Blank on the Map: Pioneering exploration in the Shaksgam valley and Karakoram mountains

by Eric Shipton, T. G. Longstaff (Foreword), Jim Perrin (Introduction)

'As I studied the maps, one thing about them captured my imagination … Across this blank space was written one challenging word, "Unexplored"' In 1937 two of the twentieth century's greatest explorers set off to explore an unknown area of the Himalaya, the breath-taking Shaksgam mountains. With a team of surveyors and Sherpas, Eric Shipton and H.W. Tilman located and mapped the land around K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. It was their greatest venture, and one that paved the way for all future mountaineering in that area of the Himalaya. For Shipton and Tilman, exploration was everything, with a summit a welcome bonus, and Blank on the Map is the book that best captures their spirit of adventure. With an observant eye and keen sense of humour, Shipton tells how the expedition entered the unknown Shaksgam mountains, crossing impenetrable gorges, huge rivers and endless snow fields. There's a very human element to in Shipton's dealings with his Sherpa friends, and with his Balti porters, some of whom were helpful, while some were less so. The expedition uncovers traces of ancient cultures and visits vibrant modern civilisations living during the last days of the British Empire. Only when all supplies are exhausted, their clothes in tatters and all equipment lost do the men finally return home. A mountain exploration classic.

Genres: Climbing, Adventure

190 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 2014

About the author

Eric Earle Shipton, CBE (1 August 1907 – 28 March 1977), was an English Himalayan mountaineer.
Shipton was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. When he was eight, his mother brought him to London for his education. When he failed the entrance exam to Harrow School, his mother sent him to Pyt House School in Wiltshire. His first encounter with mountains was at 15 when he visited the Pyrenees with his family. The next summer he spent travelling in Norway with a school friend and within a year he had begun climbing seriously.

Shipton, Eric. Nanda Devi. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1936.
Shipton, Eric. Blank on the map. Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1938.
Shipton, Eric. Upon That Mountain. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1943.
Shipton, Eric. The Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition 1951. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1952.
Shipton, Eric. Mountains of Tartary. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1953.
Shipton, Eric. Land of Tempest. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1963.
Shipton, Eric. That Untravelled World. Charles Scribner and Sons, 1969. ISBN 0-340-04330-X (Hodder & Stoughton (1969))
Shipton, Eric. Tierra del Fuego: the Fatal Lodestone. Charles Knight & Co., London, 1973 ISBN 0-85314-194-0
Shipton, Eric. The Six Mountain-Travel Books. Mountaineers' Books, 1997. ISBN 0-89886-539-5 (A collection of the first six books listed – That Untravelled World duplicated much of the previous content.)

Reviews

[Santanu Dutta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blank on the Map by Shipton, Eric., E


A nice read. Altogether nice and smooth read like the flow of a hilly torrent as narrated by the author in many a occasions. The book chronicles the detail survey in the northernmost British Indian Frontier in central Asia and near the Pamir.

[Chai Eng · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book... Loved it.

[Abhirup Bose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A exquisite account of exploration in karrakorams