Bernadette McDonald - Keeper of the Mountains: The Elizabeth Hawley Story

I am grateful to the people who assisted me in this writing adventure. To Helen Cherullo of The Mountaineers Books, I offer thanks for inviting me to do this project and for her ongoing support and encouragement; and to Don Gorman of Rocky Mountain Books, thank you for this new paperback edition with its lovely new title. In the beginning, I would not have been able to accept Helens invitation if The Banff Centre had not granted me a six-month leave, during which time I researched and wrote parts of the manuscript thank you to Banff Centre President Mary Hofstetter for allowing me that flexibility. Thanks also go to the Mountain Culture dream team for their unwavering support.

Richard Salisbury provided me with important cooperation and insights, even in the midst of his own Elizabeth Hawley project. Paula Rondina helped me with valuable research. Woody MacPhail ensured that the audiotapes I recorded in Kathmandu were of the highest quality and Yvonne Dixon kindly lent me her recording equipment. Fran Hunziker gave me the use of her backyard cabin in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as German shepherds Max and Murphy to protect me. Catherine Destivelle provided a writing space with the most inspiring view in Provence. At the beginning of the project, Charlie Houston wrote a letter to Elizabeth Hawley promising her that I wasnt an ogre, and Sir Edmund and Lady Hillary assured me (and Elizabeth) that this was a good idea. Broughton Coburn lent me books and was always interested and encouraging. Meg and Michael Leonard entrusted me with a priceless box of letters and photographs that opened the door to Elizabeths early life. Maria Coffey lent me her interview tape from a previous book project and was supportive, as was Lisa Choegyal, who sent many helpful emails and images. Thank you to Ang Rita for delivering faxes to Elizabeth when I couldnt get through to her directly. Special gratitude also goes to the people who generously read through early versions of the manuscript and advised me Geoff Powter, John Porter and Leslie Taylor and to Anne Ryall for her meticulous fact checking. Also, a huge thank you goes out to Bob A. Schelfhout Aubertijn for his marathon fact-checking effort on this new edition of the book.

Additionally, I want to thank all those who wracked their memories for Liz Hawley stories to share. Although not all are mentioned in this book, their interviews helped inform the effort. Sincere thanks to: Sir Edmund Hillary, Lady Hillary, Sir Chris Bonington, Reinhold Messner, George Band, Toma Humar, Ed Viesturs, Jean-Christophe Lafaille, Doug Scott, David Breashears, Audrey Salkeld, Tom Hornbein, Tashi Tenzing, Charles Houston, Robin Houston, Arlene Blum, Kurt Diemberger, Rebecca Stephens, Voytek Kurtyka, Greg Child, John Porter, Silvo Karo, Marija and Andrej tremfelj, Junko Tabei, Conrad Anker, Frances Klatzel, Ken Wilson, Carlos Buhler, Christian Beckwith, Geoff Powter, Bernard Newman, John Roskelley, Richard Salisbury, Harish Kapadia, Reudi Eisland, Tamotsu Ohnishi, Erhard Loretan, Stephen Venables, Ed Webster, Catherine Destivelle, Dave Hahn, Eric Simonson, Lisa Choegyal, Leo Dickinson, David Schlim, Ed Douglas, Bill Crouse, Broughton Coburn, Mary Lowe, George Lowe, Russell Brice, Lindsay Griffin, Heather Macdonald, Sharon Wood, Michael Brown, Meg Leonard, Michael Leonard, Alex Lwow, Elaine King, Lee Kneerim, Will Kneerim, Eleanor Schwartz, Bernadette Vasseux, Kunda Dixit, Ang Rita, Lydia Bradey, Jean-Michel Asselin, Dr. Bekha Bahadur Thapa, Gopal Sharma and Bahadur Garung.

Those who generously provided photographs include Heather Macdonald, Meg and Michael Leonard, Elizabeth Hawley, Lisa Choegyal, Colin Monteath, Alex Lwow, Ed Webster, Toma Humar and Jimmy Chin.

Elizabeths life in Nepal is fundamentally tied to the mountaineering achievements of the past 40 years, and so the efforts of countless climbers play a major role in her story. Many climbs and climbers of great significance are not included, however, because the selection of stories for this book was driven by a connection to Elizabeth, rather than their place in mountaineering history. I sincerely thank all the climbers whose stories have so enriched this book.

My deep appreciation goes to Christine Hosler of The Mountaineers Books for her patience as she guided me through the process; to my editor, Helen Whybrow, for the enlightening and surprisingly enjoyable experience of working on this manuscript; and to Brenda Pittsley for her meticulous copy editing. Thank you to Sir Edmund for writing the foreword with such enthusiasm, as well as to my husband, Alan, for tolerating and encouraging me as I lived, ate and breathed Elizabeth Hawley stories for 18 months.

Finally, thank you to Elizabeth Hawley, for putting aside her skepticism about the project and for cooperating with me in such a wholehearted and enthusiastic manner. She opened her home and her files to me, gave me access to her personal papers, offered me glimpses of her wonderful sense of humour and dug deep into her memory bank to provide me with more stories and images than I ever dreamed of. It was a rare privilege to work with her.

Periodicals and Newspapers

Alpin nr. 9

American Alpine Journal, 1970, 1992

Bangkok World, August 17, 1970

Daily Telegraph, London North Edition, November 16, 1972

Gripped, Summer 2004

Kuala Lumpur Straits Times, August 25, 1970

Nepali Times, April 12, 2003

New York Times, October 6, 1979

Outside Online, December 23, 2003

Peninsula Times Tribune, August 3, 1983

Rock & Ice, November/December 1994

, September 2004

San Jose Mercury News, August 19, 1973

The Sunday Times, May 28, 1972

Time, October 27, 1986

General

Band, George. Everest: 50 Years on Top of the World. London: HarperCollins, 2003.

Bernstein, Jeremy. The Wildest Dreams of Kew: A Profile of Nepal. New Delhi: Book Faith India, 1998.

Bista, Dor Bahadur. Fatalism and Development: Nepals Struggle for Modernization. Calcutta: Orient Longman, 2001.

Bonington, Chris. Everest the Hard Way. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1976.

. The Everest Years: A Climbers Life. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1986.

Boukreev, Anatoli, and G. Weston DeWalt. The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest. New York: St. Martins Griffin, 1997.

Curran, Jim. High Achiever: The Life and Climbs of Chris Bonington. London: Constable & Co., 1999.

Diemberger, Kurt. Spirits of the Air. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1991.

Douglas, Ed. Chomolungma Sings the Blues. London: Constable & Co., 1997.

Douglas, Ed, and David Rose. Regions of the Heart: The Triumph and Tragedy of Alison Hargreaves. London: Penguin, 1999.

Fanshawe, Andy, and Stephen Venables. Himalaya Alpine-Style. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995.

Gregson, Jonathan. Blood Against the Snows: The Tragic Story of Nepals Royal Dynasty. London: Fourth Estate, 2002.

Hawley, Elizabeth, and Richard Salisbury. The Himalayan Database: The Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley. Golden, Colo.: American Alpine Club Press, 2004.

Hemmleb, Jochen, Larry Johnson and Eric Simonson. Ghosts of Everest. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 1999.

Hillary, Edmund. View from the Summit. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.

Hillary, Louise. A Yak for Christmas. New York: Doubleday, 1969.

Humar, Toma. No Impossible Ways. Ljubljana: Mobitel, 2001.

Iyer, Pico. Video Night in Kathmandu and Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East. New York: Knopf, 1988.

Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air. New York: Villard, 1997.