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Letter from George to Ruth Mallory from No. II Camp, Everest

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My dearest girl,

It was a great joy last night to get a letter from you dated March 22 – you may imagine how short of news I have been. I was particularly glad to learn that you have practically completed the sale of the Holt – I have been so much afraid that you would have anxiety about that. I also had delightful letters from Clare and Beridge – how Clare is growing up! I was much touched by B’s interest in my ship and much interested by her weeping over the story of Joseph – that doesn’t surprise me about her at all. Curiously enough I was wondering only a day or two back how much of O.T. [Old Testament] stories they were hearing and in particular whether they knew the story of Joseph’s dream.

Now I must give you a brief record of the days that have passed since leaving the B.C. It has been a very trying time with everything against us. The porters have seemed from the start short of acclimatisation and up against it.

May 3 Irvine, Odell, Hazard and self to Camp I

Half the porters lagged badly. Having added a good deal of stuff on their own account to what we had given them to carry they had big loads. I decided to leave 5 loads not urgently required at I and have five men to carry all the porters blankets etc.

May 4 The N.C.O. (Ghurkha) at I was very incompetent in getting these things distributed. However the result was good and the men must have gone well. Irvine and I had gone on ahead and reached II at about 12.30; we had hardly finished a leisurely tiffin when the first porters arrived. Camp II looked extraordinarily uninviting although already inhabited by an N.C.O. and 2 others in charge of the stores (150 loads or so) which had already been carried up by Tibetans. A low irregular wall surrounded a rough compound, which I was informed was the place for the sahibs tents, and another already covered by the fly of a Whymper tent was the home of the N.C.O. The sahibs compound was soon put sufficiently in order, two Whymper tents were pitched there for the four of us while a wonderful brown tent of Noel’s was pitched for him. No tents were provided here for porters the intention was to build comfortable huts or ‘sangars’ as we call them using the Whymper fly’s for roof, but no sangars had yet been built and accomodation for 23 men is not so easily provided in this way. However I soon saw that the ground would allow us to economise walls & Irvine and I with 3 or 4 men began building oblong sangar, the breadth only about 7ft; other men joined in after resting. It is an extraordinary thing to watch the conversion of men from listlessness to some spirit of enterprise; a very little thing will turn the scale; on this occasion the moving of a huge stone to form one corner started the men’s interest and later we sang! And so these rather tired children were persuaded to do something for their comfort – without persuasion they would have done nothing to make life tolerable. Towards 3.0 pm Odell and I (Irvine seemed tired after prodigious building efforts) went on to reconnoitre next day’s march over the glacier. We began by going along the stones of the true left bank, the way of 1922, but the going was very bad, much more broken than before. To our left on the glacier we could see the stones of a moraine appearing among the great ice pinnacles. We gained this by some amusing climbing retraced our steps a little way along it towards Camp II and then on the far side reached a hump from which the whole glacier could be seen rising to the south; from a point quite near us it was obvious that there could be no serious obstacle and that point we saw could be gained in a simple way: it only remained therefore to make a good connection with Camp II. We followed easily down the moraine, which is a stony trough between high fantastic ice pinnacles and a beautiful place and just as were nearing camp found a simple way through the pinnacles – so in an hour and a half the first and most difficult part of the way from II to III had been established.

4th to 5th An appalling night, very cold, considerable snow fall and a violent wind.

5th Result – signs of life in camp – the first audible ones in camps up to and including II are the blowing of a yak dung fire with Tibetan bellows – on the 5th these signs were very late.

The men too were an extraordinarily long time getting their food this morning. The N.C.O. seemed unable to get a move on and generally speaking an oriental inertia was in the air. It was with difficulty in fact that the men could be got out of their tents and then we had further difficulty about loads; one man, a regular old soldier, having possessed himself of a conveniently light load refused to take a heavier one which I wanted taken instead; I had to make a great show of threatening him with my fist in his face before he would comply and so with much argument about it and about, as to what should be left behind as to coolie rations and blankets and cooking pots and the degree of illness of 3 reporting sick we didn’t get fairly under way until 11 am. Now making a new track is always a long affair compared with following an old one – and on this occasion snow had fallen in the night. The glacier which had looked innocent enough the evening before was far from innocent now. The wind had blown the higher surfaces clear, the days I suppose had been too cold for melting and these surfaces were hard, smooth, rounded ice, almost as hard as glass and with never a trace of roughness, and between the projecting humps lay the new powdery snow. The result of these conditions was much expenditure of labour either in making steps in the snow or cutting them in ice and we reached a place known as the trough – a broad broken trough in the ice 50 ft deep about 1/3 of the way up knowing we should have all we could do to reach Camp III. Accordingly we roped up all the men in 3 parties; this of course was a mere device to get the men along as there isn’t a crevasse in the glacier until rounding the corner to III. We followed along in the trough for some way a lovely warm place, and then came out of it onto the open glacier where the wind was blowing up the snow maliciously. The wind luckily was at our backs until we rounded the corner of the North Peak – and then we caught it, blowing straight at us from the North Col. As the porters were now nearly exhausted and feeling the altitude badly our progress was a bitter experience. I was acting as lone horse finding the best way and consequently arrived first in camp. It was a queer sensation reviving memories of that scene, with the dud oxygen cylinders piled against the cairn which was built to commemorate the seven porters killed two years ago. The whole place had changed less than I could have believed possible, seeing that the glacier is everywhere beneath the stones. My boots were frozen hard on my feet and I knew we could to do nothing now to make a comfortable camp. I showed the porters where to pitch their tents at 6.0 pm; got hold of a rucksack containing 4 china cookers, dished out 3 and meta for their cooking to the porters and 1 to our own cook: then we pitched our own two Meade tents with doors facing about a yard apart for sociability. The porters seemed to me very much done up and considering how cold it was even at 6.0 am I was a good deal depressed by the situation. Personally I got warm easily enough; our wonderful Kami produced some sort of a hot meal and I lay comfortably in my sleeping bag. The one thing I could think of for the porters was the high altitude sleeping sacks (intended for IV and upwards) now at II and which I had not ordered to come on next day with the second party of porters (two parties A and B each of 20 had been formed for these purposes and B were a day behind us). The only plan was to make an early start next morning and get to II in time to forestall the departure of B party, I remember making this resolve in the middle of the night and getting up to pull my boots inside the tent from under the door; I put them inside the outer covering of my fleabag and near the middle of my body - but of course they remained frozen hard and I had a tussle to get them on in the morning. Luckily the sun strikes our tents early – 6.30 a.m. or little later at III and I was able to get off about 7.0. I left directions that half the men or as many less as possible should come ¼ of the way down and meet the men coming up so as to get the most important loads to III. I guessed that B party after a cold night would not start before 9.0 am and as I was anxious to find, if possible, a better way over the glacier I wasted some time in investigations and made an unsatisfactory new route, so that it was after 8.30 when I emerged from the trough; and a little further on I saw B party coming up. It was too late to turn them back. I found that they had some of them resolved that they would not be able to go to III and get back to II the same day and consequently increased their loads with blankets etc determining to sleep at III. This was the last thing I wanted. My chief idea at the moment was to get useful work out of B party without risking their morale or condition as I saw we were risking that of A. So after despatching a note to Noel at II I conducted B party slowly up the glacier. After making a convenient dump and sending down B party I got back to Camp III early afternoon, some what done and going very slowly at the last from want of food. In camp nothing doing. All porters said to be sick and none fit to carry a load. Irvine and Odell volunteered to go down to the dump and get up one or two things specially wanted – e.g. Primus stoves, which was done. The sun had left the camp sometime before they returned. A very little wall building was done this day notably round the N.C.O.’s tent otherwise nothing to improve matters. The temperature at p.m. (we hadn’t thermometers the previous night) was observed to be 2° F – 30 ° of frost an hour before sunset –; under these conditions it is only during the sunny windless hours that anything to speak of can be done; this day there were such hours but I gathered that sahibs as well as porters were suffering from altitude lassitude.

