White Mountain
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Mao Zedong, 339, 341, 348
maps, x-xiii, 2, 17, 120, 200, 266, 367, 396; ‘Great Arc,’ 144–6, 148, 153; Great Survey of India, 144, 148, 149, 151, 153, 155; historical, 137–8, 143–4; ideal of accuracy, 143–4, 147, 148, 157, 428; imaginary/‘mind maps,’ 33–4, 143 (see also Mercator projection); mapping expeditions, 139, 148, 151, 301; in practice, 142–51, 157–8, 202, 282; trig points, 149
marijuana, 355
Marpa the Translator (Buddhist teacher), 48–9
Mason, Kenneth: quoted, 43
Maxim machine gun, 223, 225, 227
meditation, 56, 94, 95, 100, 109, 125
Mercator projection, 17
Merkl, Willy, 175; Merkl couloir, 177–8
Mesopotamia, 33, 34
Messner, Günther, 175, 176–81
Messner, Reinhold, 248, 250–2, 279, 280–1, 353–4, 384; Everest expedition, 363–4, 379; methodology, 62–3, 172, 173, 197, 274; Nanga Parbat expedition, 175–81; quoted, xiv, 32, 180–181, 252, 345
Milarepa (Buddhist mystic), 48–53, 62; Miracle Cave, 51
Miura, Yuichiro, 64
Mohamed-i-Hameed, 133
Monasticism/monasteries/monks, 14–16, 47–8, 54–5, 59–61, 67, 103, 107, 110-11, 116, 183–5, 187, 203–5, 235, 295–6, 319–20. see also Dharamsala monastery; India: Tawang Monastery; Nechung Monastery; Saint Bernard Monastery; Sarmoung monastery
Mondo, K.K., 313–15, 316
Mongolia/Mongols, 61, 125, 159, 218, 242, 288, 290, 298, 319; Altai mountains, 17, 23; Buryats, 289, 293, 295, 298
monkey gods, 46–7, 115 ill
monsoon season, 26, 39, 40–43, 103, 150, 155, 379, 402, 411
Mont Blanc, 68–9, 71
Montgomerie, Captain Thomas, 133–6, 140, 141
Mount Everest (a.k.a. Chomolungma, Peak ‘b’), 13, 44, 75, 151, 180, 197, 248, 250, 273–4, 279, 306; ‘British’ mountain, 173, 175, 186; attempts on, 171–2, 185, 186–7, 188, 249, 251, 262, 274–80, 300, 303, 362, 376–93; climbing season, 41; conquered, 175, 180, 248, 280, З44–7, 353, 363, 379; diverse routes, 278–9, 349, 359, 379, 384; glaciation, 26, 277, 378; height, 25, 70, 148, 152–6, 257, 360–61, 378, 379; naming, 12, 154; pronunciation, 12; summit, 25, 63–4, 248, 275, 384, 390; use of ladders, 276
Mount Olympus, 67, 68, 279–80
mountaineers, see climbers
mules, 211–12, 265, 314; ‘zebrules,’ 211–12; kyangs/wild asses, 212, 214, 314–15
Mummery, Albert F., 172, 173–5, 176, 178, 179
Murray, W.H. ‘Bill’: quoted, 249
Muslims, see Islam
mythos/mythology, 7, 36, 45–56, 58, 82, 123–4, 129; ‘power spot’/‘powerhouse,’ 91, 126 + ill, 128, 283–5. see also Shambhala
Napoleon I, 122–4, 189, 286
Naro Bon-Chung (Bon magician), 48–53
Narpa people, 80–81, 86–7
Nazis, 326–31
Nebesky-Wojkowitz, René von, 112–18; Oracles and Demons of Tibet, 113, 114–16; quoted, 117
Nechung Monastery, 332–3;
Lama/state oracle, 332–5, 337
Nehru, Jawaharlal, 128–9, 338, 340–41; quoted, 341
Nepali people, 73, 77, 80, 81, 82, 101, 102, 106, 138, 210, 247, 339. 344. З46, 367
Newbolt, Henry: quoted, 159
nitric oxide, 74, 76
nitrous oxide, 80
nomads, 58–9, 101, 104, 203, 204, 266,307–9, 354
Norton, Edward ‘Teddy’, 275, 360
nuclear weapons, 348–9
nunnery, 95–7
O’Connor, Captain Fredrick, 217–18, 219; quoted, 217
Observatoire Vallot, 71
oedema, 197
opium, 355–6, 424, 425, 429
oracles, 104, 113, 117, 122, 298, 321–2, 332–7
Ouspensky, Peter, 283–4, 289
