R. L. G. Irving
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Robert Lock Graham Irving (17 February 1877 – 10 April 1969), was an English schoolmaster, climbing writer and mountaineer. As an author, he used the name R. L. G. Irving, while to his friends he was Graham Irving. He is noted for being the person who introduced
George Mallory George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...
to mountaineering.


Life and family

Irving was the son of an
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
clergyman, and was educated at
Liverpool College Liverpool College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Headmasters' Conference. History Liverpool Coll ...
,
Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
and
New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
.''Who Was Who'',
A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...
, online edition, 2020.
He returned to Winchester as a master, teaching French and mathematicsAnderson, Jack
Robert Irving, Conductor, Dies; Music Director for Dance Was 78
dated 17 September 1991, at nytimes.com, accessed 14 July 2008.
and becoming 'Master in College', in charge of the ancient
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
for the holders of foundation scholarships, and founded a climbing group known as the Winchester Ice Club. He married Oriane Sophy Tyndale in 1908 and had two sons, Francis Graham Irving (1910–87) and Robert Irving (1913–91), and two daughters, Mary Oriane and Clare. Robert became a distinguished conductor and was musical director of the
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
, 1958 to 1989, as well as following in his father's footsteps as an amateur mountaineer. In 1991, his daughter's name was Clare Peters. Irving died on 10 April 1969, a few months into his ninety-third year.


Mountaineering

In ''The Romance of Mountaineering'', Irving writes that he was introduced to mountains at an early age: "My earliest recollections of a summer holiday centre round the ascent of a Welsh hill."R. L. G. Irving, ''The Romance of Mountaineering'', London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1935, p. 3 Several years later he began exploring the hills on his own: Irving became a member of the
Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...
in 1902 and was an advocate of climbing without a
mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...
, which in those days was thought by some to be reckless, but which Irving undertook "on account of boredom f being guidedand expense". His climbing partner – a fellow Winchester schoolmaster – having been killed in a fall early in 1904, Irving went on a solitary climbing trip to the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
in the Easter vacation of that year. Finding the experience unsatisfactory – "If you climb for novelty and excitement solitary climbing is the kind to satisfy you; but if you climb for recreation of mind and body it is a failure" – he was left looking for new people with whom to climb during the summer of 1904. He took to finding companions – he called them "recruits" – for his alpine trips from within the ranks of seventeen- and eighteen-year-old boys at Winchester College, the enlistment of the first of whom (Harry Gibson) The second of these recruits was "a special friend of the first howas soon enlisted, and the planning of the campaign began". This was the seventeen-year-old
George Mallory George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...
, a mathematics scholar at Winchester who later disappeared on the 1924 British Expedition to
Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
. As Irving later remarked, "It was just chance that I took out to the Alps in 1904 a boy destined to become so famous on Everest." Much of Irving's fame derives from his being the person who introduced Mallory to mountaineering. Aside from Gibson and Mallory, who both went on the first trip in 1904, other members of the Winchester Ice Club were
Guy Bullock Guy Henry Bullock (23 July 1887 – 12 April 1956) was a British diplomat who is best known for his participation in the 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition. As expedition mountaineers, he and George Mallory found a northern acc ...
(who, along with Mallory, was the first to reach Mount Everest's
North Col __NOTOC__ The North Col (; ) refers to the sharp-edged pass carved by glaciers in the ridge connecting Mount Everest and Changtse in Tibet. It forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. When climbers attempt to climb Everest via the North Rid ...
, in 1921) and Harry Tyndale. According to Irving's address to the
Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...
, entitled 'Five Years with Recruits', the Ice Club's series of controversial expeditions to climb some of the highest mountains in the Alps began in 1904, and peaks such as the
Grand Combin The Grand Combin is a mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. At a height of the summit of ''Combin de Grafeneire'' is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and the second most prominent of the Pennine Alps. The Gran ...
,
Dent Blanche The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. Naming The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby De ...
, Aiguille du Blaitière,
Bietschhorn The Bietschhorn (3,934 m) is a mountain in canton Wallis to the south of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. The northeast and southern slopes of the mountain are part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area (formerly ''Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhor ...
, Aiguille de Bionnassay, Grunhorn,
Mittaghorn The Mittaghorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is situated in the middle of the Lauterbrunnen Wall The Lauterbrunnen Wall is a term used in the English language, English-spe ...
,
Aletschhorn The Aletschhorn () is a mountain in the Alps in Switzerland, lying within the Jungfrau-Aletsch region, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The mountain shares part of its name with the Aletsch Glacier lying at its foot. T ...
,
Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...
and
Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...
were successfully ascended. Rock climbing trips were also undertaken to
Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...
, using the
Pen-y-Gwryd Pen-y-Gwryd is a mountain pass, pass at the head of Nantygwryd and Nant Cynnyd rivers close to the foot of Snowdon in Gwynedd, Wales. The area is located at the junction of the A4086 road, A4086 from Capel Curig to Llanberis and Caernarfon and t ...
hotel as a base, and snow craft was practised in the
Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...
in winter. The feelings of the Alpine Club towards the leading of boys up potentially dangerous mountains were expressed in a 'Condemnation', in which
Tom George Longstaff Tom George Longstaff (15 January 1875 – 26 June 1964) was an English medical doctor, explorer and mountaineer, most famous for being the first person to climb a summit of over 7,000 metres in elevation, Trisul, in the India/Pakistan Himalay ...
stated that he "did not think that members would agree with him about the advisability of such expeditions". This was followed by 'A Disclaimer', published in the ''
Alpine Journal The ''Alpine Journal'' (''AJ'') is an annual publication by the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. History The journal was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longman in London, ...
'' for 1909 and signed by mountain climbers including Longstaff,
Geoffrey Winthrop Young Geoffrey Winthrop Young (25 October 1876 – 8 September 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering. Young was born in Kensington, the middle son of Sir George Young, 3rd Baronet, a n ...
,
Claud Schuster Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, (22 August 1869 – 28 June 1956), was a British barrister and civil servant noted for his long tenure as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office. Born to a Manchester, Mancunian business family, ...
, W. P. Haskett Smith and
D. W. Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was president of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club. He was ...
, in which these members of the club, and nine others, ' esireto place on record that we disclaim responsibility for any encouragement which Mr. Irving's paper may give to expeditions undertaken after the manner therein described'. However, as Claire Engel wrote in 1971, "it seems that Irving's methods have been adopted by various organisations." Irving continued to climb with Mallory after the latter had left Winchester; in 1911 Irving led Mallory and another of his ex-pupils, Harry Tyndale, on the third ascent of the Kuffner (or Frontier) ridge on
Mont Maudit Mont Maudit (4,465 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in France and Italy. The French name literally means "Cursed Mountain". Until the end of the 18th century, Mont Blanc and its satellite peaks were collectively known in French as the ...
. According to Helmut Dumler, Mallory was "apparently prompted by the death of friends on the Western Front in 1916 o writea highly emotional article of his ascent of this great climb"; this article was published as 'Mont Blanc from the Col du Géant by the Eastern Buttress of Mont Blanc' in the ''Alpine Journal''. Irving's book ''Ten Great Mountains'' (1940) sets out the climbing history up to then of
Snowdon Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...
,
Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William. The mount ...
,
Ushba Ushba ( ka, უშბა) is one of the most notable peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. It is located in the Svaneti region of Georgia, just south of the border with the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia. Although it does not rank in the 10 highe ...
,
Mount Logan Mount Logan ( ) is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America after Denali (McKinley). The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada ...
,
Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...
,
Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...
,
Kanchenjunga Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...
, the
Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...
,
Mount Cook Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, , is listed as . It is situated in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite ch ...
and Mont Blanc. Irving kept up to date with mountaineering developments in the
Greater Ranges The Roof of the World or Top of the World is a metaphoric epithet or phrase used to describe the highest region in the world, also known as High Asia. The term usually refers to the mountainous interior of Asia, including the Pamirs, the Himalay ...
, writing of the
Muztagh Tower Muztagh Tower (), also Mustagh Tower; ''Muztagh'': icy mountain), is a mountain situated in Baltoro Muztagh, which is a segment of the Karakoram range. It straddles the border of the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and the Xinjiang Uyghur ...
(7,273 m) in the Karakorum that it was "Nature's last stronghold – probably the most inaccessible of all the great peaks, its immense precipices show no weakness in its defence". In a pamphlet called ''The Mountains Shall Bring Peace'' (1947), Irving describes the benefits he has had from his own climbing and proposes greater participation in mountaineering as a way to achieve international brotherhood and peace.


