Summerton Richard Captain

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Biografie:
Major Gerald Owens 1937-1975 and Captain Richard Summerton 1945-1975
Gerry Owens and Richard Summerton were lost on Nuptse on 9 May 1975, making a bid for the summit. They were last seen climbing together in the summit couloir. Gerry's death ended a fine mountaineering career: Nuptse would have been his fourth major Himalayan peak in 7 years. In addition he was a fine all round sportsman, playingcricket and hockey for his Regiment, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters. He was an enthusiastic ornithologist. He could on occasion be withdrawn and uncommunicative; on one of these (in the Kulu), he endured an avalanche in total silence as it flowed about him in a highly dangerous situation, and after it had passed ignored my expressions of relief and merely indicated that it was time to descend. He will be greatly missed by his friends, both in the mountains and his Regiment, and their deepest sympathy goes out to his fiancee. Gerry died at the height of his powers, at 37. In the 1974 Alpine season he had climbed 5 N Faces in the Oberland. including a solo ascent of the Silberhorn.
The death of Richard Summerton at 29 is a great loss to his many friends and to the Royal Engineers. His Himalayan career began in 1969 and he was on Annapurna in 1970, being injured in an avalanche. His great strength in the mountains lay in his practical common sense in planning, and in the management of equipment, as on the successful Annapurna Expedition. Adventurous by nature he played a key part in the reconnaissance of the swamps during Blashford-Snell's Darien expedition. He was a keen orienteer, and a cross-country skier who both trained and raced with his Regimental team. Many young sappers owe their introduction to the climbing scene to Richard, who like Gerry Owens was planning to get married at the time of his death.
Henry Day
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 81, 1976, Seite 270


Geboren am:
1945
Gestorben am:
09.05.1975