May 7 The night had been very cold -21 ½ ° i.e. 53 °of frost. Personally I had slept beautifully warmly and yet was not well in the morning. Odell and Irvine also seemed distinctly unfit. I decided to send Hazard down with some of A party to meet at the dump and bring up 10 of B (it had been arranged that this party were to come up again). Investigations again showed that no porters were fit to carry loads; several were too unwell to be kept up at III; not one had a spark of energy or seemed inclined to do a hand’s turn to help himself – the only live man in camp was our admirable Kami. I decided to send down the whole lot and to send up B next day to establish the camp and prove it habitable. While Hazard went off to meet B I collected the men at III. They had to be more or less pulled from their tents; an hour and a half must have been taken up in their getting a meal of tea and tsamfa which they must clearly have before going down; & much time too in digging out the sicker men who tried to hide away in their tents – one of them who was absolutely without a spark of life to help himself had swollen feet and we had to pull on his boots with our socks; he was almost incapable of walking; I supported him with my arm for some distance and then told off a porter to do that; eventually roped in three parties in charge of the N.C.O. I sent them off by themselves from the dump - where shortly afterwards I met Hazard. Four men of B had gone on to III but not to sleep. Three others whom we now proceeded to rope up and help with their loads alone consented to stay there.

A second day therefore passed with only 7 more loads got to III & nothing done to establish the camp in a more comfortable manner, unless it may be counted that this third night the six men would each have a high altitude sleeping bag: and meanwhile the morale of A partly had gone to blazes. It was clear to me that the morale of porters altogether must be restored if possible at once by bringing B partly up and giving them a day’s rest to make camp.

May 8. I made another early start and reached II at 9.0 am – and here met Norton and Somervill. By some mental aberration I had thought they would only reach II on this day – they had proceeded according to programme and come to II on the 7th. We discussed plans largely while I ate breakfast, in the mild, sheltered, sunny al fresco of II (by comparison). N. agreed with my ideas and we despatched all remaining B party to III with Somervell, to pick up their loads at the dump and carry them on. A had been filled up the previous night with hot food and were now lying in the sun looking more like men; the only question was whether in future to re establish the correct standard and make them carry all the way to III and back as was always done in 1922; I was strongly opposed to this idea, the best way of re establishing their morale I thought would be to give them a job well within their powers and if they improved as I hoped they might well carry loads the ¾ journey to the dump on 3 successive days - while B could ferry the last quarter once and twice on the two of the days when they would not be engaged in making camps: - this was agreed to more particularly by Geoffrey Bruce, who really runs the porters altogether, and who had now come up from I.

A day of great relief this with the responsibility shared or handed over; and much lying in the sun; and untroubled sleep at II.

May 9 I intended going ahead of the party to see how things were moving at III – for this day the camp was to be made wonderful. Seven men with special loads, fresh heroes from the Base were to go through to III the A men to return from the dump to II. As it turned out I escorted the first batch who were going through to III. The conditions when we emerged from the trough were anything but pleasant; under a grey sky the violent wind was blowing up the snow; at moments the black dots below me on the glacier all except the nearest were completely lost to view. The men were much inclined to put down their loads before reaching the dump and a good deal of driving had to be done. Eventually after waiting some time at the dump I joined Norton and Geoff and we escorted the last 3 loads for III the last bit of the way.

