Yeti

:For the British indie rock band see Yeti (band).

History

For hundreds and thousands of years, natives in the Himalays have bbeen telling stories about a humanoid monster that wanders around the mountain range. However,occasional reports of an ape-like creature in the Himalayas began filtering to the west in the 1800s, mainly by British explorers http://www.anomalyinfo.com/articles/sa00072.shtml.

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1800s - British

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In 1832, Journal of the Asiatic society of Bengal published the account of B. H. Hodgson, who wrote that while trekking in northern Nepal, his native guides spotted a tall, bipedal creature covered with long dark hair, then fled in fear. Hodgson did not see the creature, but concluded it was an orangutan.

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1832 - Journal of the Asiatic society of Bengal - B. H. Hodgson - Nepal - Orangutan

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Perhaps the first formal record of reported yeti footprints was in 1889's Among the Himalayas, by L.A. Wadell. Waddell reports his native guides described the large apelike creature that left the prints; he concluded the prints were a bear's. Waddel heard stories of bipedal, apelike creatures, but wrote that of the many witnesses he questioned, none "could ever give me an authentic case. On the most superficial investigation it always resolved into something that somebody had heard of." http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/yeti.php

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Footprint - 1889 - Among the Himalayas - L.A. Wadell - Bear

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The frequency of reports increased in the early 20th century, when Westerners began making determined attempts to climb the many mountains in the area and sometimes reported seeing odd creatures or strange tracks http://www.pbs.org/edens/bhutan/a_migo.htm.

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20th century - Mountain

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Also notable was Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury, inadvertently responsible for coining the term "abominable snowman" While leading a group on Mount Everest in 1921, Howard-Bury's expedition discovered many footprints at about 20,000 feet in altitude. Howard-Bury related his account to a reporter for the Calcutta Statesman, however, the reporter made an error: the sherpas had said "meh-teh" (roughly, "manlike thing that is not a man"), but the reporter wrote "metoh-kagmi", which translates, roughly, to "abominable snowman".

Related Topics:
Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury - Mount Everest - 1921 - Reporter - Calcutta Statesman - Sherpa

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In 1925, N.A. Tombazi, a photographer (and, incidentally, a member of the Royal Geographical Society) saw a creature at about 15,000 feet in altitude, near Zemu Glacier. Tombazi later wrote that he observed the creature from about 200 or 300 yards' distance, for about one minute. "Unquestionably, the figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright and stopping occasionally to pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes. It showed up dark against the snow, and as far as I could make out, wore no clothes." About two hours later, Tombazi and his companions descended the mountain, and saw what they took to be the creature's prints, described as "similar in shape to those of a man, but only six to seven inches long by four inches wide.... The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped."

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1925 - N.A. Tombazi - Photographer - Royal Geographical Society - Glacier - Dwarf - Rhododendron - Bush

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In 1942, after escaping from a Siberian prison, S?awomir Rawicz and his companions reported seeing two large, apelike creatures while crossing the Himalayas. They claim to have observed the creatures for several hours from a distance of about 100 m (300 feet). However, critics have questioned the accuracy (and even the reality) of Rawicz's escape narrative.

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1942 - Siberia - Prison - S?awomir Rawicz - M - Feet)

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Western interest in the yeti peaked dramatically in the 1950s. While attempting to scale Mount Everest in 1951, Eric Shipton took photographs of a number of large prints in the snow, at about 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) above sea level. These photos have been subject to intense study and debate: Some argue they are the best evidence of Yeti's reality; others disagree, and think the prints are a mundane creature's, distorted and enlarged by the melting snow.

Related Topics:
Drama - 1950s - Mount Everest - 1951 - Eric Shipton - Photograph - Sea level - Snow

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In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reported seeing large footprints while scaling Mount Everest. Hillary would later discount Yeti reports as unreliable.

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1953 - Sir Edmund Hillary - Tenzing Norgay - Mount Everest

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Beginning in 1957, Tom Slick, an American who had made a fortune in oil, funded a few missions to investigate yeti reports. In 1959, feces reportedly from a yeti were collected by Slick's expedition. Analysis found a parasite but could not classify it. Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that "Since each animal has its own parasites, this indicated that the host animal is equally an unknown animal."

Related Topics:
1957 - Tom Slick - American - Oil - 1959 - Feces - Parasite - Bernard Heuvelmans

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In 1959, actor Jimmy Stewart, while visiting India, reportedly smuggled the remains of a supposed yeti, the so-called Pangboche Hand, by hiding them in his luggage when he flew from India to London. http://www.anomalist.com/milestones/stewart.html

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1959 - Actor - Jimmy Stewart - India - Pangboche Hand - London

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In 1970, British mountaineer Don Whilliams says he saw a creature while scaling Mount Annapurna. While scouting for a campsite, Whilliams heard some odd cries. His sherpa guide told him the sound was a yeti's call. That night, reported Whilliams, he saw a dark shape moving near his camp. The next day, Whilliams observed a few human like footprints in the snow, and that evening, he asserted that with binoculars, he watched a bipedal, ape-like creature for about 20 minutes as it apparently searched for food not far from his camp.

Related Topics:
1970 - Don Whilliams - Mount Annapurna - Binoculars

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Yeti accounts have perhaps received less attention in recent decades, but as recently as 1998, Craig Calonica reported seeing two apelike, bipedal creatures on Mount Everest.

Related Topics:
1998 - Craig Calonica - Mount Everest

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