Chapter 5 Chapter 2 preparation

The idea of ​​climbing Mount Everest entered people's hearts like this, and gradually expanded and penetrated.One can no longer be satisfied simply by looking at that hill from a distance.They have to climb up and fight it.The time for action has come; and how that concept is carried out is the story of this book.It is necessarily divided into three parts.First, the mountain had to be carefully surveyed, because no one but Europeans had ever walked within forty miles of it; this was part of the survey.Second, now that Malory had discovered a practical climbing route, he should actually try to follow it to the summit. That attempt at the summit was unsuccessful, but at least it showed that a man could climb to a height of 27,000 feet.Finally, there is the tragic outcome of the second attempt to climb the mountain, but in that attempt man climbed 28,100 feet without any additional equipment.

This high-altitude adventure story is thus divided into three parts, and now we will start with the first part. Before any great idea can be implemented, many obstacles usually have to be cleared first.Here, the first obstacle is that the Nepalese blocked Everest from the south, and the Tibetans from the north.Is it possible to get permits from Tibetans who are unwilling to open up to the outside world?This is the first thing to deal with.That's a diplomatic question.This art had to be practiced before the expedition was declared. A delegation composed of members of the Royal Geographical Society and the British Mountaineering Association paid an official visit to the Secretary of the Indian Parliament to introduce to him the importance of the mountaineering project of the two groups and seek his approval.If he agrees with this and does not object to allowing the Everest mountaineering team to enter Tibet, and he can obtain permission from the Indian and Tibetan governments, these two groups will propose to urge Howard.Colonel Howard Bury traveled to India to discuss matters with the Indian government.This was Howard at the time.Colonel Bailey heard the report.

By a curious coincidence, the delegation (led by the President of the Royal Geographical Society) was received by Lord Sinha, Deputy Secretary to Parliament.He is a Bangladeshi, and Everest can be seen from his hometown.Perhaps he himself is not particularly interested in the mountaineering project, but as the spokesperson of the Congress Secretary, he said that the Indian government will not object to it.The first obstacle was removed, which had been difficult to overcome at all, because the previous Secretary of Parliament had always opposed British travel to Tibet.He thinks travelers cause a lot of trouble and should not be encouraged.

In order to remove the next obstacle, Howard.Colonel Belly was sent to India.He had just retired, had been an officer in the Sixtieth Rifle, and had served in the Great War.He served in India before the war and made several hunting expeditions in the Himalayas.He volunteered to be sent by the Royal Geographical Society because of his deep interest in the Everest climbing project.He proved himself to be an outstanding ambassador.He encouraged the Governor-General, Lord Chelmsford, and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Lord Rawlinson, to the idea, and obtained their promise that as long as the local official, Sir Charles Bell, ) assesses that the Tibetan government will not object and they will provide assistance for this activity.Then, Howard.Colonel Belle went to Sikkim to meet with Mr. Bell and got him interested in the idea as well.Fortunately, Mr Bell (now Sir Charles) was very influential with Tibetans.As a result, by the end of 1920, word reached London that the Tibetan government had given permission for the mountaineering team to proceed to Mount Everest the following year.

The diplomatic mission has achieved its goal, and the human obstacles have been successfully overcome. It is time to organize a team.Climbing Mount Everest is a matter of common interest to the Royal Geographical Society and the British Mountaineering Association.It interested the Royal Geographical Society because it did not recognize any point on the Earth's surface that humans should not attempt to set foot on; it interested the British Mountaineering Society because mountaineering was their exclusive domain.Therefore, the two groups decided to form this mountaineering team together.The decision was satisfactory to both parties: the Geographical Society had greater convenience in organizing expeditions, and the British Mountaineering Association had better means of selecting candidates.So they sent three members each to form a joint committee called the Mount Everest Committee.The committee decided that in the first phase, that is, during mountain exploration, the chairman of the Royal Geographical Society will serve as the chairman, and in the second phase, that is, during mountaineering, the chairman of the British Mountaineering Association will serve as the chairman.

Therefore, the Everest Committee is composed of the following people: □□□ Representative of the Royal Geographical Society: Francis.Sir Husband Young (Chairman) Edward.Mr. Edward Somers-Cocks Coloneol Jacks □□□ British Mountaineering Association representative: Norman.Professor Norman Collie (President of the British Mountaineering Association) Captain JP Farrar (Former President of the British Mountaineering Association) Mr CF Meade Honorary Secretary: Mr. Eaton and Mr. Hinks As with everything, the primary need is money, and Everest expeditions are expensive activities.Neither of these societies had money at their disposal and had to raise funds through private fundraising.In terms of funding, the British Mountaineering Association is the most generous, or rather, Colonel Faller, who has a strong style, makes them so.If any decision maker wanted to save money, Farrar would force him to spit it out.On the Geographical Society's side, there is still a lingering opinion: climbing Everest is sensational, but not scientific.If it is a matter of mapping that area, the project should be encouraged; but if it is simply climbing, let the mountaineers do it, and scientific bodies like the Royal Geographical Society should not devote too much attention .

