Monica Jackson

Monica Jackson (16 September 1920 – 7 April 2020) was a Scottish climber and part of the first non-male expedition to scale the Jugal Himal in the Himalayas.[1]

Monica Jackson
Born(1920-09-16)16 September 1920
Kotagiri, India
Died7 April 2020(2020-04-07) (aged 99)
Edinburgh, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Occupation(s)Mountaineer and author

Early life and education

Monica Jackson was born in Kotagiri and grew up in the Biligirirangan Hills of southern India where her father Ralph Camroux Morris and her mother Heather née Kinloch were coffee planters.[2] Jackson studied sociology and conducted research in the Kollegal region. She wrote a biographical account of her experience growing up in India as well as conducting anthropology research at Kollegal in Going Back.[2][3]

Climbing career

In 1955, she climbed the Jugal Himal with Elizabeth (Betty) Stark and Evelyn McNicol.[4][5] They managed to get to the previously unmapped Phurbal Chyachumbu glacier and made it to the 22,000 ft peak on the frontier of Nepal and Tibet. They were the first people to climb it and they named it Gyalgen Peak, after their lead Sherpa, Mingma Gyalgen.[6][7]

The Gyalgen or Gyalzen or Leonpo Gang East peak is on the border of the Nepalese Bagmati Province and China and it is 6151 m / 20180 feet high.[6]

Writing and other media

In 1957, Jackson wrote the book Tents in the Clouds: the first women's Himalayan expedition her adventures.[8]

She appeared in a BBC documentary, Eye to Eye, on the history of mountaineering where she was filmed climbing Napes Needle with Horace "Rusty" Westmoreland, who was 71 at the time. Napes Needle was an important location, and some believe that the sport of mountaineering started there.[9]

From 2002 to 2003, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery had a show called On Top of the World that included pictures of Monica Jackson and her team.[10]

References
  1. "Passions run deep for mountains high". Scotsman. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  2. Jackson, Simon (26 April 2020). "Monica Jackson obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  3. "Going Back". Amazon. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. "50th anniversary". BBC. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  5. McCann, Gerry. "Getting high in Scotland's mountain winter wonderland". Scotland Correspondent. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  6. "Gyalzen Peak". nepalhimalpeakprofile.org. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  7. "History: The early years and twentieth century 'firsts' ..." Ladies Scottish Climbing Club. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  8. "Tents in the clouds: The first women's Himalayan expedition". Amazon. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  9. "Rediscovered: TV film of climbing history". www.thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  10. Day, Kate. "On Top Of The World At The Scottish National Portrait Gallery". Culture 24. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
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