Lawrence Wager
| Lawrence Wager | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lawrence Rickard Wager 15 February 1905 |
| Died | 20 November 1965 (aged 61) |
| Notable awards |
Bigsby Medal (1945) Lyell Medal (1962) Fellow of the Royal Society |
Lawrence Rickard Wager, commonly known as Bill Wager, (5 February 1904 – 20 November 1965) was a British geologist, explorer and mountaineer, described as "one of the finest geological thinkers of his generation" and best remembered for his work on the Skaergaard intrusion in Greenland, and for his attempt on Mount Everest in 1933.
Born in Batley, Yorkshire, Wager attended Hebden Bridge Grammar School, where his father was head. He later lived with his uncle Harold Wager, FRS, a botanist and mycologist, while studying at Leeds Grammar School.
He then entered Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he gained a first class degree in geology in 1926. While at Cambridge, he developed an interest in climbing, spending a number of holidays in the Wales, Scotland and the Alps, and serving as president of the university's mountaineering club. After three years of further research at Cambridge, he was appointed a lecturer in the geology department at the University of Reading.
In 1930, Wager made his first trip to eastern Greenland with the British Arctic air route expedition led by Gino Watkins. Early in the expedition, Wager identified and named the Skaergaard intrusion at the mouth of the Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord and immediately realised its significance, a realisation which has been called "a stroke of genius". The expedition (which continued over the winter) also proved his mettle as an explorer; at one point the relief of a station required him to undertake a 125-mile sledge journey to the highest point on the ice-cap in atrocious conditions – an endeavour which took 39 days. Wager also made an attempt to climb Mount Forel in Schweizerland, at the time the highest known peak in the Arctic at 11,500 ft. The party turned back 500 ft below the summit, but had still made the highest climb in the Arctic to date.
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