Elizabeth Hawley (9 November 1923 – 26 January 2018) was an American journalist, author, and Nepal’s probably the most authentic Himalayan Chronicler.
Hawley came to Nepal in 1960 as a journalist for Time magazine and Reuters. “I came to Nepal. I never planned to stay. I just never left” saying, she stayed in Nepal for more than 50 years chronicling every Himalayan peak, interviewing every mountaineer and climbing party with the highest degree of authenticity possible. Quite strict in nature as described by many including Sir Edmund Hillary and mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner, she worked her whole life minuting on the peaks with such meticulous details and unrelenting passion, and often in an uncompromising style; ironically, never did she put herself into mountaineering, trekking or altitude much.
She, at her home, based the foundation of https://www.himalayandatabase.com/ (The Himalayan Database), a website of the compilation of records for all expeditions that have climbed in the Nepal Himalaya with spectacular peak details. Patrons and members of the Hawley-initiated Himalayan Database have remained famous personas, to name, Lisa Choegyal (New Zealand Honorary Consul to Nepal; financial director at HD) and more. Hawley had also been the executive officer, financial supervisor and a central figure in the success of Sir Edmund Hillary-established Himalayan Trust, Col. Jimmy Roberts’s Mountain Travel trekking agency, the honorary consul in Nepal for New Zealand, and a lot more.
The level and quality of data that Hawley and her team have collected are truly incredible. The data record summary is as follows:
• Peaks records: 465+
• Expedition records: 10,500+
• Member records: 77,900+
• Literature records: 14,600+
In Sir Hillary’s own words- “I have known Elizabeth Hawley for 45 years or more. When she settled in Kathmandu, she quickly became a member of that unique group of people who added colour and vitality to a city that had only recently moved into the new age – people like Inger and Boris Lissanevitch, Desmond Doig, Father Moran, Barbara Adams, Jimmy Roberts and, maybe to a lesser degree, myself.”
Nepal Government named a mountain in her honour in 2014. Peak Hawley (6,182 metres) lies in the Dhaulagiri Mountain Range.
Hawley died in Kathmandu at the age of 94.
To explore more on Hawley and her doings:
https://www.himalayandatabase.com
KEEPER OF THE MOUNTAINS The Elizabeth Hawley Story by Bernadette McDonald
The Nepal Scene: Chronicles of Elizabeth Hawley – 1988-2007 (Two Volumes)