Raymond Lambert
Encyclopedia
Raymond Lambert was a Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 mountaineer, who with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay
Tenzing Norgay
Padma Bhushan, Supradipta-Manyabara-Nepal-Tara Tenzing Norgay, GM born Namgyal Wangdi and often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer...

 reached an altitude of 8611 metres (just 237 metres from the summit) of Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...

 in May 1952. At the time it was the highest point that a climber had ever reached
World altitude record (mountaineering)
In the history of mountaineering, the world altitude record referred to the highest point on the Earth's surface which had been reached, regardless of whether that point was an actual summit. The world summit record referred to the highest mountain to have been successfully climbed...

. There was a second Swiss expedition in autumn 1952, but a party including Lambert and Tenzing was forced to turn back at a slightly lower point. The following year Tenzing returned with Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE , was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest – see Timeline of climbing Mount Everest...

 to reach the summit on 29 May 1953.

Early mountaineering

He was born Raymond Jules Eugene Lambert in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, where he made his home for his entire life. Lambert was member to a group of elite Genevois climbers. With this group, Lambert tested his skills against French, German and Italian rivals to become the first ascenders of the hardest new climbs in the Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...

 Range. Second ascents of the Croz Spur on the Grandes Jorasses
Grandes Jorasses
The Grandes Jorasses is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif.The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain was by Horace Walker with guides Melchior Anderegg, Johann Jaun and Julien Grange on 30 June 1868...

 and the North Face of the Drus
Aiguille du Dru
The Aiguille du Dru is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps, lying to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley.The mountain has two summits:...

 (where his name is immortalised in the Fissure Lambert) put him at the forefront of international mountaineering; however, it was one climb in particular, in 1938, that gave Lambert true legendary status: a winter ascent of the Aiguilles Diables. Caught in a violent February storm, the climbing party found themselves stranded on the summit of Mont Blanc du Tacul
Mont Blanc du Tacul
Mont Blanc du Tacul is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps situated midway between the Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc....

. Lambert was the only one capable of contacting rescue. After three days sheltering in a crevasse, all of Lambert's toes were severely frostbitten. Subsequently, all of his toes were amputated.

On Everest

For more details on Lambert's first attempt, see 1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition
1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition
Led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, the 1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition saw Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reach a height of about on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record, opening up a new route to Mount Everest and the paving way for further successes by other...

.

Within a year after the amputation, Lambert was climbing again. His mountaineering career continued through the Second World War and in 1952 he was an obvious choice for Edouard Wyss-Dunant
Edouard Wyss-Dunant
Dr. Edouard Wyss-Dunant is a Swiss physician and alpinist. He had a distinguished career in medicine, both in his own country and abroad. He published a number of treatises in hi s professional capacity and was the author of several mountaineering books...

's Genevois expedition to Everest. Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 was now closed to foreigners but Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 had just opened up. The previous year Eric Shipton
Eric Shipton
Eric Earle Shipton CBE was a distinguished British Himalayan mountaineer.-Early years:Born in Ceylon in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. His mother buried her grief by taking Eric and his sister Marge and travelling constantly for the next five years...

's British-New Zealand reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 had climbed the Khumbu Icefall
Khumbu Icefall
The Khumbu Icefall is an icefall at the head of the Khumbu Glacier.The icefall is found at on the Nepali slopes of Mount Everest not far above Base Camp and southwest of the summit. The icefall is regarded as one of the most dangerous stages of the South Col route to Everest's summit...

 and reached the elusive Western Cwm
Western Cwm
Often called the Valley of Silence, the Western Cwm is a broad, flat, gently undulating glacial valley basin terminating at the foot of the Lhotse Face of Mount Everest. It was named by George Leigh Mallory when he first saw it in 1921...

, proving that Everest could be climbed from Nepal. Unfortunately for the British, who had enjoyed exclusive access to the mountain for 21 years, the Nepal government gave the 1952 permit to the Swiss. Building on Shipton's experience, the Genevans reached the head of the Western Cwm and climbed the huge face above to the desolate, wind-swept plateau of the South Col
South Col
The South Col usually refers to the southern col between Mount Everest and Lhotse, the first and fourth highest mountains in the world. When climbers attempt to climb Everest from the southeast ridge in Nepal, their final camp is situated on the South Col...

. Three Swiss climbers and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay
Tenzing Norgay
Padma Bhushan, Supradipta-Manyabara-Nepal-Tara Tenzing Norgay, GM born Namgyal Wangdi and often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer...

 continued towards the summit, pitching a tent at 8,400m. Two returned, leaving Tenzing and Lambert, who had become firm friends, to make a summit attempt. High altitude mountaineering in 1952 was still in its infancy. Even Swiss organisation and technology were not up to the job and, apart from Tenzing, the Sherpas had little experience. Despite the best plans, Tenzing and Lambert now had to spend a night at 8,400m with no sleeping bags and no stove, producing a trickle of drinking water by melting snow over a candle. The oxygen sets were barely operable and when the two men continued in the morning, they were effectively climbing without oxygen. They struggled heroically, at times crawling on all fours, hindered by the dead weight of malfunctioning oxygen sets, finally grinding to a halt near 8595m, approximately 250m short of the summit. Assuming that George Mallory
George Mallory
George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s....

 and Andrew Irvine
Andrew Irvine (mountaineer)
Andrew "Sandy" Comyn Irvine was an English mountaineer who took part in 1924 British Everest Expedition, the third British expedition to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest....

 did not reach higher in 1924, this was the highest than anyone had ever been. Lambert's extraordinary determination was further confirmed that autumn when, alone out of the spring team, he returned for the second Swiss attempt on Everest. This time he and Tenzing were driven back from the South Col by the November jet stream winds and, to the immense relief of the British team, preparing for 1953, the Swiss admitted defeat.

After Everest

Lambert returned to Nepal in 1954, trespassing across the Tibetan frontier to attempt Gaurisankar. Having failed at Gaurisankar, the expedition attempted Cho Oyu
Cho Oyu
Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu lies in the Himalayas and is 20 km west of Mount Everest, at the border between China and Nepal...

, but was turned back by high winds at about 23000 feet.. Lambert returned again to Nepal in 1955 to make the first ascent with Eric Gauchat and Claude Kogan of Ganesh I (7,429m). Subsequent expeditions took him to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Then in 1959 he embarked on a completely new career and by 1963, now married with two children, he was a fully qualified glacier pilot, flying to remote and inaccessible icy areas - a vocation which brought him considerable fame until he finally stopped flying in 1987 at the age of 72.

Honour & Respect

John Hunt
John Hunt
John Hunt may refer to:*John Hunt , Quaker minister, originally from London, England, and one of the "Virginia Exiles"*John Hunt , Quaker minister and journalist from Moorestown, New Jersey...

 recalls meeting Raymond Lambert in 1953 to learn as much as he could about the Swiss attempt on Everest:
"Despite their disappointment, the Swiss were most helpful. However, Raymond told me tactfully, `Monsieur Colonel, vous aurez gros problemes', meaning, I think, that we hadn't a hope in hell."
On 26 May 1953, exactly a year after Lambert's attempt, Hunt himself photographed the skeletal remains of the tent at 8,400m. Said Hunt:
"It brought home the significance of their performance and made me force myself 50m higher up the ridge, to deposit the supplies for our final camp."
Three days later Tenzing and Hillary reached the summit. On the way home, the team stopped off at Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

airport and met the Swiss trail- blazers again. Lord Hunt recalls:
"They offered us unreserved applause. In later years Raymond and I became close friends. He was not a demonstrative person, but the warmth of personality, once bestowed, was very precious to me."

External links

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