Dear Editor,
The successful Leo Houlding-led Roraima Expedition of Nov/Dec 2019, is the first expedition to have had two Guyanese summit the Great Northern Prow of Mount Roraima. In 1970 and 1971 as a GDF Captain at that time, I was involved in the reconnaissance work, with Guyana’s foremost explorer and botanist Adrian Duncan Thompson A.A. and Chief Guide Isaac Jerry M.S. for the two UK-Guyana Expeditions of 1971 and 1973. In 1971, the Roraima (Scientific) Expedition was co-led by the late Adrian Warren of the U.K. and the late Adrian Thompson of Guyana, and the successful 1973 Roraima (summiting) Expedition was co-led by the Scottish mountaineer Hamish MacInness and Guyanese Adrian Thompson. The GDF was very much involved in the 1971 and 1973 expeditions and had assigned officers and ranks in a ground support role as well as facilitating parachute insertion training and supply drops by the GDF’s air wing, led by the late Captain Michael Chan-a-Sue. The 1971 Expedition reached the base of the Great Northern Prow but did not have the climbing expertise and equipment to attempt the summit but instead focused on scientific work in this unique, four billion-year old Guiana Shield ecosystem. In the 1973 Roraima Expedition, the four expert U.K. climbers – Hamish MacInnes, Don Whillans, Joe Brown and Mo Antoine, were the first and only persons to climb the Great Northern Prow of Roraima from the Guyana side. Many have climbed from the Venezuelan side using the routes developed for tourism. Others later, such as the National Geographic-sponsored expedition succeeded in climbing the Great Northern Prow but no Guyanese had ever summited using this route from the Guyana side, which requires mountaineering expertise and equipment. In the case of the 2019 Leo Houlding-led Roraima Expedition, Leo offered the opportunity for two Amerindian Guides from Phillipai Village – Troy Henry and James Edwards to summit from the Guyana side by putting them through training at the Base Camp at 7,000 feet, in the use of relevant ropes and other specialised climbing equipment. They are therefore the first persons of Guyanese descent to have climbed the Great Northern Prow. Their courage and feat should be celebrated and fittingly so, being Akawaios and representatives of our First Peoples, who regard the mountain with reverence as the “Mother of the Great Rivers”. Tributaries spawned on this shared mountain (Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil) flow into the Ireng River that flows south into the Rio Branco and the mighty Amazon in Brazil; another flows west into Venezuela and to the Orinoco River; and the Pong River flows north into the Mazaruni, which is a tributary of our very own Essequibo River.
Troy Henry and Edward James are now the logical heirs of the Great Akawaio Mountaineer and Chief Guide – the late Isaac Jerry M.S., who was my close friend and a field associate for decades of Adrian Thompson. Isaac was at one time the Toshao of Jawalla Village and a High Priest of the Hallelujah Religion.
The example of courage and determination to succeed displayed by Guyanese Akawaios mountaineers and guides, Troy Henry and Edward James, should be emulated by young Guyanese who are challenged to attain new heights in physical and mental endeavour through adventure and scientific exploration.
Yours faithfully,
Joseph G Singh
Major General (ret’d)
Representative of the U.K. Scientific Exploration
Society
