Journeys

At least two major expeditions involving Dartmouth undergraduates and graduates are slated to embark this spring and early this summer. The Dartmouth Mountaineering Club is mounting an expedition to climb in the northern Cordillera Blanca of Peru, a range of peaks 19,000-21,000 feet high and running north-south about 400 miles north of Lima. Base camp will be at 14,000 feet.

The group of eight climbers, including Peter Gilbert '76, Christian Walker '73, Michael Paine '72, Mark Blatter '78, Robert Gilbert '78, Ernie Lange '75, and Ginger Cox '77, will be attempting several new routes and major ascents between June 15 and August. Walker and Peter Gilbert are the leaders, but most team members have been active in the planning. The cost of the expedition is estimated at $6,000, transportation being the largest single expense.

The other major effort, on the other side of the world, is headed in the opposite direction. Wickliffe Walker '68, Eric Evans '72, and Jonathan Knight '67, along with six other team members, will attempt an American Himalayan Kayak Descent of the Raidak River in Bhutan. Sanctioned by the Royal Government of Bhutan and the American Canoe Association, the team will explore the Raidak River for 30 days beginning this month. The expedition prospectus states that "the primary descent will be made from a point ten miles from Paro Dzong up the Paro Chu, to the Indian border near Phunchholing - a distance of about 90 miles and 9,000 vertical feet. Additional time will be devoted to exploring accessible portions of other tributaries of the Raidak, particularly the Wong Chu near Thimbu. . .

It is not surprising that these place names sound unfamiliar and remote. Bhutan, about the size of Switzerland, is located in the heart of the Himalayas and admitted its first Western visitors in 1973. In addition to extending the limits and possibilities of white water kayaking, the expedition hopes to provide first-hand information on river conditions in South Asia.

Expedition adventuring is a strong Dartmouth tradition, dating back to John Ledyard. Plans are presently in the "talking stage" to retrace Ledyard's route through Russia. The originator of that idea, however, is presently occupied with planning for his possible participation in a major climb of Nanda Devi.

Still another student, Tony Anella '78, is planning to travel the Rio Grande from its source to the Gulf of Mexico as part of a proposed senior honors thesis. "No one," he says, "has ever attempted to trace the entire length of the river being an integral part of the river, i.e. in a kayak."