Some Geographical Societies members, including a former president, strongly hold this narrow view of the society's function.Remnants of the outmoded thinking of the time persist: geographers are mapmakers, and only geographers can draw maps.But now from the beginning, reaching the summit of Mount Everest was set as the overriding goal of this expedition, and all other goals were secondary.Climbing that mountain is not just fanaticism, it is also a test of human ability.If he can pass the test of climbing the world's highest mountain, no other mountain will be out of reach, and the geographer's domain will expand to new and unexplored parts of the earth's surface.

As for the map, that will naturally follow.You should know that we are embarking on a great expedition, in which cartographers, geologists, naturalists, botanists, and others will flock.That is what the Geographical Society looks forward to; so the Society looks forward to it. While raising money, the Everest Committee also has to take care of the convening and equipment of personnel and the purchase of goods.The composition of the first echelon of personnel is determined by the initial goal, namely: to explore the mountains.Because, until now, very little is known about that mountain.Its position and height have been determined by the Indian Plains Observatory, more than a hundred miles away.But from the plains only its peaks can be seen.A little more could be seen from nearby Darjeeling, but that was also eighty miles away.Commodore Rollin and Ryder had approached it to within sixty miles from the Tibetan side, and Knoll probably came closer.But none of that has taught us much about the mountain.The parts above it seemed reasonable and practical for climbing, but the mountains between 16,000 and 26,000 feet were not sure.

Freesfield and Norman.Norman Collie, who have both climbed the Himalayas and have a good eye for mountain topography, strongly advocate that a whole season should be devoted to thorough mountain exploration; not only to find a passage to the summit, but to It must be determined that it is the best one, because the only way to reach the top of the mountain is by the easiest way.If a party fails to reach the summit after taking the difficult road, only to find out afterwards that there could have been a better road, the loss is heavy. Since exploration is the goal of the first echelon expedition, it is necessary to select a person with good judgment on Yamagata as the team leader.He must have extensive experience in mountaineering and be able to give authoritative opinions at critical moments in route selection.Harold.Mr. Harold Raeburn had this experience, and had happened to be in Sikkim the year before on a mountaineering expedition.He's a bit old, but the committee isn't expecting great heights from him, and his experience may make up for it.

In order to explore the higher altitude climbing that may be required in the operation, as well as the actual mountaineering that may be launched in the next year, members of the British Mountaineering Association immediately mentioned a name, and that was Malory.In their minds, he is a good climber who doesn't think twice.Malory was studying for a master's degree at Charterhouse.On the surface, there was nothing remarkable about him.He's the kind of normal young man who sees hundreds of them every day.Bruce, his age, was a strong man, full of physical explosiveness, but Malory was not.Nor was he the muscular, lively type of man we so often see among the French and Italians.He was handsome indeed, with a sensitive, cultivated air about him.Occasionally he would burst out a few words, somewhat suddenly and impatiently, that revealed more activity going on under those calm eyes.But people who have never seen him on the mountain will not notice anything special about him.If a man were to pick climbers on the street, he'd pick someone who was stronger and looked more alive than Malory.

