Wilfrid Noyce

Cuthbert Wilfrid Francis Noyce (31 December 1917 – 24 July 1962) (usually known as Wilfrid Noyce (often misspelt as 'Wilfred'),E.g. Malcolm Slesser, "With Friends in High Places: An Anatomy of Those Who Take to the Hills", Mainstream Publishing, 2004; Noyce is spelt as 'Wilfred Noyce' throughout. some sources give third forename as Frank) was an English mountaineer and author. He was a member of the that made the first ascent of Mount Everest.

Life and family

Noyce was born in 1917 in Simla, the British hill station in India. The eldest son of Sir Frank Noyce of the Indian Civil Service and his wife, Enid Isabel, a daughter of W. M. Kirkus of Liverpool, Noyce was educated at Charterhouse, where he became head boy, and King's College, Cambridge, taking a first in Modern Languages. [http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bion1/noyc1.html Noyce biography] at andrejkoymasky.com, accessed 27 July 2008] [http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Units/61.html Cuthbert Wilfrid Frank Noyce] at imagingeverest.rgs.org, accessed 27 July 2008] Cox, A. D. M., [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35265 'Noyce, (Cuthbert) Wilfrid Francis' (1917–1962)’] , revised, in "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004, doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/35265. Accessed 28 July 2008.] In World War II, he initially joined the Friends Ambulance Unit, and then served as a private in the Welsh Guards, before he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps on 19 July 1941. [LondonGazette|issue=35230|supp=yes|startpage=4342|date=25 July 1941|accessdate=2008-07-29] He later attained the rank of captain in the Intelligence Corps; John Hunt wrote that "...during a part of the war [Noyce] was employed in training air crews [in mountain techniques] in Kashmir. For a brief period he assisted me in running a similar course for soldiers". [John Hunt, "The Ascent of Everest", Hodder and Stoughton, 1953, p. 29.] He was also employed as a code-breaker, managing to break an important Japanese code.

After the war, Noyce became a schoolmaster. From 1946 until 1950 he taught modern languages at Malvern College. Then, following in the footsteps of George Mallory, he returned as a master to his own old school, Charterhouse, where he remained for ten years. On 12 August 1950, between Malvern and Charterhouse, he married Rosemary Campbell Davies, and they had two sons.

Early climbing

By the age of eighteen, Noyce was already a fine climber, from 1935 regularly climbing with J. Menlove Edwards of Liverpool. In 1937, Noyce survived a fall on Scafell, when he was held on the rope by Edwards after falling 180 feet, despite damage to the rope. Before World War II, he helped Edwards to produce rock climbing guides to the crags of Tryfan and Lliwedd in Snowdonia. [http://www.mountain-heritage.org/entity.php?ID=140 Noyce, Cuthbert Wilfrid Frank (1917-1962)] at mountain-heritage.org, accessed 28 July 2008] Like other leading British climbers of the pre-World War II period, such as Mallory, Jack Longland, Ivan Waller and A. B. Hargreaves, Noyce became a protégé of Geoffrey Winthrop Young, attending his parties at Pen-y-Pass.Alan Hankinson, "Geoffrey Winthrop Young: Poet, Educator, Mountaineer", London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1995, pp. 5 and 62.

In the late 1930s, Noyce was one of a small band of Britons climbing at high standards in the Alps. He was well known for his speed and stamina, and in two early alpine seasons, 1937 and 1938, climbing with Armand Charlet or Hans Brantschen as his guide, he made major climbs in very fast times. In 1942, in North Wales, he achieved a non-stop solo climb of 1,370 metres.

1953 Everest Expedition

Noyce was a climbing member of the 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest that made the first ascent of the mountain. According to the expedition's leader John Hunt, in the section of his "The Ascent of Everest" in which he outlined the qualities of his team members:

Edmund Hillary, meeting Noyce for the first time as the expedition assembled in Nepal, echoed Hunt's praise: "Wilf Noyce was a tough and experienced mountaineer with an impressive record of difficult and dangerous climbs. In many respects I considered Noyce the most competent British climber I had met."Edmund Hillary, "Nothing Venture, Nothing Win", London: Travel Book Club, 1979, p. 147.

