Charles Evans (mountaineer)

Sir Robert Charles Evans ( * October 19, 1918; † 5 December 1995) was a British physician and mountaineer.

Life

Evans was educated at Shrewsbury and Oxford. As a young doctor he served in the Burma Campaign during the Second World War. He then worked as a neurosurgeon in Liverpool. In 1958 he was appointed Rector of the University of Bangor, North Wales. He held until his retirement in 1984 this position.

Evans, in 1939 extensive climbing in the Alps, after the war in Britain.

In 1953, Evans was deputy leader of the expedition to the first ascent of Mount Everest. Together with Tom Bourdillon he undertook on May 26, the first summit attempt. Both reached the south summit, 100 meters below the summit, but had lost due to problems with their oxygen systems so much time that they had to stop the further advancement. Evans was the one who held his partner Bourdillon from further climbing, because it would have been too risky because of the advanced time of day, unknown residual rise time and outgoing oxygen. Two days later, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit, taking advantage of the work done by Evans and Bourdillon.

1955 Evans led the successful Kangchenjunga expedition, in which four climbers reached the summit for the first time. Evans was a burden to the last high camp, the summit did not reach but themselves.

After his retirement, Evans was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which also ended his mountaineering career.