Though it remains by far the world's most famous mountain, in recent years Everest's reputation has changed radically, with long queues of climbers on the Lhotse Face, lurid tales of frozen corpses and piles of high altitude trash. It wasn't always like this though. Once Everest was remote and inaccessible, a mysterious place, where only the bravest and most heroic dared to tread.
The first attempt on Everest in 1922 by George Leigh Mallory and a British team is an extraordinary story full of controversy, drama and incident, populated by a set of larger than life characters straight out of Boys Own and Indiana Jones. The expedition ended in tragedy when, on their third bid for the top, Mallory's party was hit by an avalanche that left seven men dead.
Using diaries, letters, published and unpublished accounts, Mick Conefrey creates a rich character driven narrative, exploring the motivations and private dramas of key individuals and detailing the back room politics and bitter rivalries that lay behind this epic adventure.
Though it remains by far the world's most famous mountain, in recent years Everest's reputation has changed radically, with long queues of climbers on the Lhotse Face, lurid tales of frozen corpses and piles of high altitude trash. It wasn't always like this though. Once Everest was remote and inaccessible, a mysterious place, where only the bravest and most heroic dared to tread.
The first attempt on Everest in 1922 by George Leigh Mallory and a British team is an extraordinary story full of controversy, drama and incident, populated by a set of larger than life characters straight out of Boys Own and Indiana Jones. The expedition ended in tragedy when, on their third bid for the top, Mallory's party was hit by an avalanche that left seven men dead.
Using diaries, letters, published and unpublished accounts, Mick Conefrey creates a rich character driven narrative, exploring the motivations and private dramas of key individuals and detailing the back room politics and bitter rivalries that lay behind this epic adventure.
i: Dramatis Personae ii: Introduction 1: Himalayans at Play 2: No Place for Old Men 3: The Hardest Push 4: Larger than Life 5: Oxygen Drill 6: News from the North 7: We May Be Gone Some Time 8: The Gas Offensive 9: Summit Fever 10: Trouble in the Sanctuary 11: A Terrible Enemy 12: 2020 Hindsight iii: Bibliography and Sources iv: Acknowledgements v: Index
Mick Conefrey is an award winning writer and documentary maker. He made the landmark BBC series Mountain Men and Icemen and The Race for Everest to mark the 60th anniversary of the first ascent. His previous books include Everest 1953, the winner of a LeggiMontagna award, and The Ghosts of K2 which won a US National Outdoor Book award in 2017.
The 1922 expedition was perhaps the most exciting of all Everest
ventures. One hundred years ago virtually nothing was known about
the effects of extreme altitude and those brave pioneers were
making it up as they went along, pushing the boundaries of human
possibility. With his usual forensic analysis and keen eye for the
previously untold anecdote, Mick Conefrey re-illuminates one of the
greatest mountain adventures of all time.
*Stephen Venables*
A gloriously British failure: The lost story of the tweed
jacket-wearing and Kendal mint cake-eating band of eccentrics who
were the first to try to conquer Everest is finally told 100 years
on ... The story of that first attempt on the mountain is one
history has largely erased. Failure tends to be forgotten. But in
its centenary year, that 1922 expedition is celebrated in a
gripping new book by mountaineering historian Mick Conefrey. Yes,
it was a failure - but a glorious one.
*Daily Mail*
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