On the Mountain
On first viewing Mount Everest from a distance, Howard-Bury feared that
it may not be possible for humans to reach the summit. Yet, during weeks of strenuous climbing
and careful mapping, the team investigated a seemingly endless series of ridges and glaciers, methodically
compiling a map of the mountain and its surrounding region. By September 1921, they had found a potential route to the summit.
it may not be possible for humans to reach the summit. Yet, during weeks of strenuous climbing
and careful mapping, the team investigated a seemingly endless series of ridges and glaciers, methodically
compiling a map of the mountain and its surrounding region. By September 1921, they had found a potential route to the summit.
The reconnaissance team was required to live and operate at altitudes of well over 5,000 metres, heights that most of the team had not experienced before. In the official account of the expedition, Mallory recounted: 'Neither Bullock nor I was previously acquainted with any big mountains outside the Alps; to our experience in the Alps we had continually to refer, both for understanding this country and for estimating the efforts required to reach a given point in it. The Alps provided a standard of comparison which alone could be our guide until we had acquired some fresh knowledge in the new surroundings.'
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Ridges, glaciers and possibilities: August, September 1921
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Although Mallory and Bullock continued to explore the Kharta glacier, it was Wheeler and his survey team, who were the key to the mission's success. By mid-August, they had found a potential route to the North Col along the East Rongbuk glacier. On 15 August, Howard-Bury sent a note with this information to Mallory and Bullock and the various expedition teams reassembled soon after. Howard-Bury decided to explore a prospective route to the North Col that had first been seen by Bullock. This was the Lhakpa La (Windy Gap), a 6,800 metre high pass which they reached on 18 August despite incessant bad weather. Once at the Lhakpa La, Mallory judged that a route from there to the North Col was feasible. Before making any further explorations, however, the team returned to base camp in order to rest and in the hope that the weather would improve.
On 1 September, much to the surprise of the reconnaissance team, Raeburn arrived from Darjeeling. Three months earlier, Howard-Bury had ordered Raeburn back to Sikkim in order to recover his health, a decision that had been vindicated by Raeburn's subsequent revival. Raeburn reported very wet conditions throughout Tibet with rivers everywhere being unfordable and most of the bridges washed away. He also reported having seen five bags of the team's mail at the village of Chushar, near Tingi Dzong. It had been five weeks since the team had received news of the outside world and they were unaware that the delay had been caused by the heavy rain elsewhere in Tibet. By the time of Raeburn's arrival, the climbing team had restarted its explorations and on 5 September, a party containing Howard-Bury, Wollaston, Raeburn and 26 Tibetan porters left base camp to join the climbing party in the Kharta Valley. The culmination of the reconnaissance mission was fast approaching. |
Actor John McGlynn reads an account by Charles Howard-Bury of night's camping at over 6,000 metres
A sketch by either Mallory or Bullock, showing their explorations of the Kharta Glacier. The diagram shows that the Kharta glacier does not lead to the North Col, disappointing the team who had expended much energy and time in exploring that area. Ultimately, Wheeler found a route along the East Rongbuk Glacier that led to the North Col. (The sketch is taken from the official account of the expedition, published in 1922)
George Mallory, in an excerpt from Mount Everest: the Reconnaissance, describes the difficulties of exploring at high altitudes. The reading is by actor John McGlynn.
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George Mallory, one of the expedition's climbing team, seeks a route upwards. At the bottom of the image is one of the expedition's Sherpas. The figure in the middle is likely to be Guy Bullock. Image reproduced with permission of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
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Bullock with three of the reconnaissance team's Sherpas. In the official account of the expedition, George Mallory noted that the Tibetans and Nepalese men who worked for the reconnaissance team were acclimatised to mountain life but they had no experience of climbing: 'They had to be trained in the craft of mountaineering, in treading safely on snow or ice in dangerous places, in climbing easy rocks and most particularly in the use of rope and ice-axe' (Alpine Club Photo Library, London)
Here on this sharp ridge, at a height of 21,000 feet, with no obstruction to hide the view, sunrise came to us in all its beauty and grandeur. To the West, and close at hand, towered up Mount Everest, still over 8,000 feet above us; at first showing up cold, grey and dead against a sky of deep purple. All of a sudden a ray of sunshine touched the summit, and soon flooded the higher snows and ridges with golden light, while behind, the deep purple of the sky changed to orange. Makalu was the next to catch the first rays of the sun and glowed as though alive; then the white sea of clouds was struck by the gleaming rays of the sun, and all aglow with colour rose slowly and seemed to break against the island peaks in great billows of fleecy white.
Charles Howard-Bury watches a sunrise near Everest in September 1921
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No need for 'bad heroics': August, September 1921
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During the first three weeks of September, the surveyors concentrated on the Kharta Valley and surrounding area. Guijar Singh started a one-inch survey to the north of the valley, while Morshead and Wheeler carried out a photographic survey in the valley. Morshead travelled as far south as a gap called Popti La on the border with Nepal, where he was able to match his survey work to that with which had been conducted from the Nepalese side in the 19th Century.
