Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Charles Evans is the British mountaineer who, in 1953, together with Tom Bourdillon, reached the South Summit ofEverest, the highest point reached by John Hunt’s British expedition before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit. In 1955, he led the British expedition that made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak. A surgeon by training, he was principal of the University College of North Wales (later Bangor University) from 1958, and president of the Alpine Club from 1967 to 1970.
Robert Charles Evans, known as Charles Evans, was theBritish mountaineer who led the 1955 expedition that made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak, having previously served as deputy leader of the British expedition that made the first ascent of Everest in 1953.
Born in Liverpool on 19 October 1918, he grew up in Derwen, North Wales, in a Welsh-speaking family: he did not speak English until he started school. He studied at Shrewsbury School and University College, Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in medicine in 1942 and enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Before the war, he had already climbed numerous classic routes in the Alps; during his military service, he travelled to Sikkim and theHimalayas. Discharged in 1947, he worked as a surgeon in Liverpool until 1957.
In 1952, he took part in the reconnaissance expedition to Cho Oyu led by Eric Shipton, in preparation for an attempt on Everest. In 1953, he was deputy leader of the British expedition led by John Hunt: on 26 May, together with Tom Bourdillon, he became the first person to reach the South Summit ofEverest, just a few dozen metres below the main summit, before being forced to turn back due to a lack of oxygen and insufficient time remaining for a safe descent. The summit was reached three days later, on 29 May, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. In 1955, Evans led the British expedition to Kangchenjunga: on 25 May, George Band and Joe Brown – followed the next day by Norman Hardie and Tony Streather – made the first-ever ascent, stopping a few metres short of the summit out of respect for the religious beliefs of the people of Sikkim.
In 1957, he married Denise Morin, a climber and daughter of the mountaineer Nea Morin; the couple had three children. That same year, he attempted the ascent of Annapurna II with Dennis Davis, but abandoned the attempt due to weather conditions and instead completed the ascent of Annapurna IV.
In 1958, he left the medical profession to take up the post of Principal of the University College of North Wales, later Bangor University, a position he held until 1984; he was also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales between 1965 and 1967. He served as President of the Alpine Club from 1967 to 1970 and was knighted in 1969. In the following years, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which gradually brought his mountaineering career to an end. He died on 5 December 1995.
Mountaineering achievements
classic routes in the Western Alps – 1930s – pre-war repeat ascents
Cho Oyu (8,188 m) – 1952 – reconnaissance expedition led by Eric Shipton, in preparation for Everest
Everest, South Summit (approx. 8,750 m) – 1953 – first ascent, with Tom Bourdillon, as deputy leader of John Hunt’s British expedition
Kangchenjunga (8,586 m) – 1955 – first ever ascent, as expedition leader (summit reached by George Band, Joe Brown, Norman Hardie and Tony Streather)
Annapurna IV (7,525 m) – 1957 – with Dennis Davis, after abandoning the attempt on Annapurna II due to weather conditions
Works
Eye on Everest: A Sketch Book from the Great Everest Expedition, London, Denis Dobson, 1955
On Climbing, Woodstock (Vermont), The Countryman Press, 1955
Kangchenjunga: The Untrodden Peak, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1956 (US edition: New York, E.P. Dutton, 1957)