On such a day I didn’t expect III to be more congenial than it had been. However it was something to be greeted by the cheery noise of the Roarer Cooker; the R.C. is one of the great inventions of the expedition; we have two in point of fact one with a vertical and one with a horizontal flame – a sort of super Primus stove. Irvine and Odell had evidently been doing some useful work. It had been a triumph getting the R.C. to Camp III – it is an extravagant load weighing over 40lbs and it now proved to be even more extravagant of fuel than had been anticipated; moreover its burning was somewhat intermittent and as the cook even after instruction was still both frightened and incompetent when this formidable stove was not functioning quite sweetly and well a sahib had often to be called in to help. Nevertheless the R.C. succeeded in cooking food for the troops and however costly in paraffin oil that meal may have been it made the one great difference between Camp III as A party experienced it and Camp III now. Otherwise on this day set apart for the edification & beautification of this camp the single thing that had been done was the erection of one Mead tent to accommodate 2 more sahibs (only 2 more because Hazard came down this day). And no blame to anyone. B party was much as A party had been - in a state of oriental inertia; it is unfair perhaps to our porters to class then with Orientals in general, but they have this oriental quality that after a certain stage of physical discomfort or mental depression is reached they simply curl up. Our porters were just curled up inside their tents. And it must be admitted that the sahibs were most of the time in their tents no other place being tolerable. Personally I felt that the task of going round tents and seeing how the men were getting on and giving orders about the arrangements of the camp now naturally fell to Geoffrey Bruce, whose ‘pigeon’ it is to deal with porters. And so, presently, in my old place, with Somervell now as a companion instead of Hazard. I made myself comfortable; - i.e. I took off my boots and knickers, put on my footless stockings knitted for me by my wife for last expedition and covering the whole of my legs, a pair of grey flannel bags & 2 pairs of warm socks besides my cloth sided shoes & certain garments too for warming the upper parts, a comparatively simple matter. The final resort in these conditions of course is to put ones legs into a sleeping bag. Howard and I lay warmly enough and presently I proposed a game of picquette and we played cards for sometime until Norton & Geoff came to pay us a visit and discuss the situation. Someone a little later lied backer the flaps of the two tents facing each other so that after N & G had retired to their tent the other four of us began were inhabiting as it were one room and hopefully talked of the genius of Kami and the Roarer Cooker and supposed that a hot evening meal might sometime come our way. Meanwhile I produced The Spirit of Man and began reading one things and another – Howard reminded me that I was reproducing on the same spot a scene which occurred two years ago when he and I lay in a tent together. We all agreed that Kubla Khan was a good sort of poem. Irvine was rather poetry shy but seemed to be favourably impressed by the Epitaph to Grey’s Elegy. Odell was much inclined to be interested and liked the last lines of Prometheus Unbound. S, who knows quite a lot of English Literature had never read a poem of Emily Bronte’s and was happily introduced. And suddenly hot soup arrived.

The following night was one of the most disagreeable I remember. The wind came in tremendous gusts and in spite of precautions to keep it out the fresh snow drifted in; if one’s head was not under the bed clothes one’s face was cooled by the fine cold powder and [May 10 written in margin] in the morning I found about 2 ins of snow all along my side of the tent. It was impossible to guess how much snow had fallen during the night when first one looked out. The only certain thing was the vile appearance of thing’s at present. In a calm interval one could take stock of a camp now covered in snow - and then would come the violent wind and all would be covered in the spindrift. Presently Norton and Geoff came into our tent for a pow pow. G. speaking from the porters’ point of view was in favour of beating a retreat. We were all agreed that we must not risk destroying the morale of the porters and also that for two or three days no progress could be made towards the North Col. But it seemed to me that in a normal course of events the weather should now re-establish itself and might even be sufficiently calm to get something done this afternoon; and that for the porters the best thing of all would be to weather the storm up at III. In any case it would be early enough to decide for a retreat next day. These arguments commended themselves to Norton; and so it was agreed. Meanwhile one of the most serious features of the situation was the consumption of fuel. A box of meta and none could say how much paraffin (not much however) had been burnt at II; here at III no water had yet appeared and snow must be melted for everyone at every meal – a box of Meta had been consumed here too and Primus stoves had been used before Roarer had made its appearance yesterday. Goodness knew how much oil it had used. It was clear that the first economy must be in the number (6) of sahibs at III. We planned that Somervill, Norton and Odell should have the first whack at the North Col and Irvine and I finish the good work next day – Irvine and I therefore must go down first. On the way down Irvine suffered very much and I somewhat for the complaint known as glacier lassitude – mysterious complaint, but I’m pretty certain that in his case the sun and the dazzling light reflected from the new snow had something to do with the trouble.

A peaceful time at II with Beetham and Noel.

May 11. The weather hazy and unsettled looking.

I despatched 15 loads up to the dump and arranged for the evacuation of two sick men – of whom one had very badly frost bitten feet apparently a Lepcha unfit for this game and the other was Sangha, Kellas’s old servant who has been attached to Noel this expedition and last, a most valuable man who seemed extremely ill with bronchitis. The parties had been gone half an hour before we were aroused by a shout and learnt that a porter had broken his leg on the glacier. We quickly gathered ourselves into a competent help party and had barely started out when a man turned up bearing a note from Norton – to tell me as I half expected that he had decided to evacuate III for the present and retire all ranks to the B.C.

The wounded man turned out to be nearer at hand and not so badly wounded (a bone broken in the region of the knee) as I had feared.

This same evening Beetham, Noel, Irvine, and I were back at the B.C., the rest coming in next day.

Well, that’s the bare story of the reverse, so far as it goes. I’m convinced Norton has been perfectly right. We pushed things far enough. Everything depends on the porters and we must contrive to bring them to the starting point – i.e. 3 at the top of their form. I expect we were working all the time in ‘22 with a smaller margin than we knew - it certainly amazed me that the whole ‘bandobast’ so far as porters were concerned worked so smoothly. Anyway this time the conditions at III were much more severe and not only were temperatures lower, but wind was more continuous and more violent. I expect these porters will do as well in the end as last time’s. Personally I felt as though I were going through a real hard time in a way I never did in ’22. Meanwhile our retreat has meant a big waste of time. We have waited down here for the weather & at last it looks more settled and we are on the point of starting up again. But the day for the summit is put off from the 17th to the 28th; and the great question is will the monsoon give us time?

