Into The Silence

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Into The Silence Page 88

by Wade Davis


  John Noel and his first wife, Sybille Moore Graham, had been married since November 14, 1914. Sybille accompanied her husband to Darjeeling in 1924 and embarked on a study of Tibetan folklore, which led to a forgotten but curious book, The Magic Bird of Chomo-Lung-Ma: Tales of Mount Everest, the Turquoise Peak (New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1931). For news of General Bruce’s collapse, see: “The Mount Everest Expedition,” Geographical Journal, vol. 63, no. 6 (June 1924), pp. 525–27. For the comings and goings at base camp, and between Camps I, II, III, and IV, see the typed copies of the individual camp diaries: RGS Box 41, File 3. As for the final retreat from the mountain, Bentley Beetham wrote a stirring account that included the phrase that serves as an epitaph for the entire effort: “The price of life is death.” See: “The Return Journey,” The Fight for Everest, 1924, pp. 155–92.

  13: The Price of Life Is Death

  In the final month leading to the last climb, Norton sent four dispatches from the mountain, all destined for the Times, according to the arrangement worked out by Hinks. On May 13 he wrote from the base camp on Rongbuk, the sixth dispatch of the expedition; it was published in London on May 31. Norton left a memorable account of the horrific conditions at Camp III encountered on May 10: “The wind appeared to be shot high in the air over the North Col, the Rapiu-La and the Lhakpa La, the three passes surrounding us, and, from some high point in the zenith, descended on our camp like a terrier on a rat-pit, and shook our little tents like rats.”

  Mallory and Norton worked together on the next dispatch, sent on May 26 from “East Rongbuk Glacier”; anticipating the final assault, it sparked considerable interest when it appeared in print on June 16. By then, of course, Mallory and Irvine were dead. Their fate was the subject of Norton’s eighth dispatch, begun on the East Rongbuk on June 8, the day of their final effort, and completed with a contribution from Somervell on June 11 at base camp. News of the disaster reached Hinks in London on June 19 and was published in the Times on June 21. Norton’s dispatch of June 11 appeared in the newspaper on June 26. On June 14, he sent his final dispatch from the Rongbuk base camp. Published in London on July 5, it included Odell’s account of what he had last seen of Mallory and Irvine on the mountain.

  All of these reports, together with four subsequent dispatches written from Kyetrak, the Rongshar Valley, Tingri Dzong, and Yatung, were published as: “The Mount Everest Dispatches,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 196–241. In this same number of the journal appeared the papers read at the joint meeting of the RGS and the Alpine Club held at the Royal Albert Hall on October 17, 1924. See: Charles Bruce, “The Organisation and Start of the Expedition,” pp. 241–44; Geoffrey Bruce, “The Journey through Tibet and the Establishment of the High Camps,” pp. 251–60; Norton, “The Personnel of the Expedition,” pp. 244–51, and “The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet,” pp. 260–65; and Odell, “The Last Climb,” pp. 265–72. Odell recalled his excitement upon discovering fossils in a limestone band at 25,500 feet, even as he sought out the fate of his lost companions. Norton remembered Mallory: “A fire burnt in him, and it made him one of the two most formidable antagonists Everest has ever had. He was absolutely determined to conquer the mountain.”

  The RGS formally acknowledged the loss of Mallory and Irvine in: “The Mount Everest Expedition,” Geographical Journal, vol. 64, no. 1 (July 1924), pp. 56–58. The RGS also published the proceedings of the October 17 meeting. See: C. G. Bruce, Geoffrey Bruce, E. F. Norton, and N. E. Odell, “The Mount Everest Expedition of 1924,” Geographical Journal, vol. 64, no. 6 (December 1924), pp. 433–69.

  In his last dispatch, sent from Yatung, Norton wrote: “In the piping times of peace, how else than by such undertakings as Polar and Everest expeditions is the last flicker of the old spirit of adventure and enterprise which made the British Empire to be kept alive?”

  Epilogue

  For the memorial service at St. Paul’s, see: Right Reverend Henry Luke Paget, Lord Bishop of Chester, “Memorial Services in Memory of Men Killed on Mt. Everest,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 273–77. For Odell’s moving obituary of Sandy Irvine, see: Noel Odell, “Andrew Comyn Irvine, 1902–1924,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 386–89. Graham Irving, the schoolmaster who first introduced Mallory to the Alps, wrote his obituary. See: R. L. G. Irving, “George Herbert Leigh Mallory, 1886–1924,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 381–85. The tribute from the king, received by Sir Francis Younghusband, was printed in that same issue of the Alpine Journal, p. 195.

