RUTTLEDGE, Hugh.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Everest 1933. First edition, first impression, of Ruttledge's superbly illustrated account of the first attempt to summit Everest since the doomed 1924 expedition, during which Mallory and Irvine had disappeared. Ruttledge describes his leadership and includes chapters written by other members, including Frank Smythe and Lawrence Wager.Ruttledge put together a talented team, but problems at Camp V meant they could not reach the summit. However, Wager, Smythe, and Percy Wyn-Harris set an altitude record, unbroken until 1978, for climbing without supplemental oxygen. The expedition also discovered the first clues as to the fate of Mallory and Irvine. On 30 May, Wager and Wyn-Harris discovered an ice pick. Ruttledge speculates it must have belonged to one of the missing pair, as "no other climbers have gone by that route previous to this year" (p. 144).

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