Catalogue description Tom Longstaff

This record is held by Mountain Heritage Trust

Details of TLO
Reference: TLO
Title: Tom Longstaff
Description:

"Memories of a mountaineer" was recorded shortly before Longstaff's death and broadcast during an interval in a Proms performance at the Royal Albert Hall. It is believed that the interviewer's voice has been re-recorded as the donor does not think that it is Hamish MacInnes' voice on the recording.

 

Longstaff talks about his trips to the Himalya in 1905, 1907, 1909; his posting to the Hindu Kush; the 1922 Everest expedition; the attempt on Nanda Devi; the ascent of Trisul in 1907 - the jubilee year of the Alpine Club; the invitation from Scott to go to the Antarctic in 1909 which was declined; changes in attitude to mountaineering

: . : :
Note: "
Date: c.1964
Related material:

Records of the Mount Everest Expeditions are held at the Royal Geographical Society
Held by: Mountain Heritage Trust, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

British Broadcasting Corporation

Longstaff, Thomas, 1875-1964, mountaineer
Physical description: 1 compact disc
Access conditions:

This collection is open for consultation. Readers are advised to contact the Mountain Heritage Trust in advance of their visit in order to make an appointment
Immediate source of acquisition:

Donated by Audrey Salkeld
Custodial history:

Donated to Audrey Salkeld by Sally Amos, daughter of Tom Longstaff
Administrative / biographical background:

Longstaff qualified in medicine but never practiced. As a man of independent means he was able to travel and climb wherever he wished. He visited the Himalaya (six times), the Arctic (five times), the Selkirks, the Rockies, the Caucasus and the Alps (twenty times).

 

First ascents of Tiktingen, Latsga, Lakra, Bashiltau and the West Peak of Shkhara were achieved during a trip to the Caucasus in 1903. He reached the rim of the Sanctuary on Nanda Devi in 1905. In 1907 he climbed Trisul (23,360ft) which remained the highest peak ever attained for twenty one years. In 1908 Longstaff was awarded the Gill Memorial.

 

Longstaff discovered the Siachen Glacier in 1909 during a trip to the Karakorum. In 1922 he served as Technical Advisor on the second expedition to Everest.

 

In 1928 Longstaff was awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society and served as President of the Alpine Club, 1947-49. This My Voyage, his autobiography, was published in 1949.

 

He died aged 89 in 1964

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