May 16. That is all very impersonal but I wanted to get the story down. You’ll be glad to hear that I came through the bad time unscathed indeed, excellently fit. I must tell you that with immense physical pride I look upon myself as the strongest of the lot the most likely to get to the top with or without gas. I may be wrong but I’m pretty sure Norton thinks the same. He and I were agreeing yesterday that none of the new members, with the possible exception of Irvine can touch the veterans and that the old gang are bearing everything on their shoulders and will continue to do so forcement. The performance of Odell and Hazard on the day they were supposed to reconnoitre the North Col was certainly disappointing. And Beetham has not recovered his form. None of these three has shown that he has any real guts; it is an effort to pull oneself together and do what is required high up, but it is the power to keep the show going when you don’t feel energetic that will enable us to win through if anything does. Irvine has much more of the winning spirit - he has been wonderfully hard working and brilliantly skilful about the oxygen; against him is his youth (though it is very much for him some ways) – hard things seem to hit him a bit harder – and his lack of mountaineering training and practice, which must tells to some extent when it comes to climbing rocks or even to saving energy on the easiest ground. However he’ll be an ideal campaigning companion and with as stout a heart as you could wish to find; - if each of us keeps up his strength as it is at present we should go well together.

Somervell seems to me a bit below his form of two years ago and Norton is not particularly strong I fancy, at the moment; still they’re sure to turn up a pretty tough pair. I hope to carry all through now with a great bound now. We have learnt from experience and will be well organised at the camps. Howard and I will be making the way to Chang La again – 4 days hence and eight days later – who can tell? Perhaps we shall go to the top on Ascension Day May 29.

I don’t forget meanwhile that there’s the old monsoon to be reckoned with, and a hundred possible slips between the B.C. and the summit. I feel strong for the battle but I know every ounce of strength will be wanted.

I must get off a little letter to each of the girls by this mail. I wish I had time to present to your mind a few of the amazing scenes connected with this story. As it is it is dull I fear – but perhaps not to you. My love to people in Cambridge, David and Claud and Jim especially and kind remembrances to Cranage and Mrs Cr. I wonder what you’ll be doing about putting people up during the Summer Meeting.

Great love to you always, dearest Ruth. Your loving George

Letter from George to Ruth Mallory from Tinkye Dzong

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Darling Ruth,

This is only a hurried line at the end of a full day - to tell you (1) that my tummy is in perfect order again, & I feel as fit as possible. It was a funny go altogether & quite inexplicable. Naturally there was a small appendicitis scare as the tenderness was on the right side, but Somervell was practically sure from the start that I was free from that.

(2) Beetham came on with us. It was Somervell’s decision on the very morning of leaving Kampa Dzong – that is to say S [Somervell] had to decide that B [Beetham] would get better; & no doubt he is right. But it is one thing to have no more dysentry & another to get really fit again after all that when living at this altitude. At present B [Beetham] looks years older in much the same way as Raeburn did in ’21, only at a younger stage & has quite lost all kick & there was no one more energetic earier. Still he may be a useful reserve climber in the end.

(3) I’ve had a brain wave – no other word will describe the process by which I arrived at another plan for climbing the mountains;-
(a) A. & B. with 15 porters (about) starting from IV (North Col) establish V building emplacements for 4 tents at about 25,500 & descend.
(b) C. & D. gassless party go to V with another 15 porters of whom 7 carry loads & descend, the other 8 group without loads practically speaking & sleep.
(c) C. & D. proceed to establish a camp VII at 27,300 (about) with these 8 porters carrying up 6 loads.
(d) E. & F. gas party on the same day as (c) start wthh 10 porters (about) from IV, go without loads to V & from that point E. & F. using oxygen they take on the stores & gas previously dumped at V about 1,000ft higher to VI at 26,500.
(e) Then the two parties start next morning & presumably meet on the summit.

You will readily perceive the chief merits of this plan; - the mutual support which the two parties can give each other; the establishment of camps without waste of reserve climbers (A. & B. will not have done so much that they can’t recover); the much better chance this way of establishing VI without collapse of porters. And then if this go fails we shall be in the best possible position to decide how the next attempt should be made; four climbers we hope will be available & the camps either way will be all ready.

This plan has such great advantages over all others that Norton has taken it up at once & this evening we had another pow wow & everyone has cordially approved. I’m much pleased about this as you may imagine - if only for this it seems worth while to have come; for Norton’s plan was fundamentally unsound I’m sure & might have had very bad results; & in this one there is much greater safety. It is impossible yet to say who the parties will be. N [Norton] & I have talked about it; he thinks Somervell & I should lead each one of these two parties; he puts himself in my hands as to whether he should be one of them – isn’t that generous? We shall have to judge as best we can of people’s fitness when we reach the Base Camp. Odell has not been showing up well; but either he or Irvine must be of the gas party.

We have stayed one day here for transport, as against 3 last year when Longstaff was ill; & we hope only to stay one day at Shekar, & so we should be two or three days up at the Base Camp.

No mail yet – one should have arrived today.
Much love to you.

Ever your loving, George

I didn’t tell you that I bought a pony at Kampa Dzong, a very good animal, though too thin.

Letter from George to Ruth Mallory from Chiblung

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My dearest Ruth,

I don’t know whether you will easily find this place on the map. We have come north from Tinkye, avoiding unpleasant customers at Chushar and Gyanka Nampa & this valley is divided from that in which Rongkon lies by a low range of hills - we are encamped just at the corner of the Chiblung Chu; Sanko Ri & the ridge where Somervell & I climbed in 1922 is our view to the west.

