Everest recalled
Peter Gillman is on top of the world …
In early 2020 I was offered an enticing commission : to edit a two-volume anthology of the best writing and photographs from �ive Everest expeditions which took place from 1921 to 1953 . The offer came from the Folio Society , publishers of top-quality illustrated books , and would draw on the photographic archives of the Royal Geographical Society . It all looked good : deadlines were �ixed , contracts signed , and in March I made my �irst visit to the RGS library . Then came Covid . For the best part of a year I did my photographic research entirely online , trusting that the photographs I chose were the best available . Selecting the texts offered parallel problems : here I had conducted one search at the Alpine Club library before it too was closed . Fortunately I had most of the key Everest books in my own collection , and the AC librarian eventually provided others .
One of the most rewarding aspects of the project , undertaken with my wife and frequent co-author Leni , was decoding and deconstructing many of the images . We pored over them looking for sub-texts and hidden stories . ( We also corrected some of the descriptions and attributions in the RGS captions ). Here are four of the images we selected , each with depths of meaning that are worth setting out . Overall , we feel , the twin anthology is a tribute to human imagination and endeavour , and the desire to ful�il what George Mallory ( our hero ) alluded to as our wildest dreams .
One of the most memorable of all Everest photographs , this shows a group of climbers posing for the camera at expedition base camp beside the Rongbuk Glacier in May 1924 . Ranged across the back row are four men whose epic endeavours would pass into history . At left , Sandy Irvine and George Mallory , who disappeared close to the summit during a �inal , fateful attempt in early June . Centre , with goggles , Teddy Norton , the expedition leader , who reached 28,126 feet – just 900 feet below the summit – two days before the Irvine / Mallory attempt . Right of Norton is Noel Odell , whose last sighting of the pair before they disappeared into mist is one of the epic accounts of mountaineering . Mallory is posing with his foot on the shoulder of Edward Shebbeare – a token of his liking for playing to the camera , and exuding a con�idence that came from being the only man who was also on the 1921 and 1922 expeditions . Four members are missing , including the photographer John Noel , who on this occasion did not use his novel delayed-action shutter which would have allowed him to be in the shot . Noel , a pioneer in many ways , later hand-tinted his black-and-white image .
4 outdoor focus / autumn 2021