America's Giant- Hidden Peak (Gasherbrum I) Bob Swift 1958

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Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 30, 2012 - 03:42pm PT

The year I was born, 1958, was a very big year in the Karakoram. Bob Swift was there as a member of the American Karakoram Expedition led by Nick Clinch. This was America's shining moment in the Big Game, an unclimbed 8,000 meter peak! This account of the Hidden Peak (Gasherbrum I) climb appeared in The Mountain World 1960/61 a wonderful collection of largely expeditionary writing published by the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research. Great source for unusual accounts. Nick wrote the official version, 'A Walk in the Sky: Climbing Hidden Peak' in 1959 but it had to wait until 1982 to be published by Mountaineers Books.

Hopefully Bob will join in with a few recollections. I had the pleasure of having coffee with Nick recently and perhaps he might even be tempted to tell a tale or two.

Fritz

Trad climber

Choss Creek, ID

Jun 30, 2012 - 04:13pm PT

Steve! Thanks for taking the time to post this great story.

Mighty Hiker

climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Jun 30, 2012 - 08:09pm PT

Thanks, Steve - another fine tidbit of history. The highest peak ever to be first ascended by US climbers. And in the case of Pete Schoening, richly deserved after his heroics on K2 four years earlier.

Photo of Nick Clinch at http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=266279&msg=266279#msg266279

Interesting that on the summit, one of the flags they had was that of free Hungary - less than two years after the 1956 revolt was bloodily repressed.

Nohea

Trad climber

Living Outside the Statist Quo

Jun 30, 2012 - 10:43pm PT

Another great read Steve. Thanks! MH great job on the Free Hungary flag, as a student of history that 56 Budapest revolt is pretty interesting.

You gotta love the adventure of these days and the words chosen to share such.

Aloha,
will

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - Jul 1, 2012 - 08:01pm PT

Bob Swift figures into the Rakaposhi story too...

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1867947/Rakaposhi-Tom-Patey-British-Pakistani-Forces-Expedition-1958

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - Jul 7, 2012 - 03:37pm PT

XXXL Bump...

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 18, 2012 - 11:44pm PT

Giant bump...

Swifter

Social climber

Flagstaff, AZ

Sep 7, 2012 - 11:29am PT

The second ascent of Hidden Peak was made in 1975 by Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander. It is notable that they climbed alpine style, by a new route, no supplemental oxygen. In view of this I thought that Messner was truly gracious in saying “I think you guys did a great job in 1958!”
On the day following the second ascent the team of H. Schell, H. Zefferer and R. Schauer made the third ascent (following the Schoening-Kauffman route.) Along the way they picked up one of our carabiners inadvertently left behind in 1958. I declined their courteous offer to return it!

(Although the site is no longer being maintained, some additional photos from 1958 can be seen at:http://gasherbrum1.org/

Nohea

Trad climber

Living Outside the Statist Quo

Sep 9, 2012 - 11:53pm PT

Read it again today, great stuff! Love the pics off the above cited website, crossing the Indus....what an adventure.

Makes me think of those words, as best I can recall...

Some noble work of note may yet be done
Not unbecoming men who have striven with gods

Big mahalos to the contributors of this thread!

Aloha,
Will

BooDawg

Social climber

Butterfly Town

Sep 10, 2012 - 12:12am PT

In 1974, Dennis Hennek and I went to Nick Clinch's house in Pasadena to research our up-coming expedition to the Afghanistan Hindu Kush. (Nick had what he guessed was the second biggest/best private mountaineering library in the U.S., after Frances Farquahr, I think. He thought Frances' library should have gone to the AAC, not UCLA Special Collections[I think].)

Anyway, that night, Nick told us that the "mainstream" American Himalayan climbers of the day (I don't remember now who exactly he was referring to.) did think the 1958 Hidden Peak Expedition had very little high altitude experience since none of them had been to the Himalaya before. But Nick pointed out that they had ALL been above 20,000' in South America!

I remember reading an account of this trip shortly afterward, and it inspired me to take an interest mountaineering much as the first ascent of Everest did 5 years earlier.

Great thread! Thanks Steve, once again!

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Sep 10, 2012 - 12:44am PT

Great post Steve.

This was the real deal for us young lads. 58 was my first year climbing in the Valley and names like Swift, Irvin and Schoening and their foreign escapades were a fantasy that could never happen to us. 30 years later I met Irvin in Nepal and we quickly became friends and shared many a tale and intrique about not only climbing but also sailing.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Topic Author's Reply - May 10, 2013 - 11:18am PT

Bump for Bob...

Nohea

Trad climber

Living Outside the Statist Quo

Jul 29, 2013 - 07:57pm PT

Happy Monday! Good stuff here

chill

climber

between the flat part and the blue wobbly thing

Jul 29, 2013 - 08:25pm PT

Much to my concern I noted that most of our canned meat was either ox-tail or ox-tongue, neither a particular favourite of mine. I pondered frequently on the apparent ability of the English to raise bovine creatures with no mid-sections.

Pretty damn funny.