Everest: Mallory to Hillary and Tenzing

1849 – Oct 202454 items

himalayamountaineering
The north face of Everest from the Rongbuk valley, Tibet, the side the expeditions of 1921–1938 tried. Photo: Luca Galuzzi, 2006. CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
The north face of Everest from the Rongbuk valley, Tibet, the side the expeditions of 1921–1938 tried. Photo: Luca Galuzzi, 2006. CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

Everest, 1921–1953

In 1921 no Western climber had been near the highest mountain on Earth. Thirty-two years later two men stood on top of it. In between came a dozen expeditions, a flight over the summit, a world war and a change of countries: the British went seven times through Tibet before the door to the north shut and Nepal’s opened. More than a dozen men died, half of them porters killed in a single avalanche, and George Mallory and Sandy Irvine vanished into a question that is still open.

How it is built

  • Two approaches: the 1920s march from Darjeeling through Sikkim and Tibet to the Rongbuk Glacier and the North Col, and the 1950s march from Kathmandu through Solu-Khumbu to the Icefall, the Western Cwm, the Lhotse Face and the South Col, each drawn as a route on the map.

  • Expeditions as bands, so the high points, the deaths and the gaps between them read against each other.

  • One day hour by hour: zoom into 29 May 1953 to follow Hillary and Tenzing from their tent at 8,500 metres to the top and back. The climbers kept Indian time; the times here are converted to GMT, five and a half hours earlier.

  • A prologue and an epilogue: the survey that found Peak XV in the 1850s, and the finds of 1999 and 2024 on the north side.

Filter by tibet or nepal for the two sides, mallory for Mallory and Irvine, sherpas for the men who carried the loads and, in the end, led, oxygen for the long argument over bottled air, records for the high points and losses for the deaths.

The last note

“To here on 90 atmospheres for the two days—so we’ll probably go on two cylinders—but it’s a bloody load for climbing. Perfect weather for the job!”

George Mallory to Noel Odell, sent down from Camp VI on 7 June 1924, from The Fight for Everest (1925). All dates are Gregorian.

Items

  1. Peak XV is observed from the plains

    ≈ 1 year · Survey stations in the plains of northern Bihar

  2. Peak XV: the highest in the world

  3. Named Mount Everest

  4. ≈ 55 years

  5. The Mount Everest Committee

    Royal Geographical Society, Lowther Lodge, Kensington Gore

  6. The 1921 reconnaissance

    5 months, 10 days · The 1921 reconnaissance: Darjeeling to Rongbuk, Kharta and the North Col

  7. Kellas dies on the march

    On the march into Kampa Dzong, Tibet

  8. A first look into the Western Cwm

    The col between Pumori and Lingtren

  9. Wheeler’s map finds the way

    The East Rongbuk Glacier

  10. The North Col

    The North Col (Chang La)

  11. The 1922 expedition

    4 months, 9 days · Darjeeling to the Rongbuk Glacier, through Sikkim and Tibet

  12. Above 8,000 metres without oxygen

    The North Ridge, about 8,225 metres

  13. Finch and Bruce climb with oxygen

    The North Face, about 8,320 metres

  14. Avalanche below the North Col

    The ice slopes below the North Col

  15. “Because it’s there”

  16. Olympic medals for the 1922 party

    Chamonix

  17. The 1924 expedition

    3 months, 2 days · The North Col route (approximate)

  18. Norton’s high point

    The Great Couloir, about 8,570 metres

  19. Mallory and Irvine leave the North Col

    The North Col (Chang La)

  20. Odell’s last sighting

    The North Ridge near 7,900 metres, where Odell stood

  21. “No trace”

    Camp VI, about 8,170 metres

  22. The 1933 expedition

    ≈ 3 months, 14 days · Base camp below the Rongbuk Glacier

  23. Over the summit by air

    The Houston flight: Purnea to the summit and back

  24. Irvine’s ice axe

    Below the North-East Ridge, east of the First Step

  25. Maurice Wilson dies alone

    Below the North Col, East Rongbuk Glacier

  26. The 1935 reconnaissance

    ≈ 3 months, 27 days · Base camp below the Rongbuk Glacier

  27. The 1936 expedition

    3 months, 3 days · Base camp below the Rongbuk Glacier

  28. The 1938 expedition

    ≈ 3 months, 1 day · The North Col route (approximate)

  29. Into Khumbu: the Houston–Tilman party

    2 months, 1 day · Jogbani to the Khumbu Glacier (approximate)

  30. Tibet closes

    Chamdo, eastern Tibet

  31. The 1951 reconnaissance

    2 months, 26 days · Jogbani to the Khumbu Glacier (approximate)

  32. A route from the Western Cwm

    The slopes of Pumori

  33. The Swiss spring expedition

    2 months, 1 day · The Swiss route: Icefall, Western Cwm, Geneva Spur and South Col

  34. Lambert and Tenzing reach 8,595 metres

    The South-East Ridge, about 8,595 metres

  35. The Swiss autumn expedition

    ≈ 3 months, 1 day · The Swiss route: Icefall, Western Cwm, Geneva Spur and South Col

  36. Hunt replaces Shipton

    Royal Geographical Society, Lowther Lodge, Kensington Gore

  37. Training in Snowdonia

    Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel, Snowdonia

  38. The march from Kathmandu

    17 days · Kathmandu to Thyangboche (approximate)

  39. The Icefall and the Western Cwm

    19 days · Through the Khumbu Icefall into the Western Cwm

  40. The Lhotse Face

    20 days · Up the Lhotse Face to the South Col

  41. Noyce and Annullu reach the South Col

    The South Col

  42. Bourdillon and Evans reach the South Summit

    The South Summit, about 8,750 metres

  43. Camp IX

    Camp IX, about 8,500 metres

  44. Frozen boots

    Camp IX, about 8,500 metres

  45. The summit push

    5 hours, 15 minutes · Camp IX to the summit

  46. The South Summit

    The South Summit, about 8,750 metres

  47. The Hillary Step

    The Hillary Step

  48. On top

    The summit of Everest

  49. Back to the South Col

    The South Col

  50. “Snow conditions bad”

    Base Camp, Khumbu Glacier

  51. The news on coronation morning

    The Times, Printing House Square, London

  52. A George Medal for Tenzing

  53. ≈ 45 years, 10 months

  54. Mallory is found

    The North Face, about 8,155 metres

  55. ≈ 21 years, 7 months

  56. 8,848.86 metres

    The summit of Everest

  57. Irvine’s boot

    The Central Rongbuk Glacier