Today – at last – an English mail has reached us. I have had a very nice long letter from you and also a picture of the children enclosed with the photos from my American friend Schwab illustrating his expedition to Mt Clemenceau (did you notice the one of Mt Farrar & Mt Mallory?). I’m very glad to have the children’s picture, but you don’t send one of yourself naughty girl. Nor do you send me any cuttings this mail, nor the Nation which I hoped you would be sending – though really European affairs are so far away & news is so old that I’ve not much enthusiasm about them. Karma Paul who brought our mail also brought news of the General, whom he left in Phari; he must be pretty ill still as he was unable to walk and was to be carried down to Chumbi; Hingston will accompany him to Ganktok & should rejoin us at the B.C. [Base Camp] about the middle of May. Meanwhile Beetham gets on slowly & can’t be said to have got rid of dysentery yet let alone picking up after it - however I think he’s on the mend.

I heard from Mary today with news of the weather in Colombo & it looks as if the earliest breath of the monsoon is a fortnight early! But that doesn’t necessarily mean much. The bad sign is the weather here which is distinctly more unsettled than in ’22 & these last two nights have been unhealthily warm. Today we have been in a regular storm area though no rain or snow has actually fallen here.

April 24 at Shekar Dzong.

I’ve left it rather late to go on with this letter – that is partly because one way or another I have been spending a good many spare moments on the elaboration of our plans. The difficult work of allotting tasks to men has now been done – N [Norton]& I consulted & he made a general announcement after dinner 2 days ago. The question as to which of the first two parties should be led by Somervell & which by me was decided on two grounds (1) on the assumption that the oxygen party would be less exhausted & be in the position of helping the other it seemed best that I should use oxygen & be responsible for the descent (2) it seemed more likely on his last year’s performance that Somervell would recover after a gasless attempt to be useful again later. It was obvious that either Irvine or Odell should come with me in the first gas party. Odell is in charge of the gas, but Irvine has been the engineer at work on the apparatus – what was provided was full of leaks & faults & he has practically invented a new instrument using up only a few of the old parts & cutting out much that was useless & likely to cause trouble; moreover the remaining parties had to be considered and it wouldn’t do to make Irvine the partner of Geoffrey Bruce as they would lack mountaineering experience; & so Irvine will come with me. He will be an extraordinarily stout companion, very capable with the gas & with cooking apparatus; the only doubt is to what extent his lack of mountaineering experience will be a handicap; I hope the ground will be sufficiently easy.

Norton if he is fit enough will go with Somervell or, if he seems clearly a better goer at the moment, Hazard. Beetham is counted out, though he’s getting fitter. Odell & Geoffrey Bruce will have the important task of fixing Camp V at 25,500.

The whole difficulty of fitting people in so that they take a part in the assault according to their desire or ambition is so great that I can’t feel distressed about the part that falls to me. The gasless party has the better adventure, and as it has always been my pet plan to climb the mountain gasless with two camps above the Chang La it is naturally a bit disappointing that I shall be with the other party. Still the conquest of the mountain is the great thing & the whole plan is mine & my part will be a sufficiently interesting one & will give me perhaps the best chance of all of getting to the top. It is almost unthinkable with this plan that I shan’t get to the top; I can’t see myself coming down defeated. And I have very good hopes that the gasless party will get up; I want all 4 of us to get there, & I believe it can be done. We shall be starting by moonlight if the morning is calm & should have the mountain climbed if we’re lucky before the wind is dangerous.

This evening 4 of us have been testing the oxygen apparatus, and comparing the new arrangements with the old. Irvine has managed to save weight, 4 or 5 lbs, besides making a much more certain as well as more convenient instrument. I was glad to find I could easily carry it up the hill even without using the gas, & better of course with it. On steep ground where one has to climb more or less the load is a great handicap & at this elevation a man is better without it. The weight is about 30 lbs, rather less. There is nothing in front of one’s body to hinder climbing & the general impression I have is that it is a perfectly manageable load. My plan will be to carry as little as possible, go fast & rush the summit. Finch & Bruce tried carrying too many cylinders.

I’m still very fit & happy. Tibet is giving us many beautiful moments. With these abnormal weather conditions it is much warmer than in ’22 & the whole journey is more comfortable. It is nice having one’s own poney – mine is a nice beast to ride, but he’s not in good condition, & today has had a nasty attack of colic; however he’ll have a long holiday to come soon & I hope he’ll fatten up & arrive fit & well in Darjeeling were I shall sell him. Only 4 marches, starting tomorrow morning to the Rongbuk monastery! We’re getting very near now. On May 3 four of us will leave the Base Camp & begin the upward trek & on May 17 or thereabouts we should reach the summit. I’m eager for the great event to begin.

Now dearest I must say Good Night to you & turn into my cosy sleeping bag, where I shall have a clean nose sheet tonight, one of the two you made to fix with patent fasteners. Considering how much grease my face requires & gets that device has been very useful.

Great love to you always.

The telegram announcing our success if we succeed will precede this letter I suppose; but it will mention no names. How you will hope that I was one of the conquerors. And I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Ever your loving
George

Letter from George to Ruth Mallory, from Hotel Mount Everest, Darjeeling [Letterhead].

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My dearest Ruth,

These have been full days since we came up here on Friday & tomorrow, Wednesday early, we start for Kalimpong - so that our stay has been short enough, & much taken up with packing & arrangements of one sort or another. Norton has got the whole organisation under his hand & we shall economise much time & money by dumping some of our boxes en route: all the stores for the high camps have practically been settled already. He is going to be an ideal 2nd to Bruce.

The party looks very very fit altogether. We had a very hot journey through India. The hot weather apparently came with a rush this year just before we landed & the temperature must have been up to 100 a good part of the time we were in the train, as it was supposed to be 99 in Calcutta; its a grimy dirty business & I was glad to get to the end of our train journeying. I was feeling a bit short of sleep otherwise very fit. The only doubts I have are whether the old ankle one way or another will cause me trouble.

Four of us walked up to Senschal Hill yesterday afternoon to see the magnolias. I was trying my new boots from Dewberry; they are going to be good but my right ankle didn’t feel too happy.

