The Clothing of the Early Mount Everest Mountaineers

[kabuto]

I just finished Wade Davis's recent book Into the Silence, sort of a history of the early, 1920s Mount Everest exhibitions (George Mallory, et al.), along with a good dose of WWI history, the Great Game, Tibet vs China, and so on.

Those guys, with one exception, climbed on the mountain wearing tweed coats and similar standard late Edwardian men's attire (but up to 8 layers of it), including felt hats in some cases. On later expeditions they supplemented this with gaberdine wind suits.

Many fingertips and toes were lost to frostbite.

The one exception was the eccentric expedition member George Finch, an Australian, who had a goose down outfit custom made for him (and also pioneered the use of oxygen tanks on the mountain).

 

[Metatron]

I have difficulty understanding why they did not have clothing designed specifically for the task at hand!

 

[Mike K.]

The climbers did, in fact, have clothing...often custom made...specifically for the task at hand. After the fairly recent discovery of Mallory's body on Everest, an analysis of his clothing (and actual field test on Everest) showed that it was as effective as today's down suits, perhaps even more so. It was warm, more comfortable, more easily adaptable to changing conditions, and allowed greater freedom of movement. The recent test of period gear on Everest showed that if anything, the boots were the weak point in the climbing attire. But, despite "improvements" climbers today still lose fingers and toes to frostbite.

Replica Clothes Pass Everest Test
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5076634.stm

FL Thread
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?23307-Mallory-s-Everest-jacket-gussets-out-there-today

 

[Metatron]

Thanks for that, an interesting read! It appears as though a combination of synthetics and natural fabrics might be ideal.

 

[carldelo]

An interesting read. I've always disliked modern cold-weather gear, it makes me want to wear my tweed 3-piece the next time I have to go out in the snow.

 

[Stearmen]

There was a series of shows on people climbing Everest a year or so ago, this included the bad year where one climber sat down above the Death Zone and no one could help him! The guide, who has been doing this for a long time stated that few climbers loose toes these days thanks to the modern boots. Fingers on the other hand, one of the climbers lost several fingers, sad thing was, he made his living as a writer

 

[nihil]

Now, I'm doing living history (ww2 period) in northern Scandinavia from time to time, and I'm also an avid outdoorsperson. Modern clothing if by far, superior to the clothing of 70+ years ago. Wool is warm, but when wet, it never dries out. Cotton sucks moisture, leather footwear sucks mositure and isn't warm. Wool or leather gloves are either too cold, too cumbersome or not waterproof and end up wet.
I love the classyness of yesteryear, but for practical purposes I would never rely on those clothes. Perhaps on limited projects.

In regard to the last comment about gloves. I completely agree. Fingers are difficult to keep warm, unless one wishes to sacrifice dexterity completely. From my own experiences, waterproof gloves really make a difference.

 

[Mangrove]

Wool is warm, but when wet, it never dries out.

Wool should be always have nap for better insulative properties and also so that it keeps water from soaking in to the fabric. I have a coat made of napped wool and most of the time water does not penetrate the surface but is caught on the surface and can be easily shaked off. If it is raining more than that, it must be summer or fall and I probably do not need wool for warmth.

Cotton sucks moisture, leather footwear sucks mositure and isn't warm.

Both Finnish and Sami traditional winter shoes are based on leather and they both are warm, lightweight and keep your feet dry if properly treated with tar and fats. I do not yet own a pair of these but I did some rough calculations based on Finnish shoe design and came to a conclusion that a pair would weight around 500-700 grams at most. Naturally the durability of these are not as great as the modern ones as they were designed to be used on soft snow instead of hard asphalt.

I love the classyness of yesteryear, but for practical purposes I would never rely on those clothes. Perhaps on limited projects.

Actually the Jaeger Brigade of Finnish Defence Forces garrisoned at Sodankylä (67°N) used a wool uniform originally developed during the 1950s up to 2007 due of lack of better options! The modern uniform used nowadays is compromised of cotton, polyester and polyester wadding. These were also used in the Golden Era but instead of polyester and its wadding, cotton and kapok were used.

 

[pipvh]

Didn't Brian Blessed climb Everest without oxygen and wearing tweed? There was a film - he was trying to emulate Mallory. I think he got to 26,000 feet and I seem to remember it wasn't the clothing that made him turn back. Could be wrong, though: the film was called 'Gallahad of Everest.'

More recently Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding almost made it to the summit in exact replicas of Mallory and Irvine's outfits - documentary called The Wildest Dream. He free-climbed the Second Step - quite unbelievable. They concluded that Mallory could indeed have made it to the top.

