TRISUL SKI EXPEDITION

First edition, first printing. Signed by the author. Publisher's original navy cloth with yellow titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. Illustrated endpapers. With 19 black and white tipped-in photographic plates throughout. A very good copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth is just a little faded and lightly rubbed to the spine tips and extremities. The closed text block has a touch of toning and very light spotting to the top edge. The contents, with a prize dedication in blue ink on the verso of the front endpaper, are otherwise clean throughout. Complete with the rubbed and creased dustwrapper, that is a little chipped at the spine tips and edges, with several short closed tears (secured with tape to the underside). Not price-clipped (Rs 35 to the lower front flap).

Inscribed by the author Lt. Col. N. Kumar in blue ink on the half-title 'With best wishes / 5 Feb [19]79 / N. Kumar'. Lt. Col. Narendra Kumar (1933-2020) was a highly decorated Indian soldier and mountaineer, best known as the deputy leader of the first successful Indian expedition to the summit of Mt. Everest in 1965. His landmark expeditions to Everest, Kangchenjunga, and Nanda Devi, and his crucial reconnaissance efforts for the Indian Army on the Siachen Glacier in 1984, ultimately led to Kumar's promotion to the rank of Colonel and his wider recognition as one of the leading figures in the field of mountaineering in India. He remains the only Colonel to have received the coveted Param Vishisht Seva Medal, the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces. As President of the Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering, Kumar - or 'Bull' as he was affectionately known - led a successful group ski expedition to Trisul in 1976, as recorded here definitively by the participants themselves. It has since been considered the highest summit to ever be skied down at the time (at an astounding 7120m).