''The Himalayan Database: The Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley'' is a large digital and published record of mountaineering in the ''Nepalese Himalayas'' since 1903 (i.e. it does not include the ''Pakistan Himalaya'' peaks such as K2 and

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...

etc.), maintained by Richard Salisbury who digitised the records.

Background

The Himalayan Database (HDB), was developed and maintained by

Elizabeth Hawley Elizabeth Hawley (9 November 1923 – 26 January 2018) was an American journalist, author, and chronicler of Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. Hawley's '' The Himalayan Database'' became the unofficial record for climbs in the Nepalese Hima ...

, who remained involved up to her death in 2018. It was published as a CD and an 80-page paperback up until 2017. From 2017 onwards, records of expeditions, their members have been searchable online, or available as a complete downloadable database. It fills in for the absence of officially maintained records. It has been published by the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

. As well as being an important repository for climbing statistics on Himalayan mountains, the database also became known for its decisions to disregard or dispute various climbs.If a mountaineer wants worldwide recognition that they have reached the summit of some of the most formidable mountains in the world, they will need to get the approval of Elizabeth Hawley. Notable cases was the decision not to record a 1990 ascent of

Cho Oyu __NOTOC__ Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalang ...

by British climber

Alan Hinkes Alan Hinkes OBE (born 26 April 1954) is an English Himalayan high-altitude mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. He is the first British mountaineer to claim all 14 Himalayan eight-thousanders (mountains above in height), whic ...

, which put a question-mark over Hinkes' claim to have summited all 14

eight-thousanders The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...

; and the 1997 ascent of

Lhotse Lhotse ( ne, ल्होत्से ; , ''lho tse'', ) is the fourth highest mountain in the world at , after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu ...

by Italian climbers

Fausto De Stefani Fausto is a given name and surname. It is used as a title for: __NOTOC__ Music * ''Fausto'' (opera), an opera by Louise Bertin Films * ''Fausto'' (1993 film), a French film directed by Rémy Duchemin * ''Fausto'' (2018 film), a Canadian film d ...

and

Sergio Martini ceSergio Martini (born 29 July 1949) is an Italian mountaineer. In 2000, he became the seventh person to climb the fourteen eight-thousander The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the ...

which forced

to reclimb Lhotse in 2000 to verify he had climbed all 14

(De Stefani decided not to re-climb).

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

The Himalayan Database
main website for the database
Graphical Interface for The Himalayan Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Himalayan Database Mountaineering books Himalayas Books about the Himalayas

Background

Bibliography

See also

References

External links