 

[DanielJones]

1953: Hillary and Norgay
May 29, 1953
On May 29, 1953 at 11:30 a.m. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal climbed the South Col Route to become the first climbers to reach the Summit.

In June 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine left their camp just 800 feet from the summit of Mount Everest on a mission to be the first mountaineers to ascend the world's highest peak (29,035 feet). They were never heard from again. Whether either man reached the summit — almost three decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's historic 1953 climb — has been an open question for 85 years.

The key to solving the mystery, many climbers say, is finding Irvine's remains and with it the missing Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK) camera he was supposedly carrying with him on that fateful journey.

Now, Everest historian Tom Holzel believes he has pinpointed the location of Andrew Irvine's body, showing up as an "oblong blob" on high-resolution photographs of the mountain. Recovering Irvine's body might mean recovering his Kodak camera, as well as the film that could fill in the blanks on their historic climb.

Holzel plans to launch an expedition to investigate the location and hopefully recover the camera next month. In the event they do find the 90 year old Vest Pocket Kodak, Holzel has prepared an extensive guide on how to handle the very delicate and important photographic equipment.

http://www.telovation.com/articles/camera-may-reveal-first-person-reach-mount-everest-summit.html

Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand’s most famous mountaineer, and Tenzing Norgay were the first to climb Mt Everest. Here Hillary (left) is on the summit of Aoraki/Mt Cook on 30 January 1947, early in his career. His companion, Harry Ayres, was a professional guide in the Aoraki/Mt Cook region, and regarded as the finest climber in New Zealand. Hillary said later that he had learnt a great deal from Ayres.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/mountaineering/1/1

Images from 2010's "The Wildest Dream".

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

Here are a few more from National Geographic's "The Wildst Dream".

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

Another old photo.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

The mountaineers of the first expedition to Mount Everest, in 1921, included (clockwise from lower left) George Mallory, A.F.R. Wollaston, Charles Howard-Bury, Alexander Heron, Harold Raeburn, Henry T. Morshead, Guy Bullock, and Oliver Wheeler.

http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-153200/The-mountaineers-of-the-first-expedition-to-Mount-Everest-in

Colorized version from Into the Silence

Images of an expedition to Everest, from the book Into the Silence. The 1921 Expedition, photographed by Sandy Wollaston. Back row (left to right): Guy Bullock, Henry Morshead, Oliver Wheeler, George Mallory. Front row (left to right): A.M. Heron, Sandy Wollaston, Charles Howard-Bury and Harold Raeburn

http://www.canada.com/life/Gallery+Expedition+Everest/5704576/story.html

You can find pictures and info all over the place.

Mallory upper left.

 

[DanielJones]

This site has some great images of Mallory's artifacts recovered from Everest.
http://www.affimer.org/gallery.html#mallory

Mallory's vest pocket camera. I actually have one of these that is still in good working order. Film for it is just very hard to come by.

The cleats on Mallory's boots were good for the rocky terrain, but were less that stellar on snow and ice. Must have drawn all the cold up through them.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

Stuff that was on Mallory's person.

Interesting article about the clothing used back then.
http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/news/7843/malloryreplicas06/

Looks like someone is reproducing the style of clothing used back then.
http://coggles.blogspot.com/2009/12/nigel-cabourn-mallory-jacket-and.html

Scroll about 8 articles down to see this one.
http://www.selectism.com/news/tag/nigel-cabourn/page/4/

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

George Finch, dressed for the climate.

Good article too.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/aussies-chance-of-everest-glory-stolen/story-e6frf7l6-1111118909454

AN Australian climber was robbed by the Royal Geographical Society of the chance to be the first man to conquer Mt Everest - 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent.

The revelation has emerged from research done for best-selling British author Jeffrey Archer's novel Paths of Glory.

The treachery, in which Archer even implicates members of the British royal family, may have cost the life of famed British mountaineer George Mallory, whom Australian George Finch was to have partnered on the 1924 expedition.

Mallory died, in the opinion of Archer and many experts, when on the way down after reaching the summit...

Cheers!

Dan

 

[nihil]

Both Finnish and Sami traditional winter shoes are based on leather and they both are warm, lightweight and keep your feet dry if properly treated with tar and fats. I do not yet own a pair of these but I did some rough calculations based on Finnish shoe design and came to a conclusion that a pair would weight around 500-700 grams at most. Naturally the durability of these are not as great as the modern ones as they were designed to be used on soft snow instead of hard asphalt.

This whole debate is regarding mountaineering clothes. Not clothing for use on cold dry snow.

Based on personal experience, I wouldn't take what armed forces do in regard to equipment as an indication that there exist no better alternative ^_^