Item 20 - Letter from George to Ruth Mallory, 12 July 1921

1 item, paper

Letter to Ruth Mallory, written from 2nd Advanced Camp on ‘Mount Everest Expedition’ Letterhead

Brief Summary
1st Advanced Base Camp had become a dump for stores. He was strong but Bullock was tired. They had taken photos and cut steps. It was cold, ground hard and stoves didn't work very well. Lists food eaten.

Detailed Summary
They had been having a rather hard time with bad weather and nothing done in the way of reconnaissance and 1st Advanced Base Camp had become a dump for stores. They had had a late start that day and misjudged the crossing of a glacier, which gave the porters practice cutting steps but cost more time and cloud coverage spoiled their views of the W.N.W. cwm. They would try again early tomorrow if it was fine.

He was still going strong but Bullock was tired. Hoped Bullock would get properly fit before long. Their specially adapted high-climbing Primus stoves were useless and they would have to adapt at higher camps. They were at nearly 19,000 ft, the nights were cold and the ground was like iron but the views of the peaks to the west of Everest were glorious. They were currently on a good shelf above the N. [North] bank and had taken photographs in the clearing light last evening.

They planned to start on the way to Tingri the next morning. His first night at 2nd Advanced Camp was miserable with only two Mummery tents and no cook to look after them. He had been struggling with the Primus stoves and a substance called Kampite but they had excellent tinned food, listing Davies Oxford Sausages, sliced bacon, porridge, potatoes. They again had their cook, who in spite of his dirty hands, was rather a treasure.

Next morning he planned to take a selected 4 porters and the sirdar [sardar]. The ground was hard to sleep on but he made himself comfortable enough with his bed socks. Sometimes he was appalled by the mere length of the undertaking and wished it could be shorter.

A Sardar or Sirdar is a Sherpa mountain guide who manages all the other Sherpas in a climbing expedition or trekking group; Sirdar is the most common spelling used in the majority of English-language mountaineering literature. The Sirdar is typically the most experienced guide and can usually speak English fluently. The Sirdar's responsibilities include:

assigning responsibilities to the other guides
hiring and paying local porters
purchasing local food during the trek/expedition
making the final decision regarding route choices
handling other trip logistics such as dealing with government officials or police.

The normal progression to Sirdar usually involves starting as a porter, working their way up to being a kitchen assistant, on to an assistant guide and then finally to Sirdar. Sirdars do not normally carry loads but will do so on occasion such as carrying the pack of a client who is having difficulties from altitude sickness. The appellation is sometimes qualified with expeditions having an overall Sirdar but with other individuals in subsidiary roles such as base-camp sirdar and ice-fall sirdar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardar_(Sherpa)