oxygen/O2, 77–8, 83, 196–7, 260, 275–6, 392–3; and the body, 64–76, 85, 93, 383, 386–7, 389–90; climbing without, 25, 75, 175, 180, 248, 275, 353, 360, 363, 384, 386; cylinders for climbing, 171, 189, 274, 347, 359–60, 363, 383–8, 390. see also carbon dioxide/CO2
Padmasambhava (a.k.a. Guru Rinpoche, teacher/demonslayer), 107–10
Pakistan, 26, 34, 122; Attock, 173; Balti people, 160, 163, 165, 166, 194–5, 197; Baltoro glacier, 166, 190, 191, 194, 196; Biafo glacier, 194; Gilgit, 43; Hunza Valley, 41, 43; Karachi, 153; Kohat, 159; Murree, 41; Mustagh Pass, 158–62, 166; Nagir Valley, 43; Rawalpindi, 173; Skardu, 122–3, 160, 191; Swat Valley, 122
Passage to India,A (the movie), 5
Pawsey, Sir Charles, 400, 403
Peak ‘b.’ see Mount Everest
Pehar (deity), 333, 336
Peking (Beijing), 137, 139, 165, 241–3
People’s Liberation Army (PLA), 341–3
plate tectonics, 22, 23, 24–27, 35, 46
Pliny the Elder: Natural History quoted, 247
Potala Palace, 59, 240, 244 309–10, 318
prayers, 79, 87, 141, 186, 224, 296; prayer flags, 55, 79,187 ill; prayer stones, 58 ill; prayer wheel, 136–7, 138, 322
proverbs, 89; Afghan, 80, 152; Balti, 3, 88, 93, 121, 132; Bhutanese, 300, 326, 376; Garwhal, 293, 305, 312; Himalayan, 8, 14, 45, 92, 112, 282; Ladakhi, 28, 98, 358, 430, xiv; Lepcha, 38, 142, 157, 167, 273; Naga, 288, 353, 397, 427; Nepalese, 19, 230, 319, 325, 344, 348, 355, 365; Pushtun, 62, 240; Tibetan, 54, 57, 127, 170, 182, 188, 201, 207, 210, 221, 227, 233, 245, 256, 263, 332, 338, 407, 413, 423
Pun, Havildar Karbir (Indian Order of Merit), 229
‘pundits,’ 132–41, 198; equipage, 136–7
racial anthropology, 326–8
railways (in India), 407–12
Ramoche Temple, 101
Rhodes, Cecil, 241
Richardson, Hugh, 326, 328
Ringang, R.D., 316, 317–18
rivers, 28–37, 182–3, 411; Beas, 122; floating corpses, 28, 30; Ganges, 28–32, 29 ill, 34, 36, 111, 352; Helmand, 32; Indus, 31, 32, 34, 35–6, 108, 172–3,191–2, 265, 267–8, 313; Karnali, 31; Mekong, 248; Oxus, 32; Sutlej (a.k.a. Satadree), 31, 34, 36, 267; Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, 31, 32–3, 35, 36, 139, 230, 243, 265, 267–8, 300–301, 431; Yarkand, 161
rockfall, 19, 24
Roerich, Nicholas, 182–3, 287–92
Roosevelt, President Franklin D., 292
Royal Geographical Journal, 135
Rugby School, 312–14, 316
Rumi, 125
Russian Czars, 209, 288–9, 294, 298
Russian Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU), 283, 290
Saint Bernard Monastery, 67
Sanskrit, 16, 31, 103, 110, 121, 183–5,397
Santarakshita (monk/teacher), 106–7, 110
Sarmoung monastery, 285
Sawyer, Lieutenant Herbert, 217
Schäfer, Professor Ernst, 250–3, 328, 330–31; quoted, 250, 251
science, 20, 21, 22, 27, 286, 301, 303, 335, 360
Scott, Doug, 304, 376–7
Scott, James, 39–40, 367–74; quoted, 372, 374
Searle, Dr Mike: quoted, 22–3
Shah, Idries, 3–4; quoted, 133, 278, 320
shamanism, 10, 52, 54, 61, 62, 77–8, 98, 128, 286
Shambhala, 125, 126, 127, 209, 282, 283, 286, 290, 291–2, 296–7
Sheppard, Captain Seymour, 231
Sherpa people, 248, 253
Sherpas, 175, 189, 248, 249, 253, 278, 279, 303, 327–8, 345, 347, 351, 362, 378–9, 383, 388
Shigatse, 139
Shinje (Judge of the Dead), 237–9
Shipton, Eric, 172, 187, 248, 249, 251–2, 276, 300, 345,351, 357
Siberia, 293–9, 294–5, 296
Sikdar, Radhanath, 153
Sikhism/Sikhs, 31, 213, 215–16, 222, 224, 225
Silk Road, 14, 17–18, 106; Shipki La, 34
Singh, Nain, 136, 137–141