Note ① Charterhouse (Charterhouse): A well-known school and charity, accommodating poor but talented students, located in Godalming (Surrey), England.Editor's note Malory himself did not appear to be very enthusiastic about the mountaineering expedition.When the committee had decided on a candidate, Colonel Faller invited him to have a formal lunch with the chairman.The situation still needs to be explained in detail, and what the chairman has to do is to make a clear invitation to him.There was no obvious emotion in the way he accepted the invitation.He was confident in his status as a mountaineer, but he was neither overly modest nor aggressive about his abilities.He knows his own strength, and the position he has earned through hard work.Therefore, the pride and self-restraint of a mountaineer he possesses is not a kind of recklessness, but a very understandable and dialectical trait. There was only one thing to see the fire burning within him.Someone asked if the team would include another mountaineer.The mountaineer had the abilities all climbers aspire to have, but several people on the committee who knew him thought his personality traits would cause friction and anger within the team, destroying the team spirit that was absolutely necessary on Everest expeditions.Everyone knows that people get annoyed easily at high altitudes.And on the heights of Mount Everest, people may find that they can't swallow their anger at all; teammates who don't agree with each other may spoil the overall situation.That was a matter of vital importance; and to know exactly what Malory was up to, the chairman asked him if he would share a sleeping bag with the man at twenty-seven thousand feet.With the quick, abrupt way he speaks when he's focused on one thing, Malory makes it clear that he doesn't care who he sleeps with as long as they get to the top of the mountain together. He said that in that way, and there was no doubting his enthusiasm for the matter.If he does not belong to the brave and broad-jawed decisive type in the traditional concept, if he is not a wild zealot, he obviously has enough flames in his bones to burn more fiercely than the wildest and violent ones. He was thirty-three years old, thin and frail rather than strong and strong.He was a student of the prestigious Winchester ② before, and he was infused with a love for mountaineering by the famous mountain lover Mr. Irving during his schooling.He responded to Mr. Irwin's call from the very beginning, and now he is an enthusiastic and skilled mountaineer. Note ② Winchester (Winchester): One of the oldest large public universities in the UK, located in the town of Winchester in Hampshire. George.Finch (George Finch) is the next person to be picked.He is recognized as the strongest and most decisive mountaineer.His enthusiasm for the trip was evident from the start.When the committee decided to choose him, he was invited to meet with the board of directors, who issued a formal invitation.For a few seconds he seemed speechless with emotion, after which he said: Sir Francis, you have sent me to heaven!He was tall, of athletic build, with a determined demeanor.But apparently his health is not in good shape.When he went to see the doctor, as all expedition members must do, it was overruled.For him, the results were like a bitter pill prescribed by a doctor to swallow.However, he eventually participated in the second echelon expedition the following year. A replacement had to be picked quickly; Malory suggested Mr. Bullock, his old school friend and climbing partner.He was (and still is) serving at the consulate, but was away on vacation in his hometown.After a note to Sir Curzon, who was then Minister of Foreign Affairs, the committee immediately obtained the necessary extended leave for him, so Bullock joined the expedition.Those without experience would have guessed that all Everest climbers must look like him. He is stronger than Malory or Finch. He was a famous long-distance runner when he was a student, and he has strong endurance.He also has another advantage: peaceful nature, easily satisfied, can fall asleep under any conditions. There is one more excellent figure to enlist: AFR Wollaston, the naturalist and medical officer.He had previously explored New Guinea, the Rwenzori Mountains and elsewhere, and had established a reputation as a scientific explorer.He was also an excellent mountaineer, a keen natural scientist, a cheerful companion and a man who dealt with the Aboriginal people with compassion. Others who will be in India for the expedition include Dr AM Kellas, Surveyor Officer Major HT Morshead (DSO) and Army Captain Wheeler (EO Wheeler, MC). Keras has previously conducted numerous expeditions in Sikkim and other parts of the Himalayas.He is a professor of chemistry and has devoted himself to researching the application of oxygen in climbing high-altitude mountains for many years.He was the kind of indomitable person who would never lose touch with his particular research.In the previous summer, he had climbed to 23,000 feet. It is reasonable to take a rest in the cold weather, but he spent all his time in the mountains of Sikkim, subsisting on a very poor and insufficient diet. . Mosshead is best known for his expeditions with FM Bailey.The route they took was the Tsang-po, which cuts through the Himalayas, or the Brahmaputra, which flows through India into the Indian Ocean and is called the Brahmaputra in India.Maps of Mount Everest and its surrounding terrain are in high demand, and both he and Wheeler have excellent drawing skills.But Moss Head had never been trained in mountaineering techniques, nor did he have the experience of fighting ice and snow that is so much needed for actual climbing. These are the members of the Everest climbing expedition team.The team leader pushed Colonel Howard.Belly.By the standards of the British Mountaineering Association, he is only a hiker, not a mountaineer; but he has rich hunting experience in the Alps and Himalayas, and he has one more qualification as a leader: he knows How to deal with Asian guys, everyone is convinced that he can lead the mountaineering expedition through Tibet without causing any friction. When the team was being formed, countless application letters flooded in, asking to join.Letters have come from almost everywhere in the world saying they are ready for call-up.There are many outlandish offerings in these applications, and the most appetizing way to do what a candidate in the world can do for self-promotion.The chairman of the board published one of the most bizarre and interesting applications in front of the committee members as a perfect case, which caused a lot of laughter, until the chairman's daughter reminded him to pay attention to the date. Its delivery date is April. One day (April Fool's Day)!The letters, except this one, are doubtless true. They do express the most passionate ardor of adventure in mankind, and at the same time they bring to light the value of training and experience.Each of them had to be rejected, and only good players like Malory and Finch could be recruited.Those who are untrained and inexperienced, no matter how enthusiastic they are, have no chance of being ghosts in front of established mountaineers. The raising of funds and the selection of talents must be supplemented by the procurement of supplies, equipment and tools.Farrar and Meade were in charge of supplies and equipment; Jax and Hinks were in charge of tools. If Faller hadn't turned sixty, he would have been the one to reach the summit of Everest.Unbelievable energy and drive, years of extensive mountaineering experience, plus the combination that is necessary for a great cause: boldness and carefulness, he can indeed surrender Everest to his feet.Unable to travel with the expedition, he concentrated on raising funds and effectively purchasing equipment.In this matter, Meade was his assistant. He had climbed to 23,000 feet in the Himalayas the previous year, and he knew the required equipment quite well. Jax was Chief of the War Office's Geographical Division, and Hinks was Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, and was of course exceptionally well placed to select the necessary items such as cameras, theodolites, compasses, etc., and to take care of all geographical research needs. Committees are always given the best advice on any subject.In order to ascend to the highest point on the earth's surface, whether it is personnel or materials, we must recruit the best to be worthy of this goal.Therefore, outstanding people in various fields have a great interest in this event.Among these people, there is Di.Dr. De Fiiippi, a capable and experienced Italian explorer and scientist, was even a mountaineering partner of the Grand Duke of Abruzzi. Those who are most interested in this event are His Majesties the King and Queen, and the Prince of Wales. So this expedition set off with the best climbers in Himalaya history, the best equipment ever, and the hope of reaching the highest point on Earth.