Books and articles by Irving

*'The Ligurian Alps in Spring', ''Alpine Journal'', August 1911 *'Une nuit d'avril ... à la Brèche de Roland et au Taillon', ''La Montagne'' (journal of the
Club alpin français Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...
), Sept–Oct 1929 *''The Romance of Mountaineering '', J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1935 *''La conquête de la montagne'', Paris, Payot (Bibliothèque géographique), 1936 *''The Mountain Way, an anthology in prose and verse, collected by R. L. G. Irving'', xxii + 656 pp., London, J. M. Dent, 1938; New York, Dutton, 1938Neate, Jill, ''Mountaineering Literature: A Bibliography of Material Published in English''
page 88
online at books.google.co.uk, accessed 14 July 2008.
*''The Alps'', London, B. T. Batsford, 1938; New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940; revised editions, B. T. Batsford, 1942 and 1947 *''Ten Great Mountains'', J. M. Dent & Sons, 1940 *(As translator), ''My Caves'', from the French of Norbert Casteret, London, J.M. Dent & Sons, 1947 *''The Mountains Shall Bring Peace'', iv + 47 pp., Oxford, Blackwell, 1947 *(With Guido Rey), ''The Matterhorn'': Guido Rey's ''Il Monte Cervino'' was first published in English in 1907, in a translation from the Italian by J. E. C. Eaton; a revised edition, with two further chapters by R. L. G. Irving, was published in Oxford by
Basil Blackwell Sir Basil Henry Blackwell (29 May 18899 April 1984) was an English bookseller. Biography Blackwell was born in Oxford, England. He was the son of Benjamin Henry Blackwell (18491924), founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford, which went on to beco ...
, 1946, and reprinted in 1949 *(As translator), ''Cave Men New and Old'', from the French of Norbert Casteret, London, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1951 *''A History of British Mountaineering'', B. T. Batsford, 1955


Selected quotations

*"There are routes up many peaks in the Alps, Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn being conspicuous examples, on which a solitary climber risks little more than a man who wanders alone on a wild Yorkshire moor." – R. L. G. Irving, from ''Alpine Journal'' (1909) *"A mountain becomes great as a human personality does, by extending its influence over the thoughts, words and actions of mankind." – R. L. G. Irving, from ''Ten Great Mountains'', 1940 *"Mountains... by the interchange of what we have given them and they have given us, there is a part of our personality in them and of theirs in us that is indestructible." – R. L. G. Irving, from ''Alpine Journal'' (1937)R. L. G. Irving, ''Alpine Journal'', Vol. XLIX (1937), p. 164.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Robert Lock Graham 1877 births 1969 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford English mountain climbers Historians of mountaineering People educated at Liverpool College People educated at Winchester College Teachers at Winchester College Climbing and mountaineering writers