South Side Story
by Audrey Salkeld
In 1950, western mountaineers approached Everest through Nepal, rather than
Tibet, and saw for the first time the formidable Khumbu Icefall which
constitutes the mountain's southern defences. The formerly sequestered and
roadless kingdom of Nepal had only just opened up to outsiders in response to
internal and expernal political pressures. Mountaineers, map-makers,
geographers, ecologists, and ethnologists rushed to take advantage of the new
situation. H.W Tilman joined Charles and Oscar Houston on the first trek into
the Solu Khumbu, home of the Sherpas.
Gazing at the Khumbu Icefall as it tumbles between the buttresses of Nuptse and the West Shoulder of Everest to
the valley floor, Tilman was not at all optimistic that this offered a feasible
route to the summit. Yet there was no other way to gain the Western Cwm and
southern slopes of Everest. For him personally, the obvious hazards were more
than he was prepared to accept.
Back in England, however, Michael Ward was urging the Everest Committee of the
Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club to mount a reconnaissance of
these southern approaches to see if they gave access to the South Col and the
southeast ridge of Everest.
Technological advances in clothing and equipment
had been made during the war, and more was known about high altitude
physiology. Also, more was known about the mountain itself, which by now had been
flown over several times by airmen. Based on new topographical information,
the Royal Geographical Society was hard at work on a map, and gave an advance
dyeline to Eric Shipton, who had been put in charge of the proposed
reconnaissance.
The small exploring party, which set out in the summer of 1951, comprised,
besides Shipton and Ward, the Scottish mountaineer W.H. Murray, Tom Bourdillon,
an Indian geologist E.A. Dutt, and two promising young New Zealand climbers, Ed
Hillary and Earle Riddiford. A group of Shipton's favorite and trusted Sherpas
including Tenzing Norgay rounded out the party. Monsoon conditions during
the trek in meant it was the second half of September before the group reached
Namche Bazaar in the heart of Sherpa country. On the last day of the month
they made their first foray into the Icefall. This wild tangle of troughs and
pinnacles, which can move downhill by as much as a meter a day, is continuously
unstable, and often swept by ice avalanches. No route through it can be
guaranteed, which makes each passage a new adventure. Climbers might take this
risk in their stride, but there was considerable unease about exposing laden
porters to this threat over and over as they ferried loads to higher camps.
Within a few days the party had reconnoitered a route through the Icefall to a
point where a continuous lateral crevasse separated the Icefall from the
Western Cwm above. Examination from high on the slopes of nearby Pumori had
already indicated that the Cwm gave easy access to the West Face of Lhotse,
from which the South Col of Everest could be reached by a gently rising
traverse. They continued to explore the area, hoping that conditions might
improve later in the season, but when the team tackled the Icefall again
towards the end of October, they failed to climb as high. Nevertheless, the
route had been identified which would eventually lead Ed Hillary and Sherpa
Tenzing Norgay to the summit.
The following year the Swiss made their bid under the leadership of Dr. E.
Wyss-Dunand. They successfully crossed the final crevasse into the Western
Cwm, which they evocatively called 'the Valley of Silence,' and on May 26th
Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay camped in a tiny tent at 27,500 feet, ready
to make a bid for the summit the following day. They were under-equipped,
however, and with no means of cooking, unable to drink or eat enough to keep up
their strength. Their attempt failed at 28,210 feet, just below the South
Summit. Another Swiss expedition that autumn failed to match this sterling
effort. The stage was set for the British Expedition of 1953, Coronation year,
to be led by Colonel John Hunt.
Audrey Salkeld of Clevedon, England is one of the world's premier
Everest historians and photo researchers. Her photo editing credits include
Everest: The Ultimate Book of the Ultimate Mountain and Everest: The
Best Writing and Pictures from Seventy Years of Human Endeavour.