23 February 2010

Everest exploits bring down curtain on inspiring people series

Sandy Irvine, who died while trying to conquer Everest, will be the focus of the final instalment of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Inspiring People speaker series, taking place at the University of Dundee next week.

Irvine was only 22 when he perished on the upper slopes of the world’s largest mountain in 1924. His great-niece Julie Summers will discuss his life and feats at the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, on Tuesday, March 2nd. Her acclaimed biobraphy of her late relative, Fearless on Everest ' The Quest for Sandy Irvine was published in 2000.

The lively and illustrated talk, Everest Needs You, Mr Irvine, explores the early life of the youngest member of the 1924 Mount Everest expedition and asks what made him so exceptional that grandees of the Mount Everest Committee thought it advisable to invite him to join the expedition.

Irvine had lived his extraordinary life to the full. He was a compassionate, expressive and creative young man, talented in the field of engineering, whose brilliance in redesigning the capricious oxygen apparatus for the 1924 Everest expedition and maintaining the expedition’s cameras, camp beds, primus stoves etc is well recognised.

These, however, were only part of a long line of creative solutions to engineering problems. In 1917, at the age of 15, he submitted a design to the War Office for an interrupter gear which would allow a machine to fire from a propeller plane without damaging the blades, as well as a design for a hydroscopic stabiliser.

'Julie Summers is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable speaker, and we are thrilled that she is able to come and speak to our audiences in March,' said RSGS Chief Executive Mike Robinson.

'Irvine’s exploits on Everest are the mainstay of the history, myth and legend of modern mountaineering. This talk is a chance to understand the extraordinary man behind the mythology, and to learn more about the mountaineer who maybe, just maybe, was the first to summit Everest.'

Julie Summers’ talk will be given in Dundee at 7.30pm on Tuesday, March 2nd. Admission is £6 for adults and free for under-18s/students, with tickets available on the door. For more information, please see www.rsgs.org, or contact enquiries@rsgs.org, or telephone RSGS HQ on 01738-455050.

The RSGS is an educational charity established in 1884 that organises a winter series of talks in 14 towns and cities across Scotland each year. The RSGS is celebrating its 125th anniversary year by organising its biggest ever programme of illustrated public talks, giving people the opportunity to hear inspirational speakers delivering a great series of fascinating talks on a wide range of geographical topics. RSGS members have free access to around 100 of talks each year.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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