These are photographs of probably the most famous of the elusive yeti footprint to date.

Eric Shipton photographed and sketched this single track of an alleged yeti, which measured 13 inches toe to heel. The footprint was found in 1951 on Menlung Glacier.

Additional yeti tracks similar in shape to Shipton's came along about the same time: Lord John Hunt, Sir Edmund Hillary, Frank Smythe, H.W. Tilman, and Peter Byrne who found a string of tracks in 1948 on one of his first expeditions near the area of the Zemu Glacier at an altitude of 15,000 feet. None of these tracks resembled the imprint in snow of the local brown bears, - - bear tracks show claws, presumably the yeti does not. At least Shipton's photograph show no claws and Byrne mentions no claws.

In 1957, after spending 3 months trekking up Nepal's Arun River Valley on a recon mission for a future expedition with Tom Slick, Peter Byrne found a set of yeti footprints in the Chhoyang Khola at 10,000 feet altitude. The prints were identical to those Byrne had seen previously in Sikkim years earlier. They were ten inches in length and of similar construction. Slick, working with a separate party in another area found a second set of footprints, these were 13 inches in length.

The newly discovered footprints, presumably those of the yeti, were 5 toed, ten to thirteen inches in length and of a bipedal creature of considerable weight.

There must be some basis in fact behind the many reports, photographs etc of these unusual tracks. As we say in North America, .."something is leaving large, unusual barefoot human-like tracks."

It may be considered irresponsible for alpinists to assume the yeti is merely a bear when you consider the number of tracks found that do not have claws and are otherwise dissimilar in construction to those of the local bear population. ...Bobbie Short

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