The magnolias were magnificent, a better show than last year - four different sorts white & deep cerise pink & two lighter pinks between - they so look startlingly bright on a dark hillside.

The country here is very dry at present & a haze of heat blown up from the plains hangs about. we haven’t seen the mountains until this morning when Kanchen has very timely made an appearance. Somervell & Odell besides the General, Geoffrey Bruce & Norton etc were here before us; it was very nice to see S. again & Odell is one of the best. Really it is an amazingly nice party altogether; one of the best is Hingston our M.O., an Irishman a quiet little man & a very keen naturalist. The only one I don’t yet know is Shebbeare, who belongs to the Forestry Department & is said to be a particularly nice man; he knows all about trees & shrubs which is a very good thing but nothing about flowers. So that we shall once more be without a real botanist.

We go to Kalimpong all together, as before, tomorrow and then separate in two parties; I shall be with the second, with Norton, Hingston, Irvine & Shebbeare I believe. Noel’s movements are independent; he is more than ever full of stunts; the latest in a Citroen tractor which some hour or another is to come into Tibet a pure ad of course (this may be a secret for the present).

The Everest Committee has now among us all a wonderful reputation for muddle and the latest is that after all they gave us the wrong address & the old one c/o Post Master, Darjeeling is correct. However I shall get your letters addressed to Yatung with little delay.

The English mail should have come in yesterday but the ship was 12 hrs late & we shan’t get it until today & consequently will have precious little time for answering.

I long to get your letter dear though it will only give me 3 days’ news.

How long is it since I left you? It will be four weeks on Friday. By now or very soon you will be leaving Cambridge for a time & won’t feel so lonely. I know you must have been feeling lonely some evenings; but you will have had Frances Wills part of the time & I hope you will have been out or had people to see you sometimes too. I expect the absence of me must make you feel less busy? Have you made a fresh start with china painting?

Dearest one, I often want you with me to enjoy things with & to talk over things & people quietly; and I want to take you in my arms & kiss your dear brown head. Here’s a great holiday time it seems & you not with me. But we’ll have a wonderful holiday together one of these days won’t we?

Later - The English mail has come in & I’ve had a letter from Mother but none from you. My dearest it is very disappointing. I hoped you would catch me at Darjeeling. Perhaps you directed to Yatung in which case I shall get your letter there in 7 days time.
I lunched with Her Excellency (what a title) Lady Lytton & her family today. Lady L. is really very nice but lord how folk can live with aides de camp hanging round! 2 here & presumably 2 more at Calcutta & one civilian one military secretary!

Much love to you dearest one & many kisses to the children.
Ever your loving
George.

Letter from George to Ruth Mallory from Camp I, Everest

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My dearest Ruth,

This is going to be the scrappiest letter - a time limit for the mail has suddenly been put on and this morning when I might have been writing to you I was busy doing a communique at Norton’s request, I find it an impossible task to write that sort of thing up here. Anyway such as it is you will have read it, so that is some satisfaction.

Dear Girl, this has been a bad time altogether. I look back on tremendous efforts & exhaustion & dismal looking out of a tent door and onto a world of snow & vanishing hopes - & yet, & yet, & yet there have been a good many things to set on the other side. The party has played up wonderfully. The first visit to the North Col was a triumph for the old gang. Norton & I did the job & the cutting of course was all my part - so far as one can enjoy climbing above Camp II I enjoyed the conquest of the ice wall & crack the crux of the route, & making the steps too in the steep final 200 ft.

Odell did very useful work leading the way on from the camp to the Col; I was practically bust to the world & couldn’t have lead that half hour though I still had enough mind to direct him. We made a very bad business of the descent. It suddenly occurred to me that we ought to see what the old way down was like. Norton & I were ahead, unroped, & Odell behind in charge of a porter who had carried up a light load. We got onto ground where a practiced man can just get a long without crampons (which we hadn’t with us), chipping occasional steps in very hard snow or ice. I was all right ahead but Norton had a nasty slip & then the porter, whose knot didn’t hold so that he went down some way & was badly shaken. Meanwhile I, below, finding the best way down had walked into an obvious crevasse; by some miscalculation I had thought I had prodded the snow with which it was choked & where I hoped we could walk instead of cutting steps at the side of it - all the result of mere exhaustion no doubt - but the snow gave way & in I went with the snow tumbling all around me, down luckily only about 10 feet before I fetched up half-blind & breathless to find myself most precariously supported only by my ice axe somehow caught across the crevasse & still held in my right hand - & below was a very unpleasant black hole. I had some nasty moments before I got comfortably wedged & began to yell for help up through the round hole I had come through where the blue sky showed – this because I was afraid any operations to extricate myself would bring down a lot more snow & perhaps precipitate me into the bargain. However I soon grew tired of shouting – they hadn’t seen me from above - & bringing the snow down a little at a time I made a hole out towards the side (the crevasse ran down a slope) after some climbing, & so extricated myself - but was then on the wrong side of the crevasse, so that eventually I had to cut across a nasty slope of very hard ice & further down some mixed unpleasant snow before I was out of the wood. The others were down by a better line 10 minutes before me - that cutting against time at the end after such a day just about brought me to my limit.

So much for that day.

My one personal trouble has been a cough. It started a day or two before leaving the B.C. [Base Camp] but I thought nothing of it. In the high camp it has been the devil. Even after the day’s exercise I have described I couldn’t sleep but was distressed with bursts of coughing fit to tear one’s guts - & so headache & misery altogether; besides which of course it has a very bad effect on one’s going on the mountain. Somervell also has a cough which started a little later than mine & he has not been at his physical best.

