Pièce 25 - Letter from George to Ruth Mallory, 11-18 August 1921

Letter to Ruth Mallory, written on ‘Mount Everest Expedition’ Letterhead [two pages missing]

Brief Summary
Had been feeling weak with a sore throat and Bullock had continued to search for the valley without him. Morshead had joined him in camp after Bullock had left. Bullock sent message that he was on wrong track. Next day feeling better so he and Morshead set out to join up with Bullock. Continued their search for a route taking photographs on the way. Had to send back to base camp for more rations but there was a shortage.

Detailed Summary

[Letter starts on page ‘3’] - Three days march to a new mountain base camp. [Aug 11 written in the margin]. Hoped he was feeling fitter as he had been feeling abdominally weak and had a sore throat.

13 August [written in the margin] - Bullock had gone on alone to find the valley. It was a depressing moment after all his work to reconnoitre Everest as it seemed like he would miss the climax. He was sorry he had to hand over the responsibility of deciding the line of assault. On the same morning that Bullock left, the surprise arrival of Morshead brought companionship. That evening he had received a chit from Bullock saying that the valley he was following ended too soon in a high pass. He was on the wrong track.

14 August - He was feeling stronger and went with Morshead to follow Bullock up the valley. They were lucky with the weather and were able to see both Everest and the North Peak. The topography was difficult to make out but there was a continuous way from the valley to the high snow col which they had seen the other day from their peak (21,500 ft) and it was possible to advance. He thought this was the right way to Everest.

15 August - They trekked through the valley with their lighter tents and met Bullock’s party at the valley junction. Due to bad weather they could see nothing of what lay in front of them and came to a stop short of the point he had wanted to reach. Snow was falling and there was cloud cover.

16 August [written in the margin] - They had proceeded up a stony hillside to the ridge above them for a better view. They followed the ridge to a summit of 20,500 ft or 1,700 ft above their camp. There was a splendid view point from where they could see where they should go. They had paused for nearly an hour taking photos in all directions. He describes their decent nearly a thousand feet and of crossing a crevasse. They had been in clouds for two hours and could see nothing. He was feeling far from well with a headache and he was inclined to go no further which was shared by the rest of the party. He went down the glacier and completed a valuable piece of reconnaissance by finding the shortest way back to camp. They had a late night. Rations had to be summoned from base camp. Two sahibs and three porters with two days supplies were sent to reach their snow col and look over into the cwm of the N.W. of Everest to see the glacier running down northward and follow it wherever it might go and thus solve the mystery of its exit.

17 August - The porters returned from the base camp and told them there were no rations there. He suspected some trickery on Gyalzen’s part. They established a higher camp on a shelf under an ice cliff (19,900 ft). Snow continued into the evening. The porters returned from base camp before dark with barely a day’s supplies and so they had to abandon their plans of going down the unknown glacier. Morshead’s men were able to spare enough food for one porter, so they took young Nimya [Nyima] Sherpa and sent the others back down.

18 August - Made preparations for an early start but were held up by Morehead’s cook. They wore their snowshoes to cross a glacier by the last of the moonlight and despite the lingering mist they could see the peaks and steer on a solid mountain side. After dawn it was difficult to see and impossible to make out the snow surfaces and the ascents and descents were equally unexpected. Crevasses forced them to the right until they were confronted by the icefall and had to climb rocks covered with 2 or 3 inches of snow and cold to the fingers but not difficult to climb. While they breakfasted the mist thickened and they went on about 9.20 am with Bullock leading. The heat returned like a furnace. He had been able to maintain an even rhythm even on the steeper parts by exhaling and inhaling once for each step but now he had to proceed rather differently. Describes how he paced himself with his breathing on the steeper slopes and the difficulty of walking in snowshoes, once causing him to ‘capsize completely’. They reached the col and he describes what he could see through the mist.

[Letter ends, no sign off].