Photo Pete Stacey
Pete Stacey
Photo Pete Stacey
“Tom Bourdillon was one of England’s greatest mountaineers in the immediate post-war era. Following his education at Gresham’s (K&H 1936-42), which had a profound influence on his mountaineering destiny, Tom read Physics at Balliol College, Oxford. Recognised as one of Britain’s boldest and finest rock climbers, he exuded self-confidence and the courage to challenge accepted limits. In 1950, with Hamish Nicol he made the first British ascent of the North Face of the Petit Dru. This was a climb that sparked a renaissance in British mountaineering.
A member of both the Climbers’ Club and The Alpine Club, Tom was a key player in breaking down the social and gender divisions that then existed in mountaineering, and he was elected the first president, of the Alpine Climbing Group, a meritocracy that to this day welcomes the best and most ambitious Alpinists irrespective of gender or background.
However, it is with Everest that Tom Bourdillon is most closely associated. He was a key member of the Everest Reconnaissance Party in 1951, and then in 1953, with Charles Evans, he made the intial attempt on the then unclimbed peak. Using a revolutionary closed-circuit oxygen apparatus that Tom had designed with his father, he and Evans became the first men to reach Everest’s South Summit on 23 June; however, the ultimate prize was not to be theirs. After Evans accidentally damaged his apparatus, vital time was lost In finding the fault and partially rectifying it but Evans was not able to move as swiftly and as well as Tom, and they still had to safeguard their descent. Arguably, they might have become the most famous men in the world. Three days later Edmund Hillary and Norgay Tensing claimed their place in history.
More landmark Alpine ascents followed over the next three seasons but in 1956 Tom, who was known as the safest of climbers, was tragically killed on the Jagihorn in Swizerland. He was just 32 years of age. Who knows what might have followed?
This magnificent climbing tower, opened 65 years after the first ascent of Everest is a fitting memorial to a humble and much loved man; a truly great Old Greshamian. His sense of adventure, his exploration in science and action
for what might be possible, and his care for all people and living things continues to be an inspiration to us all.”
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