The following day when the first loads were got to Camp IV in a snowstorm Somervell & Irvine must have made a very fine effort hauling load up the chimney. Hazard had bad luck to be left alone in charge of the porters at [Camp] IV only for one night according to our intentions, but the snow next day prevented Geoff [Bruce] & Odell from starting - & the following day he (i.e. H) elected to bring the party down quite rightly considering the weather; but can you imagine, he pointedly ordered one man, who had been appointed camp cook for the men, to stay up on the chance of his being useful to the party coming up - it is difficult to make out how exactly it happened, but evidently he didn’t shepherd his party property at all & in the end 4 stayed up one of these badly frostbitten. Had the snow been a bit worse that day we went up to bring them down things might have been very bad indeed. Poor old Norton was very hard hit altogether - hating the thought of such a bad muddle, & himself really not fit to start out next day - nor were any of us for that matter & it looked 10 to 1 against our getting up with all that snow about let alone get a party down. I led from the camp to a point some little distance above the flat glacier - the snow wasn’t so very bad as there had been no time for it to get sticky, still that part with some small delays took us 3 hours; then S. [Somervell] took us up to where Geoff [Bruce] & Odell had dumped their loads the day before & shortly afterwards Norton took on the lead; luckily we found the snow better as we proceeded, N [Norton] alone had crampons & was able to take us up to the big crevasse without step cutting.

Here we had half an hour’s halt and at 1.30 I went on again for the steep 200 ft or so to the point where the big crevasse joins the corridor. From here there were two doubtful stretches. N [Norton] led up the first while the two of us made good at the corner of the crevasse - he found the snow quite good. And S. [Somervell] led across the final slope (following Hazard’s just discernible tracks in the wrong place, but of some use now because the snow had bound better there). N. [Norton] & I had an anxious time belaying, & it began to be cold too as the sun had left us. S. [Somervell] made a very good show getting the men off - but I won’t repeat my report. Time was pretty short as it was 4.30 when they began to come back using S’s [Somervell’s] rope as a handrail. Naturally the chimney took some time. It was just dusk when we got back to camp.

N [Norton] has been quite right to bring us down for rest. It is no good sending men up the mountain unfit. The physique of the whole party has gone down sadly. The only chance now is to get fit & go for a simpler quicker plan. The only plum fit man is Geoffrey Bruce. N. [Norton] has made me responsible for choosing the parties of attack himself first choosing me into the first party if I like. But I’m quite doubtful if I shall be fit enough. Irvine will probably be one & 2 of N [Norton], S [Somervell], or self with Geoff the other 2 to make up 4 for the two parties of two each. But again I wonder whether the monsoon will give us a chance. I don’t want to get caught but our three day scheme from the Chang La will give the monsoon a good chance. We shall be going up again the day after tomorrow - Six days to the top from this camp!

Mails have come tumbling in these last days – three in rapid succession - yours dated from Westbrook with much about the car. I fear it has given you a lot of trouble; Clare’s poem with which I’m greatly delighted; a good letter from David [Pye] from P.Y.P. [Pen-y-Pass, Wales] - will you please thank him at once as I shall hardly manage to do so by this mail. Mother writes in great spirits from Aix. It’s a great joy to hear from you especially but also from anyone who will write a good letter.

The candle is burning out & I must stop.

Darling I wish you the best I can - that your anxiety will be at an end before you get this - with the best news. Which will also be the quickest. It is 50 to 1 against us but we’ll have a whack yet & do ourselves proud.

Great love to you. Ever your loving, George.

[written on margin of first page]
P.S. The parts where I boast of my part are put in to please you and not meant for other eyes. G.M.

Letter from George to Ruth Mallory from Rongli Chu.

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My dearest One,

This is the great day of valley-ease & warmth & languor & the delights of the lotus-eater, & I must write to you here with my feet in the splashing stream & heaven all about me as I look up. We started from Pedong this morning – sloped easily down the 2,000 ft to the stream where I bathed last time while Noel immortalised the event; there Irvine, Odell & I bathed, properly this time, even finding a pool to dive into, and at length. Thence on ponies up to Rheenok - you should be able to follow all this on one of my old maps of Sikhim [Sikkim] – where I made some attempts at photographing the remarkable houses, & thence, not up over the pass by Ari to get here by the shortest way, but contouring the hill until we could drop into this valley 6 miles below the bungalow. It is a very lovely valley, quite one of the best parts of Sikhim [Sikkim], & we had a good walk up, quite energetically carrying heavyish rucksacks. I was wearing my new boots for the first time for a whole march & found them pretty comfortable, my ankle & hip are all going quite well too, so that I quite expect by the time we reach Phari I shall have ceased to think about them.

The weather is perfectly fine but very hazy owing to the great number of fires in the valleys. It is the custom of the country to burn a good deal of undergrowth in the forests & dead leaves in order to get better new grass in the spring – but I can’t remember anything like so much haze as this last year. Consequently we have had nothing at all of a view all the way from Darjeeling & the country is looking more dry & dead than last year; it has in fact been very dry; I hear there has been exceptionally little snow in Tibet & the plains are already beginning to look green – but this is hardly credible. Incidentally, there are sights of a change of weather this afternoon but then we had a thunderstorm in Kalimpong which made absolutely no difference!

It has apart from views been a pleasant journey so far. We started in motors for 6 miles from Darjeeling & half way down the hill Norton, Hingston, Somervell & self had breakfast with a tea planter called Lister – it is a famous tea garden I believe & he certainly gave us to drink Orange Pekoe of the most delicious flavour (a series of violent slashes at this point). After that pleasant interval we took all the short cuts hurrying down to Tista Bridge, where we arrived dripping & found our ponies; my pony which is to carry me to Phari is quite a good beast – the best I have had at this stage & my saddle is comfortable & I feel very well off altogether -; we went straight up the hill on our ponies & were in Kalimpong at 1.30 for tiffin.

