Jack Longland 1905 - 1993

Sir Jack Longland was a well-known rock climber and outdoor educator. He was most well known for being part of the 1933 Everest expedition. This was Longland’s first climb in the Himalayas, but he had established himself as a highly skilled and technical climber and was well thought of by the organisers. During this, ultimately unsuccessful, expedition Longland was most well-known for a dramatic descent in a storm from Camp 6 (altitude 8,351m or 27,400ft) to Camp 5 (altitude 7,833m or 25,700ft). Longland was one of the climbers helping to build and stock the high-altitude camps in preparation for the summit attempts. On 29 May, a team set off to establish Camp 6, which was placed higher than had ever been attempted before. Longland was leading a team back to Camp 5 when he realised that it would be unsafe for the exhausted group to climb back down the steep slopes they had previously climbed up. Instead, Longland led them along a ridge, on a route he had never taken before, which was made even more challenging when the weather suddenly deteriorated. After descending for hours in terrible weather conditions with very poor visibility, Longland and the team reached the safety of Camp 5. Despite the very poor conditions, they all made it down and none had serious frostbite or other injuries. During their descent, the group had counted each other every few minutes to make sure no one had been left behind, lost or injured.

Later, in 1949, Longland became County Education Officer for Derbyshire. In this role he established, White Hall, the UK’s first local education authority outdoor centre for schools and groups. Over the years, this has given thousands of young people the chance to explore outdoor activities in the Peak District. It was also the catalyst for many other outdoor education centres to be set up around the UK.