On the walk-in to the mountain, Noyce, together with Charles Evans, were designated as the "baggage party", in charge of the clothing and equipment for the approach."The Ascent of Everest", p. 63. He was also in charge of mountaineering equipment on the ascent itself, having been instructed in the repair of high-altitude boots by the bootmaker Robert Lawrie. Noyce's skills in boot repair were in demand on the ascent; according to Charles Wylie, the thin Vibram soles that were used on the boots often peeled off at the toes but Noyce "saved the situation with some really professional repair work".Charles Wylie, 'Notes on Certain Items of Equipment', Appendix IV in "The Ascent of Everest", p. 252. Noyce compiled Appendix 1, 'Diary of the Expedition', in "The Ascent of Everest", pp. 235–40.

Together with George Lowe, on 17 May Noyce established Camp VII on the Lhotse face of Everest. On 20 May he radioed to Hunt that many of the oxygen bottles (the training or Utility model, not the type that were to be used on the summit attempt) that had been ferried up to Camp VII were leaking. Hunt noted "Wilfrid, though gifted in more ways than one, has not a marked mechanical bent and we hoped his tests were not conclusive. Tom, however, had a luring fear that these very tests, carried out by a possibly anoxic Wilfrid, might have resulted in the discharging of all nine cylinders"."The Ascent of Everest", p. 162.

On 21 May Noyce and the Sherpa Annullu were the first members of the expedition to reach Everest's South Col, after what Noyce said was "one of the most enjoyable days' mountaineering I've ever had"."The Ascent of Everest", p. 166. The climbers in the camps below, according to Hunt, were watching their progress on this vital part of the climb; by early afternoon "their speed had noticeably increased and our excitement soon grew to amazement when it dawned on us that Noyce and Annullu were heading for the South Col itself"."The Ascent of Everest", p. 165.

Not long after Hunt made that observation, they reached the Col.

In a passage in "South Col", Noyce's book of the expedition published the following year, he gives an account of the scene that greeted him at the Col:From the remains of the Swiss expedition Noyce "picked up some Vita-Weat, a tin of sardines and a box of matches, all in perfect condition after lying exposed to the elements for over six months"."The Ascent of Everest", p. 166. Noyce and Annullu fixed a rope to protect the steep slopes leading up to the Col where Camp VIII was to be established, and then descended to Camp VII which they reached at 5.30 pm. From a mountaineering perspective, as Everest veteran Chris Bonington wrote, " [Noyce] had fulfilled his role in John Hunt's master plan, had established one vital stepping-stone for others to achieve the final goal."'The Challenge of Everest', p. 284.

According to Hunt, the climbing team had been in low spirits before Noyce and Annullu reached the South Col, but the effect of their safe return from the Col to Camp VII "had a profound impression on the waiting men. If these two could do it, so could they [...] Morale rose suddenly, inspired by fine example"."The Ascent of Everest", pp. 166–7.

Noyce climbed up to the South Col a second time during the ascent; on 29 May, the day of the successful first ascent, he set out with three Sherpas from Camp VII, reaching the Col with one of them, Pasang Phutar, later that day; they "had each carried a double load—at least 50 lb.—from the point where the two other Sherpas had given up"."The Ascent of Everest", p. 215. Hunt noted that "Noyce and Wylie were the only two members of the climbing party to reach the South Col without oxygen.""The Ascent of Everest", p. 216.

Pasang, George Lowe and Noyce met the successful summit team of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay at the Col, giving the tired climbers drinks and congratulations. It was here, 200 metres above the camp, that Hillary told Lowe, who had gone out to greet them, "Well, we knocked the bastard off.""Nothing Venture, Nothing Win", p. 162. Hillary wrote: "Wilf Noyce and Pasang Puta ["sic"] were also in Camp and they looked after us with patience and kindness. I felt a moment of sympathy for Wilf – he was the only one left with the strength to try for the summit; but now he wouldn't get the chance. It was another foul night with strong wind and very cold temperatures ...""Nothing Venture, Nothing Win", p. 162. Noyce descended the following day with Hillary, Tenzing, Lowe and Pasang Phutar, reaching Camp IV on 30 May."The Ascent of Everest", p. 237

As well as naming his book of the expedition "South Col", Noyce also wrote a well-known poem called 'South Col'.

