Mountaineering at Home and Abroad
The scrambling and climbing Bentley Beetham had to undertake in his high risk pursuit of photographing birds nesting on the sea cliffs brought about his desire to take up the sport of climbing, one that would take him to Wasdale Head in the Lake District, a prominent climbing area at that time. Here he made the acquiantance of Howard Somervell, and so began a lasting friendship. Together the explored many of the classic Lake District climbs before the outbreak of the First World War. Although their exploits were halted by the onset of war the partnership was rekindled after the cessation of hostilities. At this point in time they turned their attention to the snow and ice of the Alps, learning many skills and climbing techniques which no doubt influenced the Mount Everest Committee only a few years later in their subsequent selection for Everest.
Although after the 1924 expedition Bentley Beetham devoted most of his time to school life he still found time for mountaineering expeditions to various parts of the world, taking him to places such as the Tatra mountains of Czechoslovakia, the Drakensburg in Natal, Spitzbergen and the Lofoten Islands in Northen Norway and Chile where he was made an Honorary Member of the Club Andino do Chile. However, the mountains that he came to know better than any other mountaineer of his time were the Haut Atlas in Morrocco. He made five expeditions to this mountain range between 1926 and 1934, in addition to reconnaissances, an area he last visited in 1956, aged 70.
