Journey to Kanjiroba

2002, 55 minutes

Man's historical quest in the Himalayas

A man, a mountain, a dream. This film is the story of how an entire new range of Himalayan peaks was mapped. Of excitement and challenge and exploratory mountaineering. Of one Englishman's forty-year obsession with a mountain. The Himalayas. Towering, forbidding peaks. Not for nothing called the "roof of the world". Earth's highest mountains are so well trodden, it's hard to believe just 40 years ago many had never been conquered. Or mapped. Irresistible to those who could climb - and make maps - the exploratory mountaineers. But uncharted regions exacted a price. Sometimes, the ultimate. What made them run the risk? As this film shows, for many it was about overcoming great odds. Being first. The joy of adventure. One group of peaks, the Kanjiroba Himal in north-western Nepal, became the personal quest of modest English schoolmaster John Tyson. Piecing together their map, his goal. It began in 1961. Equipped with clothing and climbing gear primitive by today's standards, John mounted an expedition to this remote region, where no foreigner had ever been. He went again. And again. The last time in 1998, at the age of 70. The film is the story of this obsession. Of the mapping and climbing of an unknown range of Himalayan peaks. Of true grit, friendships and determination. Of a special breed of person - the exploratory mountaineer.

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