  For a time there remained a sense that another expedition would be imminent—if not in 1925, then certainly the following year. On December 15, 1924, Norton summed up the challenge in a paper read before the members of the Alpine Club. See: E. F. Norton, “The Problem of Mt. Everest,” Alpine Journal, vol. 37, no. 230 (May 1925), pp. 1–21. Hingston reviewed the challenges of acclimatization. See: R. W. G. Hingston, “Physiological Difficulties in the Ascent of Mount Everest,” Geographical Journal, vol. 65, no. 1 (January 1925), pp. 4–23. Odell presented his findings as a geologist. See: Noel Odell, “Observations on the Rocks and Glaciers of Mount Everest,” Geographical Journal, vol. 66, no. 4 (July–December 1925), pp. 289–315.

  For documents concerning the “Affair of the Dancing Lamas,” see Indian Office Records (IOR) Mount Everest File Parts 3 and 4 (IOR L/PS/10/778), and correspondence between the India Office and the Everest Committee (RGS Box 27, Files 6 and 7). The controversy was widely covered in the press, and records may be found in the clippings file of the Alpine Club Archives and in the collections of the Colindale Newspaper Library. See, for example, General Bruce’s article “Lamas of Tibet: From Monastic Cell to London Stage,” Times, January 21, 1925, p. 17, and “Seven Tibetan Lamas Arrive in London,” Sphere, December 6, 1924. On December 27, the Sphere published photos and a brief review under the headline “Tibetan Music at the Scala Theatre.” The interlude, the paper reported, “is one of the strangest and most bizarre things in London at the present moment … Giant horns send their thunderous notes pulsating through the theatre. At first the music seems to picture Chaos, but in a second or two one seems to visualize the birth of the world.”

  For Bailey’s opposition to further Everest expeditions, see: India Office Records (IOR) Mount Everest File Part 1 (IOR L/PS/10/777) and Parts 3 and 4 (IOR L/PS/10/778) 1924. For his correspondence with the Everest Committee, see: RGS Box 24, File 2, and Box 1, File 20.

  For the British Everest expeditions of the 1930s, see: Tony Astill, Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance 1935, published by the author, 2005; Hugh Ruttledge, Everest 1933 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934; published in the United States as Attack on Everest [New York: Robert McBride, 1935]) and Everest: The Unfinished Adventure (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937); and H. W. Tilman, Mount Everest 1938 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1948).

  In 1950 Teddy Norton, at the age of sixty-eight and by then retired, reviewed these failed attempts, even as he sought to rekindle interest in another assault from the North Col. He was certain that the couloir that by then bore his name could be successfully climbed, assuming the weather cooperated and the porters proved to be as stouthearted as the men he had come to know in 1922 and 1924. “The rest,” he wrote, “is on the knees of the Gods.” See E. F. Norton, “Mount Everest: The Last Lap,” Alpine Journal, vol. 57, no. 280 (May 1950), pp. 285–92.

  For the Swiss attempt from Nepal in 1952 that came so close to success, see: R. Dittert, G. Chevalley, and R. Lambert, Forerunners to Everest (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954). For Hillary and Tenzing’s historic climb in 1953, see: John Hunt, The Ascent of Everest (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1953), and Jan Morris, Coronation Everest (London: Faber and Faber, 1958). For the life of Tenzing Norgay, see: Ed Douglas, Tenzing: Hero of Everest (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Books, 2003); Tenzing Norgay and James Ramsey Ullman, Man of Everest: The Autobiography of Tenzing (London: George Harrap, 1955); and Te
nzing Norgay and Malcolm Barnes, After Everest: An Autobiography (London: Allen & Unwin, 1977). For a beautiful book that acknowledges the heroism of a father, even as a son seeks to forge his own identity on this mountain of all desires, see: Jamling Tenzing Norgay and Broughton Coburn, Touching My Father’s Soul (New York: HarperCollins, 2001).

  For the Chinese expeditions with photographs that capture the ideological thrust of their efforts, see: Another Ascent of the World’s Highest Peak—Qomolangma (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1975), and A Photographic Record of the Mount Jolmo Lungma Scientific Expedition (1966–1968) (Peking: Science Press, 1977).

  For the three letters found on Mallory’s body, as well as twenty-seven letters of condolence written to Ruth at the time of his death, see: Mallory Papers, Box 7, Magdalene College Archives, Cambridge. For Conrad Anker’s insights, see: The Lost Explorer (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999).

  In a letter home, Billy Grenfell, age twenty-five, tried to explain life on the Western Front. “Death is such a frail barrier out here,” he wrote, “that we cross it, smiling and gallant, every day.” Billy was killed on July 30, 1915, leading a suicidal charge at Hooge, within a mile of where his brother Julian, age twenty-seven, had fallen on May 13, struck in the head by a shell fragment. Julian, a poet, died of his wounds four weeks later, his mother at his side. In the carnage of the Ypres Salient, Billy was buried in haste, his body lost, never to be recovered.