At Kalimpong next day last times performances were repeated – a “tamasha” for boy scouts & girl guides & a wonderful little ceremony in the big school room with all of us on the platform singing the metrical version of Psalm 121 to the tune of Old Hundredth, & prayers, & speech making divine/mixed. Old Dr Graham is really a wonder, & if one were going to be a missionary one couldn’t do better. He has between 6 & 700 children, mostly by bastards or children of ne’er-do-well parents & does them well all round. When the old Scot is short of money he goes down to Calcutta & collects a few batches of rupees from the big businessmen who all know & believe in him & his institutions flourish.

I think I told you the names of the 2nd party, but omitted Odell. Shebbeare the forest officer is an excellent fellow; we went a little walk into the forest above Pedong last evening & we saw quite close a very fine jungle cat, about as high as Raven but with the propositions of Agapanthus or rather perhaps of the other Westbrook cat, which it does resembled in colour – S. didn’t get a very good view of it & couldn’t tell me what it was; but it is extraordinary how it makes the whole forest seem alive to see a beast like that. We couldn’t be a nicer party – at least I hope the others would say the same; we go along our untravelled way in happiest fashion.
Since I began writing the air has become unbearably stuffy & a thunderstorm is brewing. The one crab about this place is that there is no water supply which is at all likely to unpolluted – & so one drinks tea, but our tiffin tea has left me very thirsty & I long for a long lemon squash or whisky & soda. You see how completely a physical animal one has become.

I’m spending a certain amount of time & effort as we come along learning Hindustani; it is very unsatisfactory because the coolies themselves are so bad at it; but I do find already that I get on with them more easily. We shall be very short of men who can speak to porters higher up. Irvine, Odell & Beetham, none of them know a word yet.

Dearest I’m really enjoying myself now with a good holiday feeling. If I were not I should be still feeling grieved with the world because no letter has yet reached me from you. Anyway after four marches I will receive a mail. Tomorrow’s march is all up hill to Sedongchen & the next, still up to Gnatong (12,500), is the great rhododendron march, but only the very lowest will be in flower. I have in mind another little detour, by the way of variety, from Kupup, diverging to the Natu La instead of Jelap La as before.

Dear girl I think of you often & often with ever so much love & wish for your company. Would there were some way of bringing you nearer. I think the nearness depends very much upon the state of ones imagination. When it boils up as it does sometimes at night, under the stars I could almost whisper in you ear; and even now dear I do feel near you, though my state is loggish & I come very near to kissing you.

My love to Clare & Berry & John & best of all to yourself.
Ever your loving, George.

Letter from George to Ruth Mallory from Rongbuk Base Camp

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Dearest Ruth,

We’ve had unexpected notice of a home bound mail tomorrow & I’ve no letter ready. We arrived here only yesterday, & I have been busy ever since, the reason for this is in part that we have arranged for our army of Tibetan coolies to carry our loads up the glacier to No. 2 camp; 150 have actually gone up today; consequently we have had a great rush getting our loads ready to go up. My special concern has been with the high climbing stores & provisions for high camp. Yesterday morning as the animals arrived here I got hold of the boxes I wanted - most of which I knew by sight - from among the feet of the donkeys & yaks and had them carried to a place apart. So I was able to get ready 30 loads, apart from food stores, yesterday afternoon. Later Norton & I had a long pow wow about the whole of our plan as affects the porters. It is a very complicated business to arrange the carrying to the high camps while considering what the porters have been doing & where, during the previous ten days, so as to have sufficient regard to their acclimatisation & fitness; further one has to consider the filling up of Camp III which will still be going on after we have begun the carrying to IV, the accommodation at the various camps; & finally the escorting of porters from III upwards. However, I have made a plan for the porters which fits in with that previously made for climbers, & though a plan of this kind must necessarily be complicated it allows for a certain margin & even a bad day or two won’t upset out applecart.

Irvine & I with Beetham & Hazard start from here on May 3 & after resting a day at Camp III the last 2 will establish Camp IV while I [Irvine] & I have a canter up to about 23,000 up the E. ridge of Changtse, partly to get a better look at camping sites on the mountain & partly to have a trial run & give me some idea of what to expect from I [Irvine] B [Beetham] & H Hazard] two days later will escort the 1st lot of loads to IV; Odell & Geoffrey Bruce the second, establishing Camp V on the following day; Norton & Somervell & lastly Irvine & self follow; Irvine & I will get 2 or 3 days down at Camp I meanwhile.

The Rongbuk Valley greeted us with most unpleasant weather. The day before yesterday & the following night when we were encamped outside the Rongbuk Monastery a bitterly cold wind blew, the sky was cloudy & finally we woke to find a snow storm going on. Yesterday was worse, with light snow falling most of the day. However today has been sunny after a windy night & the conditions on Everest have gradually improved until we were saying tonight that it would have been a pleasant evening for the mountain. It is curious that though quite a considerable amount of snow has fallen during these last few days & the lower slopes are well covered the upper parts of Everest appear scarcely affected – this is a phenomenon we observed often enough in 1922 & notably on the day when we made the first attempt.

I shall be busy with details of personal equipment amongst other things these next two days. But I also hope there’ll be a mail from you & time to read letters & think of you at home & perhaps write you another letter though the Lord knows when the next mail will go away from here.

We continue to be a very pleasant party – Hazard the only difficulty – we have tamed him somewhat. He & Beetham don’t love each other but I hope they’ll manage to hit it off as they are put to work together. B [Beetham] has had a truly marvellous recovery, but I can’t quite believe in his being really strong yet though he makes a parade of energy & cheerfulness & I’m a little doubtful about his being one of the first starters.

Sorry to write so poor & hurried a letter. I’m very fit – perhaps not just so absolutely a strong goer as in ’21 but good enough I believe – anyway I can think of no one in this crowd stronger, & we’re a much more even crowd than in ’22, a really strong lot, Norton & I are agreed. It would be difficult to say of any one of the 8 that he is likely to go farther or less far than the rest. I’m glad the first blow lies with me. We’re not going to be easily stopped with an organisation behind us this time.

Great love to you dearest one & many kisses to the children. Your loving George