In 1934 Eric Shipton, Bill Tilman and their three accomplished Sherpas succeeded in finding a climbing route into the Sanctuary via the Rishi Ganga gorge.

However, before the 1934 monsoon, Shipton and Tilman along with three Sherpas who they regarded as co-climbers – Ang Tharkay, Pasang and Kusang – became the first people to find a way through the gorge and to set foot in the Sanctuary in what has been described as "the most exciting story in the whole saga of mountain discovery".

[9][8] After the monsoon they again ascended the Rishi Ganga gorge and climbed part way up Nanda Devi's southeast ridge thereby discovering the route to the summit that was to be used in 1936.

The Garhwal area had been venerated by Buddhists until they were expelled by Adi Shankara in the 9th century CE when their temples were adopted as Hindu while aspects of the two religions were merged.

Nanda Devi, the Goddess of Bliss, lived on the top of the mountain that is named after her and which is where the Seven Rishis were driven by the demons before they finally became seven stars in the sky.

[15] Nanda Devi left her mountain to live with her husband Shiva on Mount Kailash in Tibet but once a year, in October, she returns and this is a time of celebration for pilgrims.

In that year William Graham, who was the first climber to visit Himalaya purely for sporting purposes, attempted to reach the basin inside the protecting ring, the so-called Nanda Devi Sanctuary.

They reached a high col just east of Nanda Devi's summit which is on the ridge of peaks surrounding the mountain itself but they were unable to descend to the Sanctuary.

[29] So, in 1930, despite Tilman's almost complete lack of mountaineering experience, they succeeded in climbing Mount Kenya's west ridge for the first time and went on to make the first traverse of its two peaks, Batian and Neilion.

His initial idea was for a lightweight expedition to explore the mountainous area between the Badrinath, Kedernath and Gangotri shrines but Longstaff urged him to attempt to enter and map the Nanda Devi Sanctuary itself.

[31] Noel Humphreys, his first choice for a climbing partner, was unavailable but then a letter arrived from Tilman who had decided to visit Britain by cycling across Africa from Uganda to French Cameroon using a map torn from a magazine, and then taking a steamer to his family home near Liverpool.

[32] Tilman's letter had suggested a fortnight's rock climbing in the Lake District to which Shipton replied by inviting him on a seven-month expedition to Himalaya.

[38] Equipment and supplies were basic and the plan was to eat in the same way as the Sherpas – chapatis, rice and tsampa – luxuries taken were tea, lentils and ghee.

They traversed the Duraishi and Dibrughita high grazing areas[note 4] and descended to just below the confluence of the Rhamani and the Rishi rivers, halfway up the gorge and eight days march from Joshimath.

[42] The five men relayed five hundredweight (250 kg) of supplies along the perilous cliffs, sometimes overhanging the river, at various heights above the bed of the gorge but in doing so lost a rucksack with nearly all their lentils, which removed their staple food and would reduce their expedition by two days.

[47] They reached the rim of the northeastern encircling mountains at over 20,000 feet (6,100 m) and looked over to the east to the Milam Glacier hoping there might be an alternative way out of the Sanctuary.

The sources of the three main rivers that together form the Ganges: the Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Alaknanda, each have temples – Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath – that are the destinations for Hindu pilgrims.

Shipton and Tilman felt they might have to turn back but the Sherpas were determined and eventually it was Ang Tharkay who found a route down, albeit a most difficult one.

Beauty of the wild, riotous kind such as one usually finds in high mountain regions we had expected; but we found, as well, luxuriant pasture, brilliant with wild flowers, and lakes, on whose deep blue and green surfaces was reflected the crusts of icy peaks; birds of great variety and brilliant colours, and large herds of thar and bharal, which were so tame and regarded these strange new visitors with such curiosity, that I was almost glad we had not brought a rifle.The col discovered by Longstaff in 1905 seemed less suitable than one further south, spotted by Hugh Ruttledge in 1932.

[54][55] However they were distracted by Trisul East (now called Maiktoli, 22,320 feet (6,800 m)) which looked technically straightforward so, while Tilman continued surveying with Pasang, the other three made the first ascent of the peak in conditions, according to Shipton, "almost up to Everest standards".

At last reaching Sameswar they were able to board a bus to Ranikhet and they went their separate ways at Bareilly with Shipton writing his book Nanda Devi on his six-week voyage home.

[62] Shipton and Tilman were both lauded by the top brass of the RGS but there was no support for any immediate return to Nanda Devi because Tibet had just given permission for attempts on Mount Everest in 1935 and 1936.

With the RGS only having £1,400 (equivalent to £105,000 in 2023)[62] readily available, it was inevitable that a 1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition was immediately launched with Shipton and Tilman at the helm as a precursor to a full attempt in 1936.

[note 10][64] Four American students from Harvard Mountaineering Club – Farnie Loomis, Charlie Houston, Art Emmons and Ad Carter – had decided on a lightweight Himalayan expedition, possibly to Kanchenjunga.

[67] Later, in 1999, Houston wrote, "It's hard to believe how naïve and presumptuous we were ... Four American college kids ... inviting the best British climbers on a major climb in the Himalayas".

Trouble came when the porters would not go beyond Rhamani and the Sherpas all became ill (Kitar was to die three weeks later) and it was left to the sahibs to carry the supplies through the Sanctuary towards the mountain and up its foothills.

Tilman was chosen and, after delays caused by a blizzard, he decided on a summit team of Houston and Odell who, with the others in support, climbed to 23,400 feet (7,100 m) where they set up a precarious camp.

[79] Most of the party set off down the gorge but, as an additional challenge, Tilman, Houston and Pasang Kikuli traversed Longstaff's 1905 col and descended to Martoli and then south down the Milam valley eventually reaching Ranikhet.

[80][81] Tilman wrote, "I remember, in the small hours when the spark of life burns lowest, the feeling which predominated over all was one of remorse at the fall of a giant.

[86] He also said "By Jove, it will shake the old fools at home", referring to the RGS Mount Everest Committee and the fact that the expedition had been conceived in the United States.