‘singers of songs,’ 54–6
Siwa, 122
sleep apnoea, 66
smoking, 75–6, 275, 357
Smythe, Frank, 251–2, 267, 357
snow blindness/
sun blindness, 65, 77,191,195,260,303, 314
solar system, 35
Songsten Gampo, 47, 58–9, 61, 101, 106, 110
space travel, 171
‘squirrel-suiting,’ 5
Sri Lanka, 100
Stalin, Joseph, 284, 286–7, 290, 292, 294–5, 297, 328–9, 341, 348
Stanley, Sir Henry Morton, 182, 265
Steppes (Eurasian), 17, 55
Stockholm syndrome, 117
storytellers, 54–6
Strachey, Sir Henry, 267
Sufism, 5, 125, 284, 285, 289–90
summits, 25, 32, 51, 61, 67, 68, 69, 79, 146, 154, 171, 172, 175, 176–7, 186, 196, 273, 275–6, 282, 353, 360, 361; ‘seven summits,’ 171
Sun Yat-sen, 243
superstition, 278, 409–10
Sykes, Professor Bryan, 253–5; quoted, 254
symbolism, 124, 274, 417, 420
Tajikistan: Pamir mountains, 43, 248
Taklakot, 168
tantric Buddhism (a.k.a. Vajrayana), 61, 100, 101, 107–8, 110–111; Kalachakra, 296, 298–9
Tawang, 116, 434–5, 434 Ш
technology, 57
telescopes/microscopes, 21–2
Tenzing Norgay, 89, 248, 250, 280, 345–7; quoted, 347
Tethys Ocean, 23, 24, 46
theosophy, 127, 129
Tibetan Book of the Dead, 233–9
Tilman, Major Harold ‘Bill,’ 73, 172, 248, 276, 300–304, 345, 351, 357; quoted, 300, 301, 303
Tissandier, Gaston: quoted, 70
trekkers, trekking, 39, 42, 46, 64
Trison Detson, 106
Tuna, 215–17, 219
Turkestan, 61, 101, 265
Venables, Steve, 75, 172
Viagra, 71–2, 80
Wakefield, Teddy, 312–15
war, 15, 100, 150, 157, 268, 274; British invasion of Tibet, 210, 223, 240–41; First World War, 90, 186, 201, 202, 264, 268, 274, 301, 312, 425; Korea, 338, 341, 342, 348; Russo-Japanese, 201, 318; Second World War, 90, 112, 185, 201, 264, 274, 301, 305, 309, 316, 400–2, 405
Ward, David, 413–20
Waugh, Major General Sir Andrew, 151, 152–3; quoted, 154
weather conditions, 38–44, 57, 153, 178, 196, 198, 377, 384; chhoti barsat (little rain), 41–2, 42 fn
Weathers, Beck, 376–7, 380–83, 385, 386, 389–91
Wegener, Alfred, 22, 24
Wen Ch’ing, Princess, 101–2
Whymper, Edward, 173–4
Wilson, Maurice, 185–7, 362
Wittgenstein. Ludwig: quoted, 10
World Congress of Faiths, 162, 202
yak (a.k.a. drong), 46 + fn, 50, 82, 211 + fn, 235, 252, 266, 318, 356, 375; bells, 374; brains, 308; butter, 161, 233–4; caravan, 265; dung, 81, 216, 217; mythical, 105; rustlers, 210; skin, 306
Yarkand, 35, 133, 160, 190
Yatung, 215, 218
yeti (a.k.a. Abominable Snowman’), 249, 251–2; footprint, 245 ill, 248–9, 251–3
yoga, 67; gTum-mo, 67–8, 94–7
Yong Kong, 413–14, 421–2, 422 ill Younghusband, Colonel Francis, 89, 132–3, 158 + ill, 161–2, 168, 172, 188, 190, 265; Mustagh Pass, 159–61, 162–6, 170, 190; quoted, 215, 218, 219, 220, 240–41; Tibet expedition, 89, 172, 188, 198, 202–3, 203 ill, 212–28,241–2, 259, 265, 288, 292, 294, 313, 317, 339, 342
Zoroastrianism, 16, 125, 353
Zurick, Professor David: quoted, 3
By Robert Twigger
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Lost Oasis: A Desert Adventure: In Search of Paradise
Real Men Eat Puffer Fish
Dr Ragab’s Universal Language (a novel)
Red Nile: A Biography of the World’s Greatest River
WHITE MOUNTAIN
Pegasus Books Ltd
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Copyright © 2017 by Robert Twigger
First Pegasus Books hardcover edition October 2017
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