Editing Francis Younghusband (section)

== Himalaya and mountaineering ==

In 1889, Younghusband reached base of [[Indira Col|Turkestan La (North)]] from north, and he noted that this was a long glacier and a major Central Asian dividing range.<ref name=swa1>1999, Saga of Siachen, The Himalayan Journal, Vol.55.</ref>

In 1919, Younghusband was elected President of the [[Royal Geographical Society]], and two years later became Chairman of the [[Mount Everest Committee]] which was set up to coordinate the initial [[1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition|1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition]] to [[Mount Everest]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mountain-portal.co.uk/text/everest/Evrst02.htm |title=Text of ''The Epic of Mount Everest'', Sir Francis Younghusband. |access-date=16 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526062632/http://www.mountain-portal.co.uk/text/everest/Evrst02.htm |archive-date=26 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Younghusband supported efforts to summit Mount Everest and endorsed [[George Mallory]]'s participation in early expeditions, and they followed the same initial route as the earlier Tibet Mission. Younghusband remained Chairman through the subsequent [[1922 British Mount Everest expedition|1922]] and [[1924 British Mount Everest expedition|1924]] British Expeditions.

In 1938, Younghusband encouraged [[Ernst Schäfer]], who was about to lead a German expedition, to "sneak over the border" when faced with British intransigence towards Schäfer's efforts to reach Tibet.<ref>Hale, Christopher. ''Himmler's Crusade'' (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2003) pp. 149-151</ref>