Jack Longland

Who was Jack Longland?

Sir John Laurence "Jack" Longland was an educator, mountain climber, and broadcaster.

He was educated at the King's School, Worcester, and Jesus College, Cambridge. He lectured in English at Durham University from 1930 to 1936. He then served as Director of Education for Derbyshire for 23 years, from 1949. Whilst Director, in 1950, he established the outdoor centre at Whitehall, near Buxton, one of the first of its kind in the UK.

He was President of the Cambridge University Mountaineering Club during a particularly productive era mid-war, and was later President of the British Mountaineering Council.

As a rock-climber, he was one of a group who opened up the harder grades, for instance with his 1928 ascent of Longland's Climb on Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, Snowdon. Several of these first ascents were made with Ivan Waller. He also made the first ascent of Javelin Blade on the Holly Tree Wall at Idwal in 1930. As the CUMC site records, at E1 5b, this was "An outstanding lead that stood as the most difficult piece of Welsh climbing for many years, though few were aware of it".

As a mountaineer, he is remembered for his heroic actions during the 1933 expedition to Mount Everest led by Hugh Ruttledge, in which he brought down 8 Sherpas from Camp 6 in a whiteout.