Later years

On 20 May 1957, together with A. D. M. Cox, Noyce came to within 50 m of the summit of Machapuchare (6,993 m), turning back at that point out of respect for local religious beliefs. [http://www.chesslerbooks.com/eCart/viewItem.asp?idProduct=2713 Climbing the Fish's Tail] at chesslerbooks.com, accessed 5 August 2008 The mountain was illegally climbed in the 1980s by Bill Denz. [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150279/machhapuchare.html Machapuchare] , at summitpost.org, accessed 5 August 2008 Noyce and Cox also made the first ascent – via the north-east face – of Singu Chuli (Fluted Peak) (6,501 m) on 13 June 1957. [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150279/machhapuchare.html Machapuchare] , at summitpost.org, accessed 5 August 2008 On 5 August 1959 Noyce, together with C. J. Mortlock and Jack Sadler, made the first British ascent of the Welzenbach route on the north face of the Dent d'Hérens.Robin G. Collomb, "Pennine Alps Central", London: Alpine Club, 1975, p. 277. Some days later, on 15–16 August, the same party made the first British ascent of the north-east face of the Signalkuppe, the longest and most serious route on the east face of Monte Rosa."Pennine Alps Central", p. 187.

Noyce made the first ascent of Trivor (7,577 m) in Pakistan's Hispar Muztagh range in 1960 together with Jack Sadler.

Noyce died in a mountaineering accident together with the 23-year-old Scottish climber Robin Smith in 1962 after a successful ascent of Mount Garmo (6,595 m), in the Pamirs. On the descent, one of Smith or Noyce slipped on a layer of soft snow over ice, pulling the other, and they both fell 4,000 feet. [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-malcolm-slesser-456293.html Obituary of Malcolm Slessor] at independent.co.uk, accessed 27 July 2008]

Writings

Noyce wrote widely, penning not just books, poems and scholarly articles, but also contributing to climbing guidebooks. His "Scholar Mountaineers" was a study of twelve writers and thinkers who had an association with mountains; these were Dante, Petrarch, Rousseau, Ferdinand de Saussure, Goethe, Wordsworth, Keats, Ruskin, Leslie Stephen, Nietzsche, Pope Pius XI and Robert Falcon Scott. In the introduction Noyce says that he chose these figures because:

Bibliography of works by Noyce

*"Scholar Mountaineers: Pioneers of Parnassus", London: Dennis Dobson, 1950
*"Michael Angelo: a poem in twelve parts, with epilogue", London: William Heinemann, 1953
*"South Col: One Man's Adventure on the Ascent of Everest", London: William Heinemann, 1954
*"The Gods Are Angry", World Publishing, 1957
*"Snowdon Biography", London: J. M. Dent, 1957
*"The Springs Of Adventure", London: John Murray, 1958
*"Climbing the Fish's Tail", London, 1958
*"Poems", London: William Heinemann, 1960
*"They Survived: A Study of the Will to Live", London: William Heinemann, 1962
*"To the Unknown Mountain: The Ascent of Trivor", London: William Heinemann, 1962
*"The Alps", London: Putnam, 1963
*"World Atlas of Mountaineering", London: Macmillan, 1970 (with Ian MacNorrin)
*(as translator, with John Hunt) "Starlight and Storm" by Gaston Rébuffat, Kaye, 1968

Commemoration

The "Wilfrid Noyce Community Centre" in Godalming, Surrey – where Charterhouse is located – is named after him. [http://www.godalming-tc.gov.uk/place/Wilfrid-Noyce-Community-Centre Wilfrid Noyce Community Centre page] godalming-tc.gov.uk Accessed 29 July 2008

References