  Index

  The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

  abominable snowman, 353

  Abors, 208–9

  Above the Snowline (Dent), 69

  Abraham, Ashley, 157–8

  Abraham, George, 126

  Abruzzi, Duke of, 70, 75, 78, 125, 138, 391, 428

  acclimatization, 69, 78, 126, 510

  “Affair of the Dancing Lamas,” 562–4

  Afghanistan, 40, 47, 51, 72, 294, 375–6, 523

  Aga Khan, 468

  airplanes: in mountaineering, 100, 108, 112, 140; in warfare, 15, 16, 93, 126

  Allen, Lancelot, 187

  Alliance Bank of Simla, 456

  Alpine Club, 77, 137, 143, 148, 155, 167, 168, 176, 183, 371, 473, 485; Bruce as president of, 456; first Everest expedition and, 68–9, 70–1, 73–5, 83, 100, 101, 109, 126, 156; generational rift among climbers and, 457; joint meeting of RGS and (1922), 457–8; Mallory and Irvine memorialized at joint meeting of RGS and, 560–1

  Alpine Club of America, 466

  Alpine Club of Canada, 217

  Alpine Journal, 68, 69, 168

  Alps, 76–7, 130, 143, 144, 147–8, 155, 168–9, 176, 177, 203, 261, 283, 346, 370, 371, 377, 380, 475, 534; glaciers as easiest routes of approach in, 274; Mallory’s ascents in, 8–9, 168–9, 177–8, 183–4; Mallory’s honeymoon plans in, 184–5

  Amarkantak, India, 103

  Amo Chu, 116, 218, 219

  Ampthill, Lord, 61

  Amritsar Massacre (1919), 294–5, 296, 390

  Anderson, Graeme, 145–6, 148, 152, 370, 413, 468–9

  Angdanel, 350

  Anglo-Chinese Treaty (1893), 52

  Anglo-Chinese Treaty (1906), 118

  Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission (1885), 51

  Anglo-Russian Convention (1907), 74, 118

  Ang Pasang, 327, 355, 356, 358

  Angtarkay, 483

  Ang Tenze, 323

  Anker, Conrad, 567–9, 570, 571–3

  Antarctica expeditions, 110, 383, 487, 488; applications for first Everest expedition from veterans of, 128–30

  anthropology, 46

  Apostles (secret society), 173–4

  Araguaya, 37

  Ari, 214, 215

  Armstrong, John, 45

  Army and Navy Stores, 157, 394, 482

  Arnold, Edward, 380

  Arras, Battle of (1917), 105, 193, 194, 195, 211

  Arun, 82, 238, 258, 259, 282, 297–8, 338; crossing of, 80, 83, 242; great gorge of, 83, 250, 257, 308, 326, 447; headwater tributaries of, 224, 239, 298 (see also Phung Chu)

  Asghar Khan, 260, 264, 285

  Asquith, Herbert, 183

  Asquith, Raymond, 196

  Asquith, Violet, 188

  Assam, 63, 208, 209, 210

  Assault on Mount Everest, The (Bruce), 460

  Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs), 133

  Austrian royal family, Strutt’s rescue of, 380

  avalanche, Sherpas’ death at Everest in (1922), xv, 3, 443–6, 450–3, 483, 504

  Ayi La, 67

  Baden-Powell, Robert, 8

  Badminton Magazine, 86

  Badrinath, India, 103, 245

  Baghdad, British capture of (1917), 232

  Bailey, F. M., 50, 63, 75, 84, 113, 209–11, 212, 214, 257, 367, 491, 492, 563, 564

  balloon ascents, 125–6

  Baltoro Kangri, 70

  Bam Tso, 225

  Bapaume, Battle of (1918), 392

  Barham, 4

  Barrie, J. M., 94

  Basra oil fields, 232

  bayonets, 14, 16, 30, 35

  Beetham, Bentley, 48, 485, 502, 552, 556, 560; configuration of climbing parties and, 495, 496, 512, 524, 528, 532; final campaign of 1924 expedition and, 527–8, 550; first failed campaign and, 505, 508, 509; Graham’s dismissal and, 473–4, 493; health problems of, 490, 491, 492–3, 512, 514, 524, 528; invited to join 1924 expedition, 471, 472; journey of, from Darjeeling to base camp, 486, 488, 490, 491, 492–3; on Rongbuk Monastery, 553; second failed campaign and, 519, 521, 522; on Sherpa character, 526

  Bell, Charles, 112–16, 118–24, 132, 258, 311, 366–7, 369, 382, 563; arms deal with Tibet brokered by, 115, 121–2, 123, 124, 440; background of, 113–14; complaints about behavior of 1921 expedition and, 366–8, 389, 395; cultural sensitivity of, 114, 116; Dalai Lama’s permission for Everest expedition secured by, 123–4, 160, 223; Dalai Lama’s relationship with, 113, 114, 116, 120, 122–3, 124, 366; Howard-Bury briefed on history of British-Tibetan relations by, 118–22; Howard-Bury’s meeting with, 112, 114–16, 118, 364; Lhasa left by, 440; Lhasa mission of, 122–4

