Charles Geoffrey Wylie OBE (24 December 1919 – 18 July 2007) was a British Army lieutenant colonel who served with 10th Gurkha Rifles [1] and was the organising secretary to the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition.[2]
Charles Wylie | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Charles Geoffrey Wylie |
| Born | 24 December 1919 |
| Died | 18 July 2007 (aged 87) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Commands | 10th Royal Gurkha Rifles |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
Wylie was also an early member of the Army Mountaineering Association, membership number 142, joining in April 1958 shortly after the Association's inauguration in 1957. He was appointed OBE in the 1995 New Year Honours.
Machapuchare, 1957
editIn 1957 Wylie joined an expedition to Machapuchare in Nepal (6,993 m (22,943 ft)) led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Roberts.[3] The party included Roger Chorley, David Cox and Wilfrid Noyce. Wylie climbed to Camp IV at 20,400 ft (6,200 m) with Cox and Noyce. Further progress involved crossing an ice ridge and descending by rope to a glacier below. In order to safeguard the return, Wylie remained at the camp with one of the sherpas whilst Cox and Noyce continued over the ice ridge and thence towards the summit.[4][5]
Cox and Noyce successfully climbed to within 150 ft (46 m) of the summit via the north ridge (an approximate altitude of 22,793 ft (6,947 m)).[4] Whilst they were doing this Wylie and the sherpa, Tashi, dug a tunnel right through the little ridge, 25 ft. below its crest and 15 ft. long to make the return journey shorter and safer for Cox and Noyce.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette". The London Gazette. 19 December 1961. p. 9291. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ^ "Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Wylie". The Telegraph. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ^ "British Machhapuchare 1957". MEF – Mount Everest Foundation. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
- ^ a b Noyce, Wilfrid (1958). "Asia, Nepal, Machapuchare". American Alpine Journal. #11 (32): 118–120. ISSN 0065-6925. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ Noyce, Wilfrid (1998) [1958]. Climbing the fish's tail. Pilgrims Book House. ISBN 978-8173031007. OCLC 857085947. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ Noyce, Wilfred (1957). "Climbing the Fish's Tail" (PDF). Alpine Journal. #62 (94): 113–120. ISSN 0065-6569. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
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