George Band, who made the first ascent of Kanchenjunga and was on the 1953 Everest expedition, died earlier today at his home in Hampshire.Born in Taiwan, He was educated at Eltham College, London and Cambridge and London Universities,At Cambridge he was President of the University Mountaineering Club. He completed his National Service in the Royal Corps of Signals.
George Band was the was the youngest climber on the 1953 Everest expedition led by John Hunt, which saw Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay make the first ascent. Two years later he went to Kanchenjunga on an expedition led by Charles Evans, and with Joe Brown, made the first ascent of the mountain. Further expeditions to the Alps, the Caucasus, Peru and the Karakoram followed.
In 1957, he began an international career with the Royal Dutch / Shell Group. In 1983 he returned to the UK to become Director General of the UK Offshore Operators’ Association, which represents the oil and gas companies operating on the UK Continental Shelf. During this period he took on the Presidency of the Alpine Club which he held from 1987 to 1990.
After retiriement,George was able to spend more time climbing and trekking, as well lecturing and writing. In 2003, to mark the Everest Jubilee he wrote Everest: 50 Years on Top of the World, and this was followed in 2007 by Summit: 150 Years of the Alpine Club which celebrated the of founding of the world’s oldest mountaineering club . George also became Chairman of the Himalayan Trust UK in 2003. He served in a number of other positions including: Chairman of the Mount Everest Foundation; Member of the Council of the Royal Geographical Society and; Appeal Patron for BSES Expeditions.
He served as President of the BMC from 1996 to 1999 and most recently attended the 2011 Annual Dinner at Plas y Brenin to present the newly created George Band Award for voluntary contribution to the BMC’s work. George’s contribution to the BMC and the mountaineering community was also recognised at the dinner with an announcement that George had been appointed a Patron of the BMC.
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→Farewell to Everest and Kanchenjunga veteran-George Band
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