Peak Hawley: Famed Himalayan Journalist, Miss Elizabeth Hawley, Has Mountain Named In Her Honor

Miss Elizabeth Hawley, famed Everest and Himalayan chronicler, has been given the honor of having a newly climbed peak named after herself.  Peak Hawley is a 6,182 meter peak found in the Dhaulagiri Group.  The peak’s first ascent came in early May by french climber Francois Damilano, who then decided to name the peak after one of climbing’s most notable journalists.

Damilano described Peak Hawley as a beautiful mountain with superb views. He climbed the peak in a single day from a camp at just under 5,000 meters, ascending the northwest face of Putha Himal to reach a ridgeline, and then following this over Aiguille Josephine and Peak Hawley, before descending to the northeast for a 12-hour round trip.

The quote above is coming from the Climbing.com news piece.

Miss Elizabeth Hawley, 84,  is one of the most well-known figures in Nepal mountaineering.  She arrived in Nepal in 1960 and began chronicling mountaineering expeditions for many American magazines in 1963. For the last 45 years, Miss Hawley has worked at presenting a straight-forward, no frills account of mountaineering in Nepal.  Her fame has come from her passion and perseverance for making sure the simplest of facts were presented in a truthful manner.

Miss Hawley’s first expedition coverage was the 1963 American Expedition to Mt. Everest, which was sponsored by the National Geographic Society.  This expedition would land the first Americans on the summit of the world’s highest peak.

In 2008 many climbers still speak very highly and with the utmost respect about their Elizabeth Hawley encounters and interviews.  She still interviews as many expedition guides and climbers as she can, and rather than search out the climbers, most look forward to coming to her.  She still reports and chronicles relevant information to the media when the time comes.  Miss Hawley’s reports have been welldocumented in two books:  The Himalayan Database and The Himalaya: By The Numbers.

For many journalists, as well as the big expedition bloggers and chroniclers, Miss Elizabeth Hawley is both an inspiration and a journey into the truths we all strive for.  She is definitely a treasure, both to Nepal and the international mountaineering community, and this honor is much deserved.  Congratulations, Miss Hawley, on this honor and we all hope for many more years of magnificent coverage.

Sources:  Climbing.com, National Geographic Society, and Wikipedia.  Photos:  PlanetMountain.com, Wikipedia.