George Herbert Leigh Mallory

“ But it would not be work for untrained men, and to have on the rope a number of laden coolies, more or less mountain-sick, conducted by so small a nucleus as three sahibs, who would also presumably be feeling the effects of altitude, was a proposition not to be contemplated for a moment. We must have as strong a party as possible, in the first place simply to reach the col and afterwards to bring up a camp, if we were able, as a separate operation. ”

“ It had become evident during our reconnaissance in July and August that any serious climbing on the great mountain itself must wait on the weather — if only for the sufficient reason that the labour of carrying loads over unmelted snow would be an unendurable strain upon our coolies. ”

“ If men could be found to besiege Everest year after year, I believe it would surrender at last. But the chances against any particular expedition are indeed very large. I assume that principles time-honoured in the Alpine Club will be honoured no less on Mount Everest than on other mountains. Climbers, of course, are always taking risks ”

“ I believe it to be possible, at all events, for unladen mountaineers to reach 26,000 feet, and if they can go up so far without exhaustion, I fancy the last 3000 feet will not prove so very much more tiring as to exclude the possibility of their reaching the summit.
But in asserting this bare possibility, which, besides, leaves the coolies out of account, I am very far from a sanguine estimate as to the prospects of success. Before we parted, I put this question to Bullock: “What are the chances that a given party will get up in a given year?” ”

“ Lack of sleep, since it makes one sleepy, always discourages an early start, and hot drinks take time to brew. In any case, it was wise not to start too soon so as to have the benefit of warm sun whenever our feet should be obliged to linger in cold snow or ice steps. It was an hour or so after sunrise when we started, and half an hour later we were breaking the crust on the first slopes under the wall. We had taken three coolies who were sufficiently fit and competent, and now proceeded to use them for the hardest work. ”

“ A party of two arriving at the top, each so tired that he is beyond helping the other, might provide good copy for the press, but the performance would provoke the censure of reasonable opinion. If any one falls sick at the last camp, he must be taken down with an adequate escort and as soon as possible; and similarly on the final day. And coolies who become exhausted in carrying up their loads cannot be allowed to make their own way down; exhausted they are incompetent, and must be properly looked after. ”

“ It would involve no sacrifice of meaner ends; the best would not interfere with the good. For if it should turn out that the additional supplies required for a larger campaign were more than our coolies could carry, we could simply drop them and aim less high.
In organizing the assault we had to consider how our camp could be established firstly at Lhakpa La, or, perhaps, better beyond it at a lower elevation, secondly at the north col, and finally as high as possible, somewhere under the shoulder, one thought, at about 26,500 feet. ”

“ It is with such difficulties and such necessities that we have to reckon; and any reckoning, I believe, which fairly weighs the conditions and circumstances governing such an enterprise can only come to the conclusion that the chances in favour of success for any particular party are small indeed. ”

“ This applies to the coolies as well as to myself and others, too, I believe. (7) I was much surprised to find how easily steps might be cut at 21,000 feet. I found myself quite untired after an hour’s work in hard ice. (8) We had little experience of rock climbing; but from such as we had (e.g. some steep pitches on one of the peaks which we climbed west of the Rongbuk) , I am inclined to think that easy rocks, where one is constantly helping oneself up with arms as well as legs, offer the least tiring way of ascent ”

“ The lower end of the ladder must be so constructed as to support the weight at the top. It was comparatively a simple matter to provide the earlier camps. The first above the advanced base could be supplied before we moved up to sleep there, the coolies returning on the same day whenever they carried up loads. And the same plan could be adopted for the second at Lhakpa La; only one journey there, I calculated, would be required before we started from the 20,000-feet camp, and we could then go straight ahead without delay. The crux would lie in the stage from Lhakpa La to the north col. ”

“ It was now situated at about 17,300 feet on a convenient grassy plateau and only a reasonable stage below our 20,000 feet camp, where some light tents and stores had also been left. At these two camps we had, in fact, left everything which we should not absolutely require at Kharta, so that few mountaineering stores would have to be carried up from the base when we came up again. Our first task would be to supply the advanced base with food and fuel, and a start had already been made by collecting here a pile of wood, nominally thirty loads. ”

“ Very little relief in coming down; descent was very definitely an exertion, and fatigue continued to increase, especially on gentle slopes; it was necessary to breathe with conscious effort even when descending. (3) The difference between what we could do, say, at 18,000 feet and 20,000 feet was greater in the case of the coolies, whenever they carried loads, than in others. The coolies always appeared to feel the height more quickly. ”

“ Nor I think did Bullock. It is difficult to account for this deterioration, unless we suppose that altitude, though it may have no immediate effect, takes its toll at length. Wheeler, whose experiences of high camps may be compared with ours, may not agree with this conclusion as fitting his own case; but then his case was different.
Exertion at great heights is another matter, and less dubious in its results. ”

“ Certainly they were much better towards the end, walking rhythmically, but to the last the majority were inclined to hurry. In any case, a small load makes a big difference, but can be compensated largely by reducing pace. ”