Newly Climbed Peak Named for Elizabeth Hawley

The French ice climber François Damilano has named a newly climbed peak in Nepal after Elizabeth Hawley, the longtime chronicler of mountaineering in the Himalaya. Damilano made a solo first ascent of Peak Hawley (6,182 meters) in the Dhaulagiri Group in early May, after climbing 7,242-meter Putha Hiunchuli.

Hawley, working in Kathmandu as a reporter for American magazines, began documenting climbing in Nepal with the American Everest expedition in 1963. She eventually became a crucial figure in the success of Sir Ed Hillary’s Himalayan Trust. Although she has never been a climber herself, Hawley, 84, still meets with nearly every expedition in Nepal to record their successes and failures. Her archives have been compiled into two reference works: The Himalayan Database and The Himalaya By the Numbers.

Damilano described Peak Hawley as a beautiful mountain with superb views. He climbed the peak in a single day from a camp at just under 5,000 meters, ascending the northwest face of Putha Himal to reach a ridgeline, and then following this over Aiguille Josephine and Peak Hawley, before descending to the northeast for a 12-hour round trip.

Date of Ascent: May 9, 2008

Source: Planetmountain.com

Comment on this story