This course consists of a series of three lectures: Week 1: Exploring and climbing in unmapped Kashmir and the Hindu Kush: the golden age of student expeditions in the 1960s. Week 2: Going for the top in Tibet and Nepal: Cho Oyu, Shisha Pangma and Putha Hiunchuli. Week 3: Forced marches in the Karakoram, Ladakh, India, Nepal and Bhutan: the Grand Himalayan traverse