EVEREST RECONNAISSANCE EXPEDITION 1951: YETI FOOTPRINTS IN THE MENLUNG BASIN: SET OF FOUR ORIGINAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS

Publisher: Topical Press, UK
Price: £7500.00
Date: 13th December 1951
Sheet Size: Photographs 1 & 2: 15.3cm x 20.6cm including margins. Photographs 3 & 4: 20.3cm x 25.6cm including margins
Format: Original gelatin silver press photographs. Original copyright of ‘The Times’ & ‘Topical Press’
Edition: Not stated. Images originally published in ‘The Times’ on the 7th December 1951
Special Features: Each photograph is stamped and dated to the reverse with copyright information and a description of the photograph

Description:

This complete set of Eric Shipton’s four ‘Yeti’ photographs has impeccable provenance. Sourced from the recently-dispersed photographic archive of ‘Shields Gazette‘, the oldest provincial evening newspaper in the United Kingdom. These photographs, capturing the enigmatic Yeti footprints, are complete with all their original stamps, date-stamps, and information to the reverse, reflecting the historical significance and intrigue of the 1951 expedition. Overall condition is very good indeed.

• Photographs 1 and 2: Very good indeed condition with minor creasing and traces of a paperclip.
• Photograph 3: Chipped top right-hand corner, closed tear bottom right-hand corner, some creasing, and minor nicks and wear to the edges; good overall condition.
• Photograph 4: Age-spotted to the top edge, closed tear bottom right-hand corner, small chip bottom left-hand corner, minor offsetting, wear, and creasing; very good condition.

Very scarce, especially as a complete and uniformly-dated set.

Related Photographs:

An undated set of Eric Shipton’s four ‘Yeti’ or ‘Abominable Snowman’ carbon photographs has sold twice in recent years. They were smaller in size than the set on offer here but showed slightly more of the surroundings around the boot of Mike Ward and the ice axe. One of the photographs had Tom Bourdillon’s remarks written on the verso:

“Dear Mick, Here are the footprint photos: sorry for the delay. We came across them on a high pass on the Nepal-Tibet watershed during the 1951 Everest expedition. They seemed to have come over a secondary pass at about 19,500 ft, down to 19,000 ft where we first saw them, and then went on down the glacier. We followed them for the better part of a mile. What it is, I don’t know, but I am quite clear that it is no animal known to live in the Himalaya, & that it is big. Compare the depths to which it & Mike Ward (no featherweight) have broken into the snow. Yours, Tom Bourdillon.”

In 2007, the set signed by Bourdillon made £3500 at Christie’s, and in 2014 the same set commanded £6875 at the same rooms. These must have been printed pre-July 1956 as Bourdillon lost his life in a mountaineering accident in that year but it is unlikely that they date from as early as the set dated December 1951 that we are offering here.

Historical Context:

The 1951 Everest Expedition was a pivotal reconnaissance mission aimed at exploring potential routes to the summit of Mount Everest from the south side. Led by British mountaineer Eric Shipton, the expedition included notable climbers such as Tom Bourdillon, Michael Ward, and Edmund Hillary, who would later achieve fame for his first ascent of Everest in 1953. The primary objective of the 1951 expedition was to identify a feasible route to the summit via the Khumbu Icefall and the Western Cwm, which had not been thoroughly explored before. The team conducted detailed surveys and captured extensive photographic documentation, providing valuable insights for future expeditions.

One of the most intriguing discoveries made during this expedition was the set of unusual footprints in the snow, believed by some to be evidence of the mythical ‘Yeti’. These photographs, taken by Eric Shipton, sparked widespread interest and speculation about the existence of this creature of Himalayan legend.

The 1951 expedition’s successful reconnaissance laid the groundwork for the subsequent 1953 British expedition, which ultimately led to the first successful ascent of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The efforts of the 1951 team were instrumental in mapping the South Col route, which remains one of the most popular routes to the summit today.

Michael Ward’s Account:

“In 1951 Sen Tensing, Shipton, and I descended from the Menlung La … at about 16,000-17,000 feet we came across a whole series of footprints in the snow, on the lower part of the glacier. There seemed to be two groups, one rather indistinct in outline leading on to the surrounding snowfields. The others were much more distinct with, in places, a markedly individual imprint etched in the 2- to 4-inch covering of snow. We had no means of measuring so after examining them Shipton took four photographs: two of the indistinct prints with myself, my footprints, and rucsac beside them for comparison; the other two photographs were of one of the most detailed and distinct group of prints, with my ice axe for scale, and a second one with my booted foot. The footprint was about the same length as my boot, and I take a size 42 continental, or 8½ British, which is about 12 to 13 inches long. The print was nearly twice as broad as my boot (3 to 4 inches) and had clear-cut edges in the crystalline snow on a base of firm snow ice. There was the definite imprint of a big toe that was broader and shorter than the other rather indistinct toes, of which there seemed to be four or five. We followed these tracks for some way down the easy glacier and noticed that whenever a narrow 6-inch-wide crevasse was crossed there seemed to be claw marks in the snow at the end of the toe imprints. … Two days later we were joined by Murray and Bourdillon, who, after visiting the Nangpa La … had followed our route into the Menlung Basin. All tracks had been deformed by the sun and wind.” (Michael Ward, ‘Everest 1951: the footprints attributed to the Yeti — myth and reality’, Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 8, 29-32 (1997)).

Shipton’s photographs ignited speculation about the existence of a Yeti which had been growing since N.A. Tombazi made the first European sighting during an expedition to the Sikkim Himalaya in 1925. Edmund Hillary had a further encounter in 1952 on a pass between the Ngojumba and Khumbu glaciers: “We were climbing quite a steep pitch when Pemba stopped and picked something off the rock. Obviously greatly excited, he showed it to Angpemba. Feeling somewhat curious, I asked them what it was all about. They placed in my hand a tuft of long black hairs — thick and coarse, they looked more like bristles than anything else. ‘Yeti, Sahib! Yeti!’ I couldn’t help being impressed by their conviction, and it did seem a strange place to find some hair. We were well over 19,000 feet and the Abominable Snowman was obviously no mean rock climber” (Hillary, High Adventure, 1955, p. 103).

Following these various incidents, Hillary mounted an expedition in 1960 to collect and evaluate evidence of the Yeti, with inconclusive results. British mountaineer Don Whillans was a fervent believer, claiming he encountered the Yeti while scaling Annapurna in 1970. He observed a few human-like footprints in the snow around his camp one morning and, that evening, claimed that through binoculars he watched a bipedal, ape-like creature for about 20 minutes as it apparently searched for food not far from his camp.

The Yeti remains one of cryptozoology’s highest profile creatures. Does it really exist? There is a distinct lack of hard scientific evidence for it, but the members on this expedition swore blind that they didn’t hoax the photographs … so what made them? (Christie’s, The Property of a Lady, 2014).

Location: Map drawer C: Folder: 3001

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