Ian Handford: Torquay man's crucial role in historical adventure

With fellow climber Dick Viney having remarked "wouldn't you give anything to go to Everest next year" Mike thought 'he was right although I don't think it had occurred to me to do anything about it'.

What he did not know was the famous climber Colonel John Hunt was just putting together his next team for the second major attempt on Mount Everest to be undertaken in Her Majesty's Coronation Year.

After climbing the East Ridge of the Alps at Dent d'Herens with Anthony Rawlinson and Viney on arrival home Mike learned of the Hunt expedition and immediately applied to join although not really hopeful of being accepted.

Therefore he was really surprised when the RGS in London wrote to him. Now he met Hunt for an interview and it was not long before the Colonel became impressed with the young ex-Sapper. His experience of skills of using  rope and aluminium ladders as aids impressed him. Nevertheless, he checked out Mike's skill with equipment and Sherpas before finally asking the still young man to join this British Expedition of 1953. 

Colonel Hunt appreciated taking the right equipment to cross unknown crevasses with chosen Sherpas was special. Now Mike would join Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in his task to create safe routes through the plethora of  "a maze of icefalls" using his chosen equipment.

The first stage of the climb involved the team reaching the "Lhotse Face" at 7,000m where now sadly Mike "dogged by sickness" was forced to return to Base Camp. Undaunted he spent the next period along with his Sherpas on the ultra dangerous task of keeping ahead of  the ever moving ice in order to create a safe route back for the team on their return.

In reality this made Mike an early and skilled "ice doctor" and later no one was more delighted than he when the team emerged safely back at Base Camp to announce they had all reached the peak of Mount Everest or as they remarked "we have finally knocked that bastard off".

The Times correspondent James Morris was part of the team and he now immediately filed a report from Base Camp to London in order to ensure it was in time for the June Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953.

Hunt's team ensured that his goal for 1953 made this - with the Coronation a doubly historic year for Britain. Later at a special celebration dinner Mike would now meet his future wife Sally Seddon, a concert pianist who quite amazingly loved climbing. 

Later they would marry and in 1968 they went to Hindu Kush to make a first climb of Wakhikah Rah - standing at 5,681m which they achieved. On safe return to Britain Mike then reported officially that this mountain had "three rock pinnacles on a beautifully sculptured snow ridge, being one of the most beautiful summits I have known". 

The couple toured many of the world's peaks as climbers and also continually found new routes to assist future explorers of Alaska, North and South America and even the Alps. When finally they came permanently home they lived in the Lake District until eventually retirement called. Mike meanwhile during this long period had worked in America as an economist for the Shell International Company and latterly undertaken lecture tours . But now in1985 Sally and he finally decided it was time to retire.

During his life Mike was President of the Alpine Club and the Climbers Club and being no writer, left us only  his unique work an 'Himalayan Index' - being a computer record/guide of some 2,500 mountain peaks. The index today is still a valuable and useful tool to climbers. The couple never had any children and having made their home in Cumbria, then at the age of 87 Michael Westmacott of Torquay, finally died at his Cumbrian home on June 20, 2012.