Mallory and Bullock, meanwhile, were preparing for a climb to the Lhakpa La pass, which the team now recognised as providing an alternative access route to the East Rongbuk Glacier and the North Col. On 20 September Mallory, Bullock and Morshead reached Lhakpa La, where they established a camp in preparation for an attempt to reach the North Col. Most of the team assembled for the attempt, which began on 24 September. Mallory, Bullock and Wheeler, along with three Sherpas, Ang Pasang, Lagay and Gorang, would make the attempt, with Howard-Bury and the others in reserve. Raeburn remained at the base camp. The climbers and Sherpas had camped on the base of the col on the previous night but cold and altitude had kept both Bullock and Wheeler awake. The team started their ascent about 7am with Sherpas Ang Pasang and Lagay leading the way. Although progress was, to quote Bullock, initially 'quite easy', they were soon exposed to ferocious winds. Looking upwards, Mallory could see: 'The powdery fresh snow on the great face of Everest was being swept along in unbroken spindrift and the very ridge where our route lay was marked out to receive its unmitigated fury.' There was no option but to turn back and the team returned to its camp at the base of the col. |
In this segment from Mount Everest: the Reconnaissance, George Mallory describes how high winds forced him and
his companions to retreat from the North Col in September 1921. The reading is by actor John McGlynn.
his companions to retreat from the North Col in September 1921. The reading is by actor John McGlynn.
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On the following morning, Mallory assessed the situation: the winds that had driven them off the col were not abating but increasing in ferocity; the climbers were exhausted, as were the porters whose rations were running short. A remnant of temptation remained. Mallory noted that 'the distance to the col was so short' but he acknowledged that it was still too far for the team. 'The situation', he later wrote, 'if any one of the whole party collapsed, would be extremely disagreeable'. He concluded: 'The arguments, in fact, were all on one side; it would be bad heroics to take wrong risks; and fairly facing the situation one could only admit the necessity of retreat.' Mallory's decision to relinquish his hopes of climbing the col may have saved the expedition from disaster. Bullock had noted in his diary during the previous night: 'I was prepared to follow M. if he wished to try and make some height, but was glad when he decided not to. It was lucky he didn't as my strength proved to be nearly at an end.'
The team's descent from the North Col on 25 September signalled the end of the reconnaissance mission. Bullock, glad to be off the North Col, noted to his diary later that day: 'We spent a pleasant evening, being the last before the expedition finally broke up.' The expedition had achieved its primary goals of mapping the area and in pinpointing a possible route to the summit, although Howard-Bury and Wheeler spent the next few days conducting additional surveys along the Kangshung Glacier between Everest and Makalu, adding more detail to the vast store of knowledge compiled by the reconnaissance team. |
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Frank Nugent describes the importance of Changtse and the North Col to the 1921 reconnaissance mission
and for subsequent expeditions to Mount Everest. In 1987, Frank was a member of an Irish expedition to Changtse. The film contains a map of Everest created by Tom Patterson, a cartographer with the US National Parks Service. |
Frank Nugent and Phil Thomas approach
the North-Col during the Irish expedition to Changtse in1987. Everest is to their left, Changtse to their right. (Photo, Frank Nugent Collection) |
The other occasion when we had to face and determine the possibility of an avalanche was in traversing the slopes to the North Col. Here our feet undoubtedly found a solid bed to tread upon, but the substance above it was dubiously loose. It was my conviction at the time that with axes well driven in above us we were perfectly safe here. But on the way down we observed a space of 5 yards or so where the surface snow had slid away below our tracks. The disquieting thoughts that necessarily followed this discovery left and still leave me in some doubt as to how great a risk, if any, we were actually taking. But it is natural to suppose that at a higher elevation or in a cooler season, because the snow adheres less rapidly to the slopes on which it lies, an avalanche of new snow is more likely to occur.
George Mallory describing the risk of an avalanche on the North Col in 1921. During the following year's expedition to Everest, of which Mallory was a member, seven Sherpas were killed by an avalanche on the North Col.
Mount Everest from the Rongbuk Glacier (Marian Keaney/Westmeath Library Services: Howard-Bury Collection)
A view of Everest from the camp at Lhakpa La. (L'Illustration, 24 December 1921)
North-east of Mount Everest taken from Lhakpa La. A portion of the North Col/Chang La can be seen on the right of the image (Marian Keaney/Westmeath Library Services: Howard-Bury Collection)
This map was produced by the reconnaissance team and subsequently reproduced in the official account of the expedition. The blue spot marks the summit of Everest and the smaller green spot marks the summit of Changtse. Leading from Changtse towards Everest is the North Col/Chang La, a feature that the reconnaissance team recognised as offering a potential route to the summit.
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An unmarked version
of the map can be downloaded through this link | ||
