I guess ‘George Mallory’ and ‘Edmund Hillary’ are the common names that pop up when one describes the climbing history of Everest. For me though, there is a name that somehow intrigues me more…Edward (or ‘Teddy’) Norton. Norton, who commanded royal artillery, served in India and during World War I, was a man who was close to reaching the Summit of Everest in 1924, and held the world altitude record without supplemental oxygen for more than 50 years…
Last year I got myself a copy of the dvd ‘The Epic of Everest’, a movie recorded by John Noel that documents the 1924 expedition in Tibet. It is a wonderful documentary showing indeed ‘epic’ footage of climbers trying to ascent the world’s highest mountain, and includes the last moving images of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, before disappearing and never to return, sparking the imagination about making it to the Summit or not.
Not many people know though, that a few days before that historic event, another crew made an attempt, and getting reasonably close: Teddy Norton and Howard Somervell. The 1924 British Everest expedition was the third expedition following a 1921 reconnaissance expedition, and a 1922 Summit attempt expedition where an altitude of 8326 m was reached, 523 m below the now-know Everest rounded height of 8849 m. All expeditions climbed via the North side of Everest (Tibet side).
During the 1924 expedition, a first summit attack was done by George Mallory and Geoffrey Bruce. No supplemental oxygen was used but icy winds and porters refusing to go higher, made the team turn around after establishing camp ‘V’ at 7700 m.
While they descended they met the second summit team, Teddy Norton and Howard Somervell, who started their attempt a day after the first team departed. They managed to establish a camp VI at an altitude of 8170 m. Next morning, their summit attempt was delayed due to a leaking water bottle, and snow had to be melted to create another litre of water (which by nowadays standard is way too little) after which the two men finally set foot towards the Summit. When they reached a ridge now know as the ‘second step’, the two decided not to climb it, but to try and traverse the immensely steep great North Face of Everest. Somervell however, started to suffer badly from a cough and needed to turn back. Norton wrote in his diaries that “one shivered continually despite layers of windproof clothing, & when in sun”, but carried on, all by himself, nonetheless. Then, only 276 m below the Summit, at a couloir nowadays referred to as the Norton couloir, he decided it was time to turn around. A bad move on the slippery stones could send him down in a fall of a kilometre, and furthermore he was out of breath, and short on water. He re-joined with his team mate and descended, both suffering, Somervell continued his bad coughing and Norton was snow-blind for several days because he had taken his sunglasses off.
The final attempt because the most famous one: Mallory and Irvine attempting to summit, but never returning, until in 1999 Mallory’s body was found on the North Face. In contrast to the previous two attempts, bottled oxygen was now used. Whether these actually worked is unknown, since Mallory wrote several complaints about them.
There are several things that intrigue me about Norton’s attempt. First of all, there is the famous picture taken of him by Somervell. In the picture you see him all alone, trying to scale the North Face of Everest, un-roped, without bottled oxygene, with the summit visible not high above him. How would it be to be there all by yourself, at the highest point one has ever been? Knowing that the Summit is, at least in terms of altitude, within reach? To me, this is one of the most intriguing pictures I have ever seen about Mount Everest.
A second thing is that he knew when to call it a day, even at such altitude and without using supplemental oxygen, and managed to turn around and get home safely. We will may never find out what happened to Mallory and Irvine. Due to the location of Mallory’s found body it is almost certain they fell off the mountain. Was it just an accident? Did they push beyond what was safe and took a too large risk? Did the oxygen bottle fail?
Finally, there is the record. Norton established an altitude record that first of all was not broken until the South side expeditions in the 50’s. But those expeditions used bottled oxygen. His altitude record without supplemental oxygen stood for 54 years, until Messner and Habeler reach the Summit of Everest without supplemental oxygen. 54 years!
Norton went on to advice the later 1953 successful Everest expedition, and passed away in 1954. Bravo to Norton. You were my Everest hero.
Ciao!
Robin
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