  Bell, Clive, 174, 186, 200

  Bell, D. A., 190, 191

  Bell, Vanessa, 174, 183, 200

  Belloc, Hilaire, 59, 173–4

  Belvedere (Westmeath, Ireland), 103, 104

  Benson, Arthur, 169–71, 172, 173, 176, 188, 467

  beyuls (sacred valleys), 254, 299–301

  Bhote Kosi, 320, 321

  Bhutan, 47, 209

  Bhutia Nepalese, 78–9. See also Sherpas

  Bible Society, 158

  Binney, George, 577

  Bioscope, 562

  Blenk, Karl, 30

  Blodig, Karl, 178

  Bloomsbury set, 174–5, 186

  Boer War, 13, 14

  Bon (Bonpo), 66–7, 219

  Bonacossa, Count Aldo, 143

  Bonington, Sir Chris, 568

  Boswell, James, 180, 183, 466

  Boy’s Own Paper, 166

  Bradford, William Russell, 128

  Brahmans, 73

  Brahmaputra River, 83; exploration of, 50, 63, 66, 75, 86, 207, 208–10, 257, 363; upper (see Tsangpo River and Gorge)

  Breashears, David, 567

  Bridges, Robert, 183; The Spirt of Man and, 94, 416, 492, 507, 560

  British Empire, 41–68; exploration imperative and, 46, 47, 49–50, 63–7; Mallory’s generation nursed on stories of, 166–7; public schools’ creation of cadre for, 167; Raj and, 41–6, 47, 49 (see also India); rivalry between Russian Empire and, 51, 52–3, 54, 57, 60; territories acquired by, 46–7, 91; Tibetan nationhood and, 48, 49; World War I and power of, 91

  British Empire Exhibition (London, 1924–25), 480, 497

  British Expeditionary Force, 9–12

  British Museum (London), 137

  British Ornithologists’ Union, 138–9

  Brittain, Vera,
89, 198, 200

  Brooke, Rupert, 172–3, 174, 175, 176, 177, 183, 186, 187–9; death of, 187–8; “The Soldier” by, 188

  Bruce, Charles, 71–3, 84, 85, 86, 110, 125, 127, 144, 146, 379, 386, 435, 458, 476, 486; as Alpine Club president, 456; base and advanced camp organization and (1922), 403, 407–9, 411, 412, 417; as candidate to lead 1921 expedition, 131, 132, 135; clothing for mountain travel and, 482; in Darjeeling at start of 1922 expedition, 376–7, 389, 393–4; in Darjeeling at start of 1924 expedition, 482–3; Dzatrul Rinpoche’s meetings with, 404–6, 446, 447, 500; early interest in Everest of Younghusband and, 46, 56, 63, 100; education of, 71–2; evacuated to Sikkim, 489–92, 493, 508; as Everest Committee chair, 455, 456; family background of, 71–2; final dispatch of 1922 written by, 493; Finch’s assessment of, 390; Finch’s dismissal and, 461, 462, 463; first serious proposals to attack Everest and, 73, 75; in Gallipoli campaign, 132–5; health problems of, 468–9, 470, 488, 489–92, 493; injuries sustained by, 135; joint meeting of RGS and Alpine Club addressed by (1922), 457; journey of, from Darjeeling to base camp (1922), 394–5, 396, 398–408; journey of, from Darjeeling to Yatung (1924), 486, 488, 489–92; Longstaff sent back to Darjeeling by, 440–1; Mallory’s and Irvine’s death and, 558, 560; medical reviews of, 146–7, 370, 468–9, 488; military career of, 72–3, 132–5; Morris’s first meeting with, 376–7; named leader of 1922 expedition, 131, 369–70; named leader of 1924 expedition, 461, 468–9, 470, 479; Noel’s photographic documentation and, 384; opinions of, on his colleagues, 381, 387, 388; organization of 1924 expedition and, 454–6, 461–2, 470, 471, 472, 473, 481–3; personality and demeanor of, 72, 132; porters and cooks hired and managed by, 393–4, 402, 407, 408–9, 411, 468, 483, 493, 523; selection of 1922 team and, 372; Sherpas’ death in avalanche and, 445, 446, 451–2; Somervell’s film score and, 471; summit attempts and, 402–3, 413–14, 417, 418, 428, 437, 438–9, 440–1, 442, 445, 451–2; supplemental oxygen and, 385, 387, 395, 487; Times dispatches of, 408, 437, 451; Times interview with, 454–5; travels of, on way to Darjeeling (1924), 481–2; on tribal and ethnic groups’ qualities, 73, 78

 

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