb, 1980 A British mountain climber and explorer who disappeared without a trace in the Himalayas 27 years ago might have been killed after stumbling across a camp of CIA-trained guerillas, a British author claimed yesterday. Mr Harry Hilton, a member of the same expedition writing in "International Mountain Year 1980", published yesterday, said he originally accepted the official view that mountaineer Bert Maddock drowned while trying to cross a swollen river, but had since come to question the foreign office version of the incident. He said Mr. Maddock disappeared near Tibetan-Chinese border, where he claimed the CIA is known to have been active at that time. Mr. Hilton said his attempts to investigate have come up against a wall of silence from American, British and Nepalese authorities. Documents relating to Mr. Maddocks's disappearance are missing, he claimed. A foreign office spokesman said, "We never comment on stories of this kind." Mr. Hilton said that on the second day on the 1953 expedition he had saved Mr. Maddock's life after he fell into a river and "the experience made a vivid impression on Bert. I doubt if he would have taken any chances." Mr. Hilton left the expedition after contracting dysentery, leaving Mr. Maddock and his porters to go on. "In 1953 there were at least nine US "technicians" at work in Nepal, and it is possible that covert activities had already begun there in that year," Mr. Hilton wrote. "It is a fact that Khamba tribesmen and other Tibetans from the frontier zone were being trained by the Americans in the United States and elsewhere," he claimed. "If Bert had unwittingly wandered into a guerilla training area or camp, could he have been permitted to leave Nepal?" Harry Hilton - 13 Aug 74 The Story of the 1953 Himalchuli Expedition: In early May, 1953, Mr Herbert Maddock (23) and Mr. Harry Hilton (23) arrived in Kathmandu from India. After numerous perparations they left the Nepalese capital on 23rd May together with five porters hired with the help of Colonel Proud at the British Embassy in Kathmandu. Their expedition had two objectives: a) To travel to Himalculi, 25,800 ft, via the Buri Gandaki and the Chuling Khola, to reconnoitre a possible route up the mountain, and if the opportunity presented itself, to attempt to climb it. b) After the attempt on the mountain, the expedition hoped to return down the Chuling Khola and the Buri Gandaki as far as Khorlak, then cross the Buri Gandaki and travel east to the sacred lake at Gosainkund. From there a return via the Trisuli river to Kathmandu would be made. The expedition intended to be away for some six or seven weeks. Five days after leaving Kathmandu, Mr. Hilton was taken seriously ill with a severe attack of dysentery, and on the banks of the Ankhu Khola the two Europeans decided that it would be best if Mr. Maddock continued to Himalchuli with three porters, while Mr. Hilton remained with the other two porters by the river. If he recovered Mr. Hilton was to decide whether to attempt to rejoin Mr. Maddock at Ngyak on the Buri Gandaki, or to return to Kathmandu. On Friday the 29th May Mr. Maddock and his three porters duly left the camp by the Ankhu Khola and continued the expedition as planned. His party reached Ngyak on Wednesday, 3rd June, and then entered the Chuling Khola with the intention of gaining the East ridge of Himalchuli. On Friday, 12th June, Mr. Maddock abandoned his attempt to climb the mountain having attained an altitude of 18,500 ft. The reasons were lack of equipment, men, bad weather, and objective danger (falling stones). he had taken a locally-porter he named Garumph with him to the highest point. Meanwhile Mr. Hilton had staged a helf recovery and managed with the help of this two porters to return to Kathmandu on Monday, 1st June. He was looked over by members of the British Embassy in Kathmandu until he was fit enough to be flown to Patna then by train to Calcutta where he arrived on Friday, 5th June. Mr. Maddock returned down the Buri Gandaki to Khorlak where it crossed it and headed east towards Gosainkund as planned. By now the monsoon had arrived, rivers were swollen, bridges down and leeches out in profusion. Bearing all this in mind plus the fact that he was running short of supplies and money, Mr. Maddock had decided to abandon his journey to the sacred lake, and to return to Kathmandu via the Trisuli River. On either Friday the 19th June or Saturday the 20th June (from Sunday 31st May there is confusion about the dates given in Mr. Maddock's journal) the expedition crossed the 11,338 ft. pass between Kasigaon and Khading and camped a few miles short of Khading. This information was the last to be written in Mr. Maddock's journal. There are conflicting reports as to what happened after this. One report from the Lancashire Evening Post of the 9th July reads thus: "The Sherpas (incorrect) who brought back Maddock's luggage and diary, said they started from Khading, a village about 100 miles (nearer 70) from Kathmandu, and their next halt was to have been Barang. Across the route lay the flooded Ankza (Ankhu) Khola stream, winding between two villages. There is no bridge over the stream during the monsoons and the Sherpas (incorrect -- Kathmandu porters) said they suggested a detour. One evening, however, Maddock went ahead, asking them to follow. They thought Maddock had tried to swim the stream, an idea from which they attempted to dissuade him. They never saw him again, despite a wide search. When I interviewed Col. Proud, who interrogated the porters when they returned to Kathmandu, he seemed to think that the accident happened during the day of the 21st June. (He was not aware of the date errors in Mr. Maddock's journal). The three porters searched the area for about a week, then returned to Kathmandu about the 2nd July, some six weeks after the expedition had set out. It is not known whether they reported the accident to the Nepalese authorities before or after they went to the British Embassy and were interviewed by Col. Proud.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2436899
Year 1953
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) e ridge

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Herbert Maddock M - UK Leader Rhodesia - Details Other expeditions
Harry Hilton M - UK Climber Rhodesia - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.