A peek inside the Himalayan Database, the archives of Elizabeth Hawley

A couple of weekends ago, I did something I’ve been meaning to do for a while: install the Himalayan Database on my computer and play around with it.

The Himalayan Database is a comprehensive record of all expeditions to peaks in Nepal over 7,000m since 1905. It is based on the archive of the American journalist Elizabeth Hawley, who died in January at the age of 94.

Miss Hawley moved to Kathmandu in 1959 as a reporter for Reuters and remained there for